Anti-Smoking/Lung Cancer: Awareness in England, Uk

Anti-Smoking/Lung Cancer: Awareness in England, UK PART 1
My previous submitted
• course work had not been acceptable to the European Journal of Marketing; one of the reasons behind was the literature review, which was not up to standards of European Journal of Marketing. In this re-submission there has been given a better focus on literature review. There has been better research put in comparison to previous one.
• Other issue was that there were fewer references used to support the research which is really significant thing for the research of this level. Now more references had been used to back the research.
• Moreover there was less focus given on the practical part of methodology such as focus group or questionnaires findings for the collection of data in last submitted work. This time proper research has been done to overcome the issues as proper questionnaire has been prepared and filled up by general public and useful data is collected to support the research.

PART 2

Abstract:
Lung cancer is a disease caused due to the unrestrained growth of cells in the tissues of the lungs. Tobacco smoke or smoking is the major reason behind lung cancer. There are approximately 4 million people in England who are addicted to smoking or which are regular smokers. Though they are not hard to reach, but they are harder to change to non-smokers because of several factors associated to their lives. There are people who want to stop their smoking habit and use existing useful cessation strategies.

Introduction
Smoking can become a regular habit. It is one of the most common addictions all around the world today. Nearly twelve million adults in UK do smoking, which includes 26% and 23% for men and women respectively. In 1974, men 51% and women 41% used to smoke cigarettes, around half the adult 12 people of UK. At present 1 in a quarter do smoking but the downfall in previous past has been heavily looked upon in old age people: that is, around every youngster is starting smoking but the one doing from long past are running away.

Above 80% of smokers gets involved in smoking in their teen age. In the UK around 450 children start smoking every day. In England one out of five 15 year-old children’s, in which males 16% and females 25% are frequent smokers, Regardless of the truth that it is not legal to sell tobacco products to children aged under18. Males and females in non-manual occupations smoke less than people manual occupations. Males 20% and females 17% in the professional occupations smoke compared to 32% and 30% of men and women resp. in manual occupations. People do give up smoking; about 20% of women and 28% of men are smokers who smoked before. Surveys show that about 70% of current smokers would like to give up altogether.

This article will be based on an analysis of a current advertising campaign. The reason for selecting this specific advertising campaign is because smoking is one of the most common habits in the world and this campaign aims to stop people from smoking with the help of shocking images. Lots of people who smoke know that it is bad for their health. The main objective of the NHS advertising campaign is to reduce smoking popularity by encouraging people who smoke to stop their habit. Adverts like this one works very well in making smokers realize how dangerous and bad smoking is and think about the harm they are causing to their bodies. The anti-smoking advertising campaign is a visual representation of what smoking does to people, “People end up hooked”.

The target audience, appropriate people from the community will be selected at opportunity for this particular anti-smoking advertising campaign. In order to analyse the population that is going to be targeted a demography will be included. The demography will include characteristics such as the age, gender etc of the people.

Secondary Data Collection:
In the beginning of year 2009 there has been launched four new anti- smoking campaigns in United Kingdom and every one is on different choice of media. All anti- smoking advertisements below are non- profit campaigns supported by Department of Health in UK.

The first one of the most successful adverts on second hand smoking in the past few years. This advert called “invisible killer” is not oriented towards active addictive smokers, but for second hand smokers instead. This focuses on how 85 per cent of tobacco smoke is invisible and odorless, but it causes as much harm to people’s health as smoke that is visible. This advertisement is supported by press, but mostly by television. It starts with a wedding reception, where everybody is enjoying this party, not seeing dark smoke curling around all guests, even though smokers try to blow their smoke not on them.

The use of dark (black) smoke which is not the true color of cigarette fume makes a clear message that the invisible smoke is harmful as much as cigarette smoking and target audience may see second hand smoke as a disease which is spreading out, it is invisible but deadly. The target of demonstration in this advert of people talking, dancing, children eating and still breathing invisible smoke is to make smokers more considerate towards non- smokers which are harmed because active smokers are not thoughtful enough to others.

According to BBC News (2007) passive non smokers, which are inhaling smoke as second hand can be jeopardized by quarter from heart disease, lung cancer or different disease caused from cigarette smoke.

Another advert which is supported by press as well as by Television is from Department of Health. This advert talks about effects of smoking on people’s sex life. This hard-hitting campaign finds the intended target audience in both males and females and for younger population.
Fears about attractiveness and fertility are with younger people stronger then fear about health. Therefore campaigns such this one is concentrating on stink, impotence, tooth loss and bad breath instead on health such as brain damage or lung cancer.

