Should Graphic Warning Labels Proposed For Cigarette Packages Sold In The United States Identify the Food and Drug Administration as the Message Source

• In Event: HIGH-DENSITY: Tobacco Warning Label Mechanisms and Effects

Abstract

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers requiring graphic warning labels on cigarette packs sold in the United States, our objective is to explore the implications of including a sponsor on labels. We travelled with a mobile lab to recruit adult smokers (study 1: N= 245) and middle school youth (study 2: N= 242) from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities to view 9 FDA-proposed graphic warning labels with or without identified sponsors. We randomly assigned respondents into one of three conditions: (1) FDA as the sponsor of warning label messages, (2) sponsorship by a well-known, non-governmental organization (the American Cancer Society), or (3) a non-sponsored condition. We gauged the impact of sponsorship on source attributions, credibility perceptions, intentions to quit (among adult smokers) and reduced smoking susceptibility (among youth). Exposure to an explicitly identified sponsor (FDA or ACS) did not increase credibility judgments about the source of the message. However, believing that a tobacco company was the source of the warnings (regardless of condition) was associated with reduced credibility, which in turn predicted increased smoking susceptibility among youth. Future research should identify strategies to minimize (false) sponsor attributions. Attributing warning label messages to the FDA, however, is unlikely to increase their credibility.

Authors

• Mia Jovanova, Cornell University

• Sahara Byrne, Cornell U

• Motasem Kalaji, Cornell University

• Christofer Skurka, Cornell U

• Norman A. Porticella, Cornell U

• Amelia Greiner Safi, Cornell University

• Alan D. Mathios, Cornell U

• Rosemary Jane Avery, Cornell U

• Michael C Dorf, Cornell U

• Jeff Niederdeppe, Cornell U