Anti-Smoking Ads Using Anger More Effective and Persuasive

In anti-smoking TV ads, anger works better than sadness and is more persuasive to viewers, a new study reveals.

Over recent years there has been a surge in anti smoking ad campaigns. The hard-hitting media ads are not just effective in promoting attempts to quit but also lower youth tobacco initiation. In a recent study, researchers at Dartmouth College's Geisel School of Medicine and Cornell University examined how viewers process anti smoking TV ads.

They found that anger works better than sadness.  When the ads use anger they appeal to more viewers' emotions and are more effective.

Studies conducted earlier found that emotional expression is an important aspect of persuasion and the viewers' perception of emotions does affect their attitude and behavior.  Another study also revealed how anti-smoking TV ads that convey negative emotions like anger and sadness are more effective than the non-emotional approaches.

In the current study, researchers produced anti-smoking TV ads in which the actor delivered anti-smoking messages to 115 college students. The anti smoking messages either had an angry vocal tone and facial expression or a sad tone and facial expression.

The researchers measured the role of emotions in the ad by manipulating just the expression of the actor while maintaining the same story.

The researchers noticed that "the anger-framed ad was more effective because it increased the perceived dominance of the speaker, which increased anti-smoking attitudes and predicted strong intentions not to smoke. The findings also showed participants who watched the anger-framed message didn't find the actor likable or empathetic, but those factors were not associated with intention to quit smoking."

Simultaneously, it is necessary to remember that extreme negative anti-smoking ads can also backfire. Researchers at University of Missouri found that ads that included combination of disturbing images and threatening images to cut smoking rates were not effective and often led to unexpected reactions.

The current study was documented in the Journal of Health Communication.