Skip to content

Pictorial Warning Labels & Memory for Relative & Absolute Cigarette Health-risk Information Over Time in Adult Smokers

Pictorial Warning Labels & Memory for Relative & Absolute Cigarette Health-risk Information Over Time in Adult Smokers

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03499340
Enrollment
3213
Registered
2018-04-17
Start date
2017-07-10
Completion date
2017-10-03
Last updated
2018-04-17

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Smoking Cessation, Smoking, Cigarette

Keywords

pictorial warning labels, risk knowledge, emotion, memory, risk perceptions, quit intentions

Brief summary

Pictorial cigarette warning labels (PWLs) are thought to increase risk knowledge, but experimental research has not examined PWLs' longer term effects on memory for health risks. In this study, adult smokers are repeatedly exposed to text-only vs. low arousal graphic vs. high arousal graphic warning labels paired with numeric risk information. This study will allow the investigators to assess the extent to which reactions to warnings remain consistent over time and influence smoking risk perceptions and quit intentions. The investigators will also assess the impact of graphic images on memory for smoking risk information presented in absolute (a smoker's lifetime risk of getting a smoking related disease) versus relative (a smoker's risk of getting a smoking related disease, compared to the risk of non-smokers) formats.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALtext-only PWL

control condition (no image)

BEHAVIORALlow arousal graphic PWL

pictorial warning

BEHAVIORALhigh arousal graphic PWL

pictorial warning

BEHAVIORALabsolute risk

Percentage risk information for smoking-related diseases for smokers

BEHAVIORALrelative risk

Percentage risk information for smoking-related diseases for smokers and non-smokers

Sponsors

University of Pennsylvania
CollaboratorOTHER
Ohio State University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
FACTORIAL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
19 Years to 64 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* have smoked 100+ lifetime cigarettes * currently smoke every day or some days.

Exclusion criteria

* have not ever smoked a cigarette

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
numeric risk recognitionmeasured immediately following last exposureParticipants answered one multiple choice question about the numeric risk for smokers for each label (e.g., \_\_\_\_% of smokers die before age 85). For each question, there were four decoy responses.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
relative risk recognitionmeasured immediately following last exposureParticipants answered one multiple choice question about the numeric risk for smokers vs. nonsmokers for each health risk (e.g., a smoker is \_\_\_\_ as likely to die from heart disease as a nonsmoker). For each question, there were three decoy responses (e.g., for heart disease, response options were: about as likely, 1.75 times, 4.1 times, 10.4 times).
smoking risk perceptionsmeasured immediately following last exposureParticipants completed several scale items about how much risk they perceived smoking posed to them (e.g., If a person smokes at your age, how likely are they to get a life-threatening illness from smoking someday ? \[1=very unlikely; 5=extremely likely\])
quit intentions (for next 30 days)measured immediately following last exposureParticipants intentions to quit smoking; self-reported likelihood of smoking within the next 30 days (-3 = very unlikely, 3 = very likely)
numeric risk recognitionmeasured after 6-week delayParticipants answered one multiple choice question about the numeric risk for smokers for each label (e.g., \_\_\_\_% of smokers die before age 85). For each question, there were four decoy responses.
risk recognitionmeasured immediately following last exposureParticipants were given a list of 9 warnings and asked to select which ones they'd been previously exposed to
feelings about smokingmeasured immediately following last exposureParticipants completed several scale items about their feelings towards smoking (e.g., How good or bad do you feel about smoking? -2=very bad; +2=very good; How much do you feel confused about the harms vs. benefits of smoking? 0=not at all confused; 4=very confused)
quit intentions (for next year)measured immediately following last exposureParticipants intentions to quit smoking; self-reported likelihood of smoking within next year (-3 = very unlikely, 3 = very likely)

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026