Cigarette advertising to counter New Year's resolutions.

One process through which tobacco advertising may work is by reducing rates of quitting. Theories of addiction support the notion that relapse can be prompted by environmental cues. Further, because withdrawal symptoms occur over a predictable time frame, and because the most popular time to quit smoking is the beginning of the year, as a New Year's resolution, tobacco companies can make use of advertising to remind quitters of their need to smoke. Study 1 examined advertising in 10 popular magazines. It found a higher number of ads in January and February than the rest of the year after 1984. Study 2 examined cigarette advertising on the back cover of 10 other popular magazines. This study also found a higher rate of cigarette advertisements in January and February than for the rest of the year. The results suggest that cigarette marketers may be attempting to preempt quitting by cuing smoking behavior.

A cluster analysis of alcohol-related attitudes and behaviors in the general population.

OBJECTIVE: Alcohol use typologies have previously focused on chronic alcohol abusers and alcohol-dependent populations. This empirical typology was created to profile lifestyle patterns associated with nonclinical patterns of alcohol use. METHOD: This study used two surveys sent to a commercial mailback panel, sampled to construct a study population demographically representative of the general U.S. population (N = 2,910). A K-means cluster analysis of alcohol use predictor variables and alcohol use generated the typology. RESULTS: The results suggest five distinct psychobehavioral clusters, referred to by the modal patterns of alcohol use for each cluster: nondrinkers, light drinkers, moderate drinkers, episodic drinkers and regular heavy drinkers. These clusters were found to have predictive validity using related health behaviors, psychosocial variables, personality self-descriptors, and media use as criteria. In particular, moderate drinkers had double the income of any other cluster and showed consistently healthy exercise, cigarette use, and diet patterns as well as a relatively high ranking of health as a personal value. Episodic drinkers had the highest levels of sensation-seeking and drug use and were not health oriented in values and behaviors, although their total weekly consumption was only marginally greater than the moderate drinkers. CONCLUSIONS: The profile of the moderate drinker cluster is consistent with concerns about lifestyle confounds in the relationship between moderate alcohol consumption and cardiovascular health. The episodic drinker profile is consistent with relatively high risk behaviors; this cluster may be a good target for harm-reduction education and intervention efforts.

Tobacco: coopting our public health.

Communication is a tool that can be used to promote public health. The case of tobacco illustrates, however, that behavior change can only be advocated, not ensured. The tobacco industry has focused on individual- and societal-level actions that effectively sabotage antismoking campaigns. Health communication researchers should pay special attention to how politics is subverted, the principle of freedom of speech is abused, message framing encourages the continued marketing of cigarettes, and tobacco advertising swamps public health messages in both quantity and style. The field of health communication should do two things to help counter this campaign. First, we should make a concerted effort to refute the arguments offered by the tobacco companies. Second, we should continue to take action on four levels--as individuals, as responsible citizens, in support of organizations, and to create societal changes that will reduce the use of tobacco.