A message targeted to male sex is “Does smoking make you hard?” This message has two meanings, which every young male should understand. Younger males has mostly feeling that smoking makes them look ‘cool’ and makes them to ‘tough guys’, but this advert with an image of two fingers with an afterburning cigarette between them in comparison to male secret which die in the end is an excellent way to show males that smoke stinks and make male sex impotent.

The use of music and chatting people in the background of this advert supported by television, until the cigarette is burning out, says that people don’t even notice when they are enjoying their time, which in that time people’s health is in risk.

A message for female has two parts in this campaign. One shows a picture of a women’s hair covered in cigarette buts and the title says “Perfume won’t hide it”, which simply says that ‘If you smoke, you stink’. Females are trying to be most attractive to opposite sex; therefore the purpose of this campaign is to warn females that smoking is not making them attractive at all, but otherwise it makes them stink. The second part of this campaign for younger females send out a message that active smoking causes bed breath, gum disease and tooth loss, makes skin less elastic and is a possible cause of cellulite. The purpose of this message according to Department of Health is to make teenagers and young adult which are addicted to cigarettes to quit for good.

The concept of the third advertisement released this month, which is the main one of this portfolio and in the meanwhile the most successful simply says “get unhooked”. “Hook” adverts have also two choices of media. There is one is on television and also outdoor hook advertisement.

These adverts have again two parts.

First one which was released was on television regarding people hooked on cigarettes. The images of people dragged by a hook in their mouth outside, or to a window to light up a cigarette by the strength of addictiveness are working really sufficiently. This metaphor used in this advert: hook in mouth compared to the strength of addictiveness is really good choice of comparison which evokes in peoples mind that they are not living free. They do not want to go outside to have a cigarette, but the strength is irresistible. The intended target audience for this advert is both genders and all ranges of age for active/addictive smokers.

The second part of this campaign was released few days after the first one. In this advertisements there is no dragging around, this one is simply showing people taking out the hook from their mouth and throwing it in the bin. The use of narrator who is describing that a smoker needs five thousand cigarettes every year works fine, but there is no link between the amount of cigarettes smoked and the price of cigarettes each year and the health of an individual smoker. This advert is twenty seconds long and therefore this link could be used and would have better impact on audience.

The final fourth advert in United Kingdom released has just one choice of media- outdoor “send off posters”. This advert says that nowadays there are so many things to do instead smoking like never before. On the pictures are shown archer’s arrows stabbed into cigarette pack, boxing apparatuses with cigarette pack on it and golf-club ready to shoot a cigarette pack.

On comparison with other countries, UK government did not allow pictures on cigarette packs, such as in Canada, Japan or China. These countries use disgusting pictures on every pack a smoker buys, which are lowering the line of smokers in their country.

Primary Data Collection:
In order to understand better the relationship between an anti-smoking advert of different choice of media and the impact on its audience, there have been two choices best suitable to uncover this problem.

First choice was to collect primary data from researches in professional literature, such as text books, books or news websites, which is the qualitative side of this primary data collection. This data has been discussed in group discussion and analyzed between group members to the final phase. In this part of this portfolio there was the need to carry out the data collection process, analyze the data collected, and draw conclusions/implications from research collected. This covers half of this primary data collection in this portfolio.

Qualitative Data Collection:

PEST Analysis

Political

• Smoking was banned in places which are covered like restaurants, nightclubs, pubs and so on were badly affected by the ban. On the spot fines will be introduced to landlords and the general public who don’t comply.
• As government legislation is brought in, this could have an impact on the image of the political party in power, as many smokers strongly disagree with the new laws and this may be enough to change their view on politics as they would be forced to change their lifestyle and habits.
• At the moment there is a huge government drive to stop people from smoking has increased.
• The government may feel pressure from other countries that have already introduced the ban, and boast about the benefits.

Social change
• Change in attitudes to and legislation in regard to smoking in public places.
• Smoking is fast becoming less socially expectable
• Many people in the UK say that when the ban comes in to play, they will give up smoking
• Pub atmospheres will dramatically change, as many people only smoke, or smoke more when they are drinking. The ban in pubs and bars mean that peoples habits will have to change.
• Passive smoking will decrease, many bar staff etc. will no longer have to be stuck in a smoking working atmosphere.
• The average population of smokers that stop/reduce smoking, will see a significant improvement in their health and wallet.
• Once a few people start giving up, many will follow and the demands for tobacco products will decrease.

