Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of the TIPS Awareness Campaign on American Tobacco Use

Since 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducts an annual federally funded national media campaign aimed at reducing smoking. Several studies have shown that this campaign has resulted in an increase in quit attempts and the number of people who quit smoking permanently.

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of premature death and preventable disease in the United States, with more than 480,000 deaths and 16 million Americans living with at least one serious tobacco-related illness each year. The campaign, titled Tips From Former Smokers, features former smokers facing devastating illnesses and disabilities caused by their tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke. The campaign also showcases, through personal stories, the impact of smoking on other family members.

The evaluation of the Tips campaign suggests that the emotions elicited by real images of the health effects of smoking have a significant impact on smokers' motivation to quit and to seek help to quit.

A cost-effective campaign that has contributed to significantly reducing smoking prevalence

According to a recent study[1], the Tips campaign, between 2012 and 2018, led to 642,200 people permanently quitting smoking, which prevented nearly 130,000 premature deaths, corresponding to approximately 800,000 life years gained, or even 1.38 million life years gained taking into account the quality life year criterion. Finally, a saving of $7.3 billion in spending in the health sector was achieved.

A previous study[2] following the first campaign in 2012, had enabled 100,000 people to be counted who had completely stopped smoking for an investment of 48 million dollars, or 480 $ per smoker who had stopped, 390 $ per year of life saved and 270 $ per year of life gained adjusted for quality of life, a modest investment compared to the 50,000 $ per year of life gained considered justified for other health interventions[3].

The importance of large-scale awareness campaigns

A report[4] The National Cancer Institute (NCI) concluded that media campaigns are effective in reducing smoking among both youth and adults. In particular, images that induce strong emotions have the greatest impact on viewers, and young people also respond positively to campaigns aimed at adults. A report from the Surgeon General[5] confirms that adolescents respond particularly well to media campaigns that induce strong negative emotions, by appealing to the health consequences of active and passive smoking. It is recommended that these high-impact national media campaigns be broadcast for several successive months over at least a decade, similar to the Tips campaign. Such large-scale campaigns are essential to counteract the $8 billion per year[6] spent in the United States by cigarette companies on marketing their products.

Keywords: United States, campaign, media, awareness

©Generation Without Tobacco

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[1] Shrestha SS, Davis K, Mann N, Taylor N, Nonnemaker J, Murphy-Hoefer R, Trivers KF, King BA, Babb S, Armor BS. Cost Effectiveness of the Tips From Former Smokers Campaign—United States, 2012−2018 American Journal of Preventive Medicine; 2021 [2] Xu, Xin, et al., “Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the First Federally Funded Antismoking Campaign,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2014. [3] Big SD. Assessing cost-effectiveness in healthcare: history of the $50,000 per QALY threshold. Expert Rev Pharmacoecon Outcomes Res. 2008 Apr;8(2):165-78. doi:10.1586/14737167.8.2.165. PMID: 20528406. [4] National Cancer Institute, The Role of the Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use, Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph No. 19, NIH Pub. No. 07-6242, June 2008. See also, Biener, L. et al., “How Broadcast Volume and Emotional Content Affect Youth Recall of Anti-Tobacco Advertising,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 35(1):14-19, July 2008 [5] National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (US) Office on Smoking and Health. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US); 2012. PMID: 22876391. [6] Federal Trade Commission, Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report for 2018, Washington: Federal Trade Commission, 2019 National Committee Against Smoking |