WHY YOUTH WAS TARGETED?
Nationally, rates of cigarette use among teenagers had risen steadily between 1991 and 1997, from 27.5% in 1991 to 36.4% in 1997.
The Truth campaign uses demographics such as age to identify its target market. Pre-teens and adolescents are the common target market for prevention oriented mass media campaigns such as the Truth campaign thus reflecting that smoking occurs at an early age. This campaign is targeted at the youth aged 12 to 17 years old who are defined as “sensation seekers” and thus most open to smoking. The secondary audience is 18 to 24 year olds. Nearly 80% of smokers begin smoking before the age of 18 and these youth face risk of lung cancer cardiovascular disease and respiratory diseases …show more content…
This campaign is often held up as a model of effective social marketing. Its message strategy was to counter the tobacco industry’s approach as well as challenges teen’s attitude about smoking. This was done with hard-hitting advertisements that showed the unattractiveness of smoking and the youth challenging the industry. This resulted in increasing awareness among target audience reaching 92% within six months. Within two years, the rate of smoking declined among middle school students from 18.5% to 11.1% and high school students 27.4% to 22.6% (THE EFFECTIVENESS O F TRUTH CAMPAIGN). Furthermore studies revealed that teens exposed to the campaign were less likely to start smoking and, current smokers were less likely of evolving to established smoking. Therefore, the campaign resulted 29,000 less teens smoking in Florida. The decline was cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as "the largest annual reported decline observed in the nation since …show more content…
The campaign has made tremendous changes to youths’ attitude towards smoking and inturn their smoking behaviour and preventing them from starting to smoke. Truth was able to reach and gain the attention of their target audience through their knowledge and activity-based tactics. It created a brand that was attracting to youths. It showed that teens respond better to anti-smoking advertisements that are relatable such as music, rebellion and fun along with providing important facts to the youth that could help them make more informed decisions on smoking. A study conducted by Farrelly, Davis, Haviland, Messeri, and Healton, “Evidence of a Dose-Response Relationship Between ‘truth’ Antismoking Ads and Youth Smoking Prevalence” revealed that the truth campaign was effective in its counter marketing strategies towards the tobacco industry (Katelynn Sachs). Between 2000 and 2002, students in 8th, 10th and 12th grade were surveyed which examined the behavioural effects of the truth campaign by determining how the amount of campaign exposure received influenced teen smoking commonness. The survey results revealed an overall decline in smoking commonness by 36% where 8th grade students represented the most decrease at 45%. A significant result of the study revealed the truth campaign accounted for 22% decline in teens smoking and overall smoking