Economic

• Tobacco products care heavily tax, and as tobacco sales fall, the revenue from the tax shall also decrease, meaning the money lost will have to be made up elsewhere.
• The NHS spends millions of pounds a year in helping people with smoking related illnesses. If an anti-smoking campaign was highly successful then this money could be used elsewhere.
• The smoking population will save a lot of money if they stop smoking. If someone smokes 40 cigarettes a day they spend nearly £2,000 a year on cigarettes. This money would be saved.
Technological
• With more and more people having access to the internet there is a great potential of using the internet to promote an anti-smoking campaign.
• Telephone help lines can offer advice and guide people to giving up and keep them on track.
• The boom in mobile phone usage and text messaging provides yet another medium to promote campaign awareness to smokers, especially the younger generation.
• TV and radio advertisements are also a good way to promote an anti-smoking campaign, as this broadcast medium is widespread and viewed by many people from many different environments and situations.

Quantitative Data Collection:

Questionnaire Survey Results
1. Gender
Male - 17 people
Female - 13 people

2. Age
16-20yrs - 16 people
21-25yrs - 8 people
26-30yrs - 3 people
30+yrs - 3 people

3. Smoking Status
Smokers - 26 people
Non-smokers - 4 people

4. Have you seen/heard about the latest anti-smoking advertising campaign by the NHS?
Yes - all 30 people
No -0

5. Where people heard about the advert.
TV - 22 people
Internet - 2 people
Newspaper -2 people
Other - 4 people
(billboards -3, poster - 1)

6. First impressions when you saw the advert.
Some of the comments made by people in the survey:
• “If it stops people from smoking/enjoying a cigarette then it’s worth it”
• “The adverting is shocking and boundary breaking”
• “It is a brutal image”
• “It is hard hitting and off putting”
• “It’s not real so it does not have any effect on me whatsoever” etc.

7. Is the advert extreme and graphical in getting the message across?
Yes - 20 people
No - 10 people

8. Extremity and graphics of the advert on a scale of 1 to 7?
Very extreme/Graphical Not very extreme/graphical
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

9. Was it right for the NHS to launch an anti-smoking advertising campaign like this one to help stop people from smoking?
Yes -28 people
No - 2 people

Some of the reasons people said Yes: “it will help people know how bad smoking is for your health”, “it shows you what happens to people when they smoke (i.e. they get hooked on cigarettes)”, “it will help people quit smoking” etc.

Some of the reasons people said No: “it will not stop people from smoking, past adverts haven’t stopped them so the advert was unnecessary”, “the NHS could have taken a much more less hardcore approach in the getting the message across” etc.

10. People’s attitudes towards smoking after seeing this advert.
Some of the comments made by people in the survey:
• “I am giving up smoking, I want to quit”
• “I want to cut down on cigarettes”
• “My attitude is still the same, anti-smoking adverts don’t affect me so I’ll carry on smoking the same amounts as always”
• “Smoking is dangerous and can cause harm to your health” etc.

11. Has the advert had an effect on you?
Yes - 21 people
No - 9 people

12. Do you think that the message the advert is trying to put across will help people realise how dangerous/bad smoking is and reduce the number of people who smoke?
Yes - 26 people
No - 4 people

Results Analysis
Secondary data
Primary data

From the primary data collected from the survey, a mixed gender consisting of both males and females were approached to answer the anti-smoking advertising campaign questionnaire. 57% were male (17) and 43% (13) were female. Amongst these people 16 were between the age of 16-20, 8 were between 21-25, 3 were between 26-30 and the last 3 were 30 years or over. When asked about their smoking status a majority of 87% people said they were smoker whereas 13% were non-smokers. This is a very big gap between smokers and non-smokers although most of the smokers said they smoked cigarettes sometimes (3), seldom (2), often (11) and mostly everyday (10).

Furthermore, when asked if they had seen or heard about the new/latest anti-smoking advertising campaign by the NHS, all 30 people in the survey said they had seen it, which was a vast surprise. All 30 people had seen or heard about the new anti-smoking advertising campaign from somewhere so when asked where they had found out about the advert, they gave a wide choice of media places. 73% had seen it on the television, 7% had seen it on the Internet, 7% in different newspapers and 13% in other places such as advertising billboards and posters. From the advert that they had seen/heard, they were asked what they thought about it. Some of the comments made from people in the survey include “If it stops people from smoking/enjoying a cigarette then it’s worth it”, “the adverting is shocking and boundary breaking”, “It is a brutal image”, “it is a hard hitting and off putting advert”, “it’s not real so it does not have any effect on me whatsoever”, “the first time I quit smoking was after seeing the cigarettes clogged up with fat advert. I didn’t smoke for two months; this advert however hasn’t had the effect that the previous one did” etc.

