The Third-Person Effect of Anti-Smoking Advertisement

• Main Authors: Te-Chen Sung, 宋德貞
• Other Authors: Chien-chou Su
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/82177906770290575242

碩士 === 世新大學 === 傳播管理學研究所(含碩專班) === 95 === Smoking is now the major and most common unhealthy behavior in Taiwan. The number one of ten causes for cancer in Taiwan is-lung cancer; the main reason for this disease is smoking. Despite of the efforts from government and relevant agencies, smoking population in Taiwan is still increasing alarmingly and the smoking age drops in general. It should be an issue for concern, among academic community of communication, government and non-government anti-smoking agency, if there is so-called “third-person effect” to the audiences of the anti-smoking advertisement. According to the empirical study of third-person effect, “cognitive difference of first and third-person effect” is influenced by media content. If the media content is negative or unnecessary (e.g. violence, pornography, negative commercial and etc.), the respondents would consider the media content has less effect on themselves and more effect on others; however, if the media content is positive or necessary (e.g. public announcement and guidance, news report and etc.), the respondents would consider the media content has more effect on themselves and less effect on others or they would consider there is little difference of the effect on themselves and others. For the past years, there are few researches on third-person effect in Taiwan; and it needs to be investigated and researched that if there is third-person effect in media messages of public announcement and guidance. The purpose of this study is to investigate if the respondents have third-person effect cognition towards anti-smoking advertisement. We adopted questionnaire survey, using stratified collective sampling on 470 Taipei City senior high school and occupational school students. Study results indicate the respondents tend to consider that anti-smoking advertisement has much greater effect on themselves than on others in terms of anti-smoking attitude and smoking behavior, which shows “reversed third-person effect”. We, then, examined the intensity of third-person effect by taking into account of background factors, smoking knowledge, attitude, intention and contacts with anti-smoking advertisement. Among them, there are significant differences in gender, residence status, grade, current smoking status, friends’ smoking condition, smoking attitude, smoking behavioral-intention and anti-smoking advertisement evaluation. The results indicate that the participant ( female compared with male, and third grades compared with second grades, and high evaluation compared with low evaluation of the anti-smoking advertisement ) tend to has the great effect on themselves than others; On the other hand, The Participant ( who lives with family compare with not lived with family, and smoke occasionally compared with nonsmoker, and have many friends smoking compared with other good friends smoking, and have more positive attitude about smoke, and have more possibility in smoking behavior intention, and have low evalution of the anti-smoking advertisement) tend to has the great effect on others than themselves. Although this study has verified respondents’ reversed third-person effect of anti-smoking advertisement, it is important to note that those respondents who do not live with family, who currently smoke, who have many good friends smoking, who have positive smoking attitude, who have great possibility in smoking behavioral-intention have third-person effect of anti-smoking advertisement. We hope to provide empirical case study for Taiwan public announcement and guidance regarding third-person effect in communication behavior, and also offer references in practice of smoking prevention and anti-smoking advertisement.