My future-self has (not) quit smoking: An experimental study into the effect of a future-self intervention on smoking-related self-identity constructs

Penfornis, Kristell M.; Gebhardt, Winifred A.; Rippe, Ralph C. A.; Laar, Colette van; Putte, Bas van den; Meijer, Eline

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115667

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Findings also have implications for research into smoking and identity. Although studies consistently show that people who smoke need to be able to see themselves more as non-smokers and less as smokers in order to quit successfully, less is known about how interventions may facilitate such identity change [20][21][22][29][30][31][32]. Current findings may inspire the development of identity-based interventions for smoking or other addictive behaviours.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“Boy, what are we all doing? We are crazy, really crazy”: a qualitative study of psychosocial processes around an atypical one-time smoking cessation course

Meeuwsen,

de Kleijn,

de Boer

et al. 2023

BMC Psychol

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Background Smoking prevalence is still high, which requires effective interventions that help many people who smoke at once in addition to time-consuming individual interventions. ‘I Quit’ is a large-scale smoking cessation course in The Netherlands. This qualitative study explored I Quit participants’ experiences during and after the course, and perceptions of whether and how the course may have altered their smoking behavior. Methods We performed individual semi-structured interviews with course participants (N = 21) who had either quit successfully, attempted to quit but relapsed, or had continued to smoke after ‘I Quit’. Shortly after qualitative data collection was completed, Foundation I Quit was accused in the media of a number of misbehaviors. Although unplanned, this provided a unique opportunity to explore participants’ views on alleged fraud in a second round of interviews (N = 16). Data were collected from 2016 to 2018. Results Qualitative findings showed two psychosocial processes that may explain smoking cessation after course attendance. First, the confrontation with a large group of people who smoke, of whom some had already developed smoking-related complaints, triggered identity processes both towards and away from quitting smoking. Unorthodox methods used in the course appeared to trigger identity processes. Second, social support after the course from participants’ own social network facilitated maintenance of successful quitting. The study also found that interview participants’ opinions on I Quit did not change much after allegations of fraud in the media. Conclusions Findings suggest that a one-time course might initiate psychosocial processes that could help certain smokers to gain motivation to quit, requiring a minimum of resources. Identity processes triggered by the course seem tricky as people have different ways of dealing with identity threat, some of which can be counterproductive and even result in more difficulty quitting. More research is needed to examine who can benefit from a one-time course, and who needs more support in order to quit successfully.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“Boy, what are we all doing? We are crazy, really crazy”: a qualitative study of psychosocial processes around an atypical one-time smoking cessation course

Meeuwsen,

de Kleijn,

de Boer

et al. 2023

BMC Psychol

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“…The selected commercials were of similar length (fearappeal ad: 34 s; anger-appeal ad: 30 s). The fear appeal leveraged the fear of premature death due to smoking and the impact on loved smoking, but smoke less; or [8] always to remain smoking, and not less"; adopted from Dijkstra et al, 1997 and widely used by others, e.g., Penfornis et al, 2023;Meijer et al, 2015;and Meijer et al, 2018).…”

Section: Methods and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After watching the ad in their corresponding condition, participants reported their intention to quit smoking (“When [if at all] do you intend to quit smoking?” “I intend to quit smoking [1] within 1 month; [2] within 6 months; [3] within 2 years; [4] within 5 years; [5] within 10 years; [6] sometime ever, but not within 10 years; [7] always to remain smoking, but smoke less; or [8] always to remain smoking, and not less”; adopted from Dijkstra et al, 1997 and widely used by others, e.g., Penfornis et al, 2023; Meijer et al, 2015; and Meijer et al, 2018). Participants then learned about ASH (Action on Smoking & Health), “a UK‐based public health charity set up by the Royal College of Physicians to end the harm caused by tobacco,” and saw the charity's logo and web page link.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unmasking the pivotal role of ad–target ethnic congruence in driving consumers' response to fear appeals

Talebi,

Mukherjee,

Das

2024

Psychology and Marketing

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Fear appeals are persuasive messages that scare consumers into compliance with the appeals' recommendation by highlighting a personally relevant threat. Several factors, including personality traits and message features, can influence the effectiveness of fear appeals. This article proposes an additional element that contributes to the persuasiveness of fear appeals: ethnic congruence between the fear appeal and the target audience. Specifically, this research examines the interplay of high fear arousal appeals and ad–target congruence on message persuasiveness. We operationalize congruence by ethnicity match (vs. mismatch). A series of three experiments and a follow‐up study reveal that while high fear arousal appeals are more persuasive than low‐arousal appeals in general, their effectiveness is accentuated when the target audience feels congruent with the elements of the appeal. We argue that when encountering fear appeals, consumers' perceived ethnic congruence with the elements of the advertisement (e.g., ad character–target ethnic similarity) affects whether they identify with the ad and thus influences their perceived vulnerability to the publicized threat. This, in turn, influences the level of the induced emotion (i.e., fear), which subsequently drives persuasiveness. We document this effect using both self‐reported and behavioral measures. We also rule out an alternative account based on appraisal‐tendency theory, which predicts that the uncertainty dimension characterizing the emotions—for example, fear (anger) is associated with high (low) uncertainty—explains the results. The findings highlight the importance of representing diverse characters in marketing and public policy campaigns relying on fear appeals.

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Targeting key risk factors for cardiovascular disease in at-risk individuals: developing a digital, personalized and real-time intervention to facilitate smoking cessation and physical activity (Preprint)

Versluis¹,

Penfornis²,

Burg³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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UNSTRUCTURED Background and objective: Smoking and physical inactivity are two key preventable risk factors of cardiovascular