Many public health organizations have proposed and implemented campaigns and policies involving graphic ads or warnings to deter individuals from smoking. The current study evaluated how high-cigarette dependent smokers evaluate these messages compared to low-cigarette dependent smokers using a mixed, 3 x 2 factorial design. A pilot study involving focus groups, interviews, and evaluation questionnaires (N=10) was conducted to classify graphic threat appeals and develop stimulus materials for the primary study. For the primary study, three graphic threat appeal conditions were evaluated by Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) users (N=200). Findings suggested that the graphicness of the images significantly influenced arousal, aversive response, and persuasion. However, high-cigarette dependent smokers evaluated messages as less aversive than low-cigarette dependent smokers to the graphicness in messages. Additionally, low-cigarette dependent smokers may be at greater risk for experiencing cognitive overload and reallocating cognitive resources to defensive responses. Implications of these findings and recommendations for future research and message design are discussed.
","abstract_html":"<p>Many public health organizations have proposed and implemented campaigns and policies involving graphic ads or warnings to deter individuals from smoking. The current study evaluated how high-cigarette dependent smokers evaluate these messages compared to low-cigarette dependent smokers using a mixed, 3 x 2 factorial design. A pilot study involving focus groups, interviews, and evaluation questionnaires (<em>N</em>=10) was conducted to classify graphic threat appeals and develop stimulus materials for the primary study. For the primary study, three graphic threat appeal conditions were evaluated by Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) users (<em>N</em>=200). Findings suggested that the graphicness of the images significantly influenced arousal, aversive response, and persuasion. However, high-cigarette dependent smokers evaluated messages as less aversive than low-cigarette dependent smokers to the graphicness in messages. Additionally, low-cigarette dependent smokers may be at greater risk for experiencing cognitive overload and reallocating cognitive resources to defensive responses. Implications of these findings and recommendations for future research and message design are discussed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Swanson, LaTasha R"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Communication","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Marifran Mattson","Lalatendu Acharya","Maria K. Venetis","David M. Whittinghill","Steven R. Wilson"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:54:02Z","subjects":["Communication and the arts","Psychology","Health and environmental sciences","Anti-smoking","Disgust","Extended parallel process model","Fear","Graphic threat appeals","Limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing","Communication","Public Health","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/857","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Marifran Mattson","Lalatendu Acharya","Maria K. Venetis","David M. Whittinghill","Steven R. Wilson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Swanson, LaTasha R"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Communication and the arts","Psychology","Health and environmental sciences","Anti-smoking","Disgust","Extended parallel process model","Fear","Graphic threat appeals","Limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing","Communication","Public Health","Social and Behavioral Sciences"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/857"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Many public health organizations have proposed and implemented campaigns and policies involving graphic ads or warnings to deter individuals from smoking. The current study evaluated how high-cigarette dependent smokers evaluate these messages compared to low-cigarette dependent smokers using a mixed, 3 x 2 factorial design. A pilot study involving focus groups, interviews, and evaluation questionnaires (N=10) was conducted to classify graphic threat appeals and develop stimulus materials for the primary study. For the primary study, three graphic threat appeal conditions were evaluated by Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) users (N=200). Findings suggested that the graphicness of the images significantly influenced arousal, aversive response, and persuasion. However, high-cigarette dependent smokers evaluated messages as less aversive than low-cigarette dependent smokers to the graphicness in messages. Additionally, low-cigarette dependent smokers may be at greater risk for experiencing cognitive overload and reallocating cognitive resources to defensive responses. Implications of these findings and recommendations for future research and message design are discussed.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The graphic side of fear: The effects of anti-tobacco graphic threat appeals"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Marifran Mattson","Lalatendu Acharya","Maria K. Venetis","David M. Whittinghill","Steven R. Wilson"],"dc:creator":["Swanson, LaTasha R"],"dc:description.abstract":["Many public health organizations have proposed and implemented campaigns and policies involving graphic ads or warnings to deter individuals from smoking. The current study evaluated how high-cigarette dependent smokers evaluate these messages compared to low-cigarette dependent smokers using a mixed, 3 x 2 factorial design. A pilot study involving focus groups, interviews, and evaluation questionnaires (N=10) was conducted to classify graphic threat appeals and develop stimulus materials for the primary study. For the primary study, three graphic threat appeal conditions were evaluated by Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) users (N=200). Findings suggested that the graphicness of the images significantly influenced arousal, aversive response, and persuasion. However, high-cigarette dependent smokers evaluated messages as less aversive than low-cigarette dependent smokers to the graphicness in messages. Additionally, low-cigarette dependent smokers may be at greater risk for experiencing cognitive overload and reallocating cognitive resources to defensive responses. Implications of these findings and recommendations for future research and message design are discussed.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/857"],"dc:subject":["Communication and the arts","Psychology","Health and environmental sciences","Anti-smoking","Disgust","Extended parallel process model","Fear","Graphic threat appeals","Limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing","Communication","Public Health","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"dc:title":["The graphic side of fear: The effects of anti-tobacco graphic threat appeals"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Communication"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:54:02Z"}