Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 27, 2002|Volume 31, Number 4

Anti-drug advertising curbs teen use, says SOM researcher

An egg sizzles in a frying pan as television viewers are ,told: "This is your brain on drugs."

That vivid image was used during an anti-drug television campaign created by The Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA) to change societal attitudes about drugs and reduce drug consumption among teens.

And such anti-drug advertising works, according to Subrata K. Sen, the Joseph F. Cullman III Professor of Organization, Management and Marketing at the Yale School of Management (SOM).

Sen recently took part in a study to evaluate the effectiveness of drug-education messages from the PDFA from 1987 to 1990, measuring whether the advertising campaign correlated with a change in adolescents' drug use. His colleagues on the study were Lauren G. Block of Baruch College, Vicki G. Morwitz of New York University's Stern School of Business and William P. Putsis Jr. of the London Business School.

The group co-authored the study "Assessing the Impact of Antidrug Advertising on Adolescent Drug Consumption: Results From a Behavioral Economic Model," which was recently published by The American Journal of Public Health.

The researchers' findings suggest that by 1990 -- after three years of anti-drug television advertisements -- drug use was reduced by approximately 9%. Additionally, the team observed that the decrease in drug consumption came at a time when anti-drug ads had increasing levels of national media exposure and public visibility. During this timeframe, pro bono media support for anti-drug advertising increased from a low of $115 million in 1987 to a high of $365 million in 1991.

"The behavioral economic model we used as researchers indicated that the more adolescents perceive themselves to be susceptible to the negative consequences of drug abuse, the less likely they are to use drugs," says Sen. "Our findings have important public policy implications, since the increase in funding for anti-drug advertising appears to have been a worthwhile investment."

Using survey data from a nationally representative sample of adolescents, the researchers examined whether teens' recall of anti-drug advertising is associated with a decreased probability of using illicit drugs, and given drug use, a reduced volume of use.

The researchers developed a behavioral economic model of influences on drug consumption to determine the incremental impact of anti-drug advertising.

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America® is a coalition of communications professionals -- from advertising, the media industry, public relations, research companies, actors guilds and production companies -- dedicated to helping children and teens reject substance abuse by influencing attitudes through persuasive information.

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