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标题：Assessing the Impact of Antidrug Advertising on Adolescent Drug Consumption: Results From a Behavioral Economic Model
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作者：Lauren G. Block ; Vicki G. Morwitz ; William P. Putsis Jr 等
期刊名称：American journal of public health
印刷版ISSN：0090-0036
出版年度：2002
卷号：92
期号：8
页码：1346-1351
语种：English
出版社：American Public Health Association
摘要：Objectives. This study examined whether adolescents’ recall of antidrug advertising is associated with a decreased probability of using illicit drugs and, given drug use, a reduced volume of use. Methods. A behavioral economic model of influences on drug consumption was developed with survey data from a nationally representative sample of adolescents to determine the incremental impact of antidrug advertising. Results. The findings provided evidence that recall of antidrug advertising was associated with a lower probability of marijuana and cocaine/crack use. Recall of such advertising was not associated with the decision of how much marijuana or cocaine/crack to use. Results suggest that individuals predisposed to try marijuana are also predisposed to try cocaine/crack. Conclusions. The present results provide support for the effectiveness of antidrug advertising programs. (Am J Public Health. 2002;92:1346–1351) In the present study, we evaluated the effectiveness of the national antidrug advertisements of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA). Over the years, PDFA has received more than $3 billion in donated media from a variety of sources, including the major television networks, 11 cable networks, 11 radio networks, more than 1000 newspapers, and more than 100 magazines and medical journals (M. Townsend, chief marketing officer, Partnership for a Drug-Free America; written correspondence; May 1998). PDFA’s donated media make it the largest advertiser of a “single product” in the United States after McDonald’s. 1 We analyzed data from the first 4 years of the Partnership Attitude Tracking Survey (PATS), an annual survey conducted by PDFA to independently test whether the commencement of the advertising campaign was associated with a change in adolescents’ drug use. The first “wave” of PATS was initiated during February and March 1987, 3 months before the first antidrug messages were aired. Additional waves, which took place during February and March of each year thereafter, measured respondents’ recall of PDFA advertisements. These waves formed a “natural experiment” in that respondents during the first wave were not exposed to PDFA advertising, whereas respondents in subsequent waves were subjected to PDFA advertising. A preliminary examination of the PATS data reveals that the percentages of respondents who reported marijuana or cocaine/crack use in the previous 12 months decreased significantly over the years 1987 to 1990. Other sources of data corroborate this pattern (e.g., survey data from the University of Michigan’s Institute of Social Research, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse). 2, 3 Although this overall pattern is consistent with the hypothesis that antidrug advertising reduces drug consumption, such a simple analysis does not accommodate other potential explanations for changes in drug consumption over time. To adjust for these other factors, we used a detailed behavioral economic model that investigated the relationship between adolescents’ recall of antidrug advertising and their probability of using marijuana, cocaine, or crack, as well as their volume of use given that they were already using these drugs.