The role of curiosity in smoking initiation.

Context: Although advertising theories have long viewed curiosity as an intermediate goal to encouraging consumption of a product among previous nonusers, this variable is rarely discussed in psychological theories and its role in smoking uptake has not been addressed adequately.

Design And Setting: Using a longitudinal design, in 1999, we reinterviewed 12- to 15-year-old adolescent never smokers (N=2119; 970 committed never smokers, 1199 susceptible never smokers) 3 years after they responded to a population survey on tobacco use in California.

Results: Logistic regression showed curiosity and susceptibility to smoke were independently associated with increased future smoking in all never smokers.

Population receptivity to tobacco advertising/promotions and exposure to anti-tobacco media: effect of Master Settlement Agreement in California: 1992-2002.

Tobacco marketing contributes to adolescent smoking initiation, and the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), therefore, included relevant restrictions. We analyzed data from large population surveys of Californians, conducted in 1992 (11,905 adults, ages 18 years and older), 1993 (5,531 adolescents, ages 12 to 17 years), and 1996 (6,252 adolescents, 18,616 adults) before the MSA, and in 1999 (6,090 adolescents, 14,729 adults) and 2002 (5,857 adolescents, 20,525 adults) following its implementation. Camel lost favorite-advertisement popularity after 1996, and between 1999 and 2002, there were large increases in the percentages declining to name a favorite advertisement.

Do favorite movie stars influence adolescent smoking initiation?

Objectives: We sought to determine whether adolescents whose favorite movie stars smoke on-screen are at increased risk of tobacco use.

Methods: During interviews, adolescent never smokers taking part in the California Tobacco Survey nominated their favorite stars. We reviewed popular films released during 1994 through 1996 to determine whether stars smoked on-screen in at least 2 films.

Does tobacco marketing undermine the influence of recommended parenting in discouraging adolescents from smoking?

Objective: The tobacco industry contends that parenting practices, not marketing practices, are critical to youth smoking. Our objective was to examine whether tobacco-industry marketing practices undermine the protective effect of recommended authoritative parenting against adolescent smoking.

Design And Setting: Receptivity to tobacco advertising and promotions was assessed in 1996 from a representative sample of California adolescent never-smokers aged 12 to 14 years.