Also, when asked whether the adverts extremity and real like graphic images of people being pulled along by fish hooks does put the message across, 67% of people said yes and 33% said no. Moreover, when asked on a scale of 1 to 7 how extreme and graphical the advert was, 87% of people said it was very extreme, 10% said it was not too bad and 3% said it was not too extreme and graphical. On the question asking whether it was right for the NHS to launch an advertising campaign such as this one, a huge majority 93% (28 people) said yes it was right commenting “it will help people know how bad smoking is for your health”, “it shows you what happens to people when they smoke (i.e. they get hooked on cigarettes)”, “it will help people quit smoking” etc. On the other hand a minority of 7% (2 people) said no commenting “it will not stop people from smoking, past adverts haven’t stopped them so the advert was unnecessary”, “the NHS could have taken a much more less hardcore approach in the getting the message across” etc.

From seeing the advert, people’s attitudes towards smoking changed. Some of the comments made were “I am giving up smoking, I want to quit”, “I want to cut down on cigarettes”, “my attitude is still the same, anti-smoking adverts don’t affect me so I’ll carry on smoking the same amounts as always”, “smoking is dangerous and can cause harm to your health” etc. 70% (21 people) of people in the survey said that the advert had an effect on them whereas 30% (9 people) said it did not. Finally, when asked whether the message the advert is trying to put across will help people realise how dangerous/bad smoking is and reduce the number of people who smoke, 26 people (87%) said yes and 4 people (13%) said no. All in all, a majority of 26 people do feel that the anti-smoking advertising campaign will reduce smoking prevalence.

Findings:
From the interpretation of the results, the NHS advertising campaign has been successful in cutting down smoking problem by encouraging smokers to stop smoking. The lack of an effect in an advertising campaign such as this would have been a whole waste of time and money, but from the comments given by people in the survey, the advertising campaign has indicated that if advertising at this intensity, extremity and power is to have an impact on smokers, then a long-standing campaign like this is necessary. From the results gathered from the survey, it will help the NHS invest in making more similar advertising campaigns such as the “Get Unhooked” ad campaign so as to get people to stop smoking and be more healthy. Adverts such as this highlight the controlling message of tobacco. Although the message that the ad campaign is trying to get across seems intent on bullying smokers will violent and disturbing imagery, it will help people take a moment and think about what they doing to their health. The imagery faces truth rather than paint a pretty unreal depiction. The results from the survey goes to prove that more aggressive advertising strategies like this appear to be more effective at reducing and helping people to quit smoking.

Questionnaire
Please tick where appropriate
1. What gender are you?
Male
Female

2. How old are you?
16-20
21-25
26-30
30+

3. What is your smoking status?
Non-smoker
Seldom
Sometimes
Often
Everyday

4. Have you seen/heard about the latest anti-smoking advertising campaign by the NHS?
Yes
No

5. If yes, where did you see/hear about it?
TV
Radio
Internet
Newspaper
Other, please specify:

6. What did you think/what were you first impressions when you saw the advert?
Comment:

7. Do you think that the advert is extreme and graphical in getting the message across?
Yes
No

8. How extreme and graphical is the advert on a scale of 1 to 7?
Very extreme/Graphical Not very extreme/graphical
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

9. Do you think it was right for the NHS to launch an anti-smoking advertising campaign like this one to help stop people from smoking?
Yes
No
If Yes/No please explain:

10. What are your attitudes towards smoking after seeing this advert?
Comments:

11. Has the advert had an effect on you?
Yes
No

12. Do you think that the message the advert is trying to put across will help people realise how dangerous/bad smoking is and reduce the number of people who smoke?
Yes
No

Reference:
Brassington F., Pettit S. (2006) “Principles of Marketing” 4th edition, Harlow, Edinburgh Gate.
Kotler, P. (2005), Principles of Marketing, London, Prentice Hall
Marcouse, I. (2001), Business Studies, London, Hodder & Stoughton
Worthington, I. and Britton C. (2006), Business Environment 5th Edition, Harlow, Edinburgh Gate.

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