Major new research on pictoral smoking warnings

The University is part of an international team that carried out a large experimental study on pictorial warnings for tobacco products funded by the European Commission.

The research, which is published on the academic journal PLOS ONE, is a multi-country randomised controlled trial study on the effect of anti-tobacco pictorial warnings on an individual’s emotion and behaviour.

The findings suggest that the odds of buying a tobacco product can be reduced by 80 per cent if the negative effects are elicited by the images.

From a public policy perspective, not all emotions behave alike, as eliciting shame, anger, or distress proves more effective in reducing smoking than fear and disgust. 

Social psychologist Giuseppe A. Veltri from the Department of Media and Communication is part of the team and one of the first authors of the study.

• The paper is available here