Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Cigarette package warnings may actually encourage smoking according to a new study. The study found that those who are repeatedly exposed to the warnings develop coping mechanisms.

According to the study, cigarette packs with death related warnings were not only not effective, but actually resulted in more positive smoking attitudes among smokers. However, warnings that are unrelated to death reduced smoking attitudes among those who base their self esteem on smoking.

For example, warnings that cigarettes make you less attractive were effective among those who believed the opposite was true. Studies show that different people react to different types of messages to motivate them to quit.

In the future, governments should do more testing of the warning messages to determine which ones are the most effective.