Message Testing for Tobacco-Related Corrective Statements

December 19, 2019 updated by: National Cancer Institute (NCI)

BACKGROUND:

This document outlines the study design and procedures to be used to evaluate a series of corrective statements to augment consumer knowledge and beliefs about smoking as related to past actions of tobacco companies. The statements were ordered by a U.S. Federal Court in U.S. v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., and are intended to target potential misperceptions resultant of past marketing and promotion practices undertaken by the tobacco industry.

OBJECTIVES:

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked NCI to take the lead on developing and testing corrective statements with adult and youth audiences to ensure both message comprehension and avoidance of unintended consequences of message exposure, such as boomerang effects, smoking triggers, or knowledge gaps.

The court has identified five areas that the statements shall address:

  1. The adverse health effects of smoking;
  2. The addictiveness of smoking and nicotine;
  3. The lack of any significant health benefit from smoking low tar, light, ultra light, mild, and natural cigarettes;
  4. The tobacco industry s manipulation of cigarette design and composition to ensure optimum nicotine delivery;
  5. The adverse health effects of secondhand smoke.

ELIGIBILITY:

Message testing will be undertaken with the following audiences:

  • Current smokers (with an oversample of low socioeconomic status individuals)
  • General population nonsmokers and former smokers (with an oversample of low socioeconomic status individuals)
  • Spanish-speaking Hispanics
  • Youth age 14-17

DESIGN:

Both qualitative and quantitative methods (focus groups and post-test comparison group Web-enabled surveys) will be used to develop and test a range of corrective statements in the five areas outlined by the court.

  • Focus group participants: 48-64
  • Survey participants: 2500

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

BACKGROUND:

This document outlines the study design and procedures to be used to evaluate a series of corrective statements to augment consumer knowledge and beliefs about smoking as related to past actions of tobacco companies. The statements were ordered by a U.S. Federal Court in U.S. v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., and are intended to target potential misperceptions resultant of past marketing and promotion practices undertaken by the tobacco industry.

OBJECTIVES:

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked NCI to take the lead on developing and testing corrective statements with adult and youth audiences to ensure both message comprehension and avoidance of unintended consequences of message exposure, such as boomerang effects, smoking triggers, or knowledge gaps.

The court has identified five areas that the statements shall address:

  1. The adverse health effects of smoking;
  2. The addictiveness of smoking and nicotine;
  3. The lack of any significant health benefit from smoking low tar, light, ultra light, mild, and natural cigarettes;
  4. The tobacco industry s manipulation of cigarette design and composition to ensure optimum nicotine delivery;
  5. The adverse health effects of secondhand smoke.

ELIGIBILITY:

Message testing will be undertaken with the following audiences:

  • Current smokers (with an oversample of low socioeconomic status individuals)
  • General population nonsmokers and former smokers (with an oversample of low socioeconomic status individuals)
  • Spanish-speaking Hispanics
  • Youth age 14-17

DESIGN:

Both qualitative and quantitative methods (focus groups and post-test comparison group Web-enabled surveys) will be used to develop and test a range of corrective statements in the five areas outlined by the court.

  • Focus group participants: 48-64
  • Survey participants: 2500

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

627

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Maryland
      • Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
        • National Cancer Institute (NCI), 9000 Rockville Pike

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

14 years to 17 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

Random sample of GfK Web panel participants.@@@@@@

Description

  • INCLUSION CRITERIA:
  • Youth age 14-17
  • Youth current smokers, former smokers, and never smokers
  • Youth male and female genders
  • Youth of all race/ethnicity categories, including: White, Black/African American, Asian, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

Participants will be excluded from focus groups and survey if they work in:

  • Media
  • Advertising, market research
  • Public health or health promotion
  • An employee of the Federal Govemment who works at HHS or DoJ
  • The tobacco or alcohol industries

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Case-Only
  • Time Perspectives: Cross-Sectional

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Focus Groups
Focus Groups about smoking messages

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Knowledge
Time Frame: Immediately upon exposure to stimuli
Tobacco-related knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs were measured at baseline and after exposure to message stimuli.
Immediately upon exposure to stimuli

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Kelly D Blake, D.Sc., National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

January 21, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 21, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 21, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

January 24, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 20, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 19, 2019

Last Verified

January 22, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 999911067
  • 11-C-N067

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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