Anti-smoking ads, particularly about tobacco effects on sex and evils of tobacco industry are effective with military recruits

Lucy Popova and I, together with colleagues here at UCSF and at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and University of California, Davis Medical Center just published "Testing antismoking messages for Air Force trainees" in Tobacco Control. 
 
We tested a vartiety of existing anto-smoking ads on Air Force recruits and found that ads featuring negative effects of tobacco on health and sexual performance coupled with revealing tobacco industry manipulations had the most consistent pattern of effects on perceived harm and intentions.  This means that anti-smoking advertisements produced for the general public might also be effective with a young adult military population and be a cost-effective tool to educate young adults in the military.
 
Here is the abstract:
 
Introduction Young adults in the military are aggressively targeted by tobacco companies and are at high risk of tobacco use. Existing antismoking advertisements developed for the general population might be effective in educating young adults in the military. This study evaluated the effects of different themes of existing antismoking advertisements on perceived harm and intentions to use cigarettes and other tobacco products among Air Force trainees.
Methods In a pretest–post-test experiment, 782 Airmen were randomised to view antismoking advertisements in 1 of 6 conditions: anti-industry, health effects+anti-industry, sexual health, secondhand smoke, environment+anti-industry or control. We assessed the effect of different conditions on changes in perceived harm and intentions to use cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, hookah and cigarillos from pretest to post-test with multivariable linear regression models ( perceived harm) and zero-inflated Poisson regression model (intentions).
Results Antismoking advertisements increased perceived harm of various tobacco products and reduced intentions to use. Advertisements featuring negative effects of tobacco on health and sexual performance coupled with revealing tobacco industry manipulations had the most consistent pattern of effects on perceived harm and intentions.
Conclusions Antismoking advertisements produced for the general public might also be effective with a young adult military population and could have spillover effects on perceptions of harm and intentions to use other tobacco products besides cigarettes. Existing antismoking advertising may be a cost-effective tool to educate young adults in the military.
 
The full paper is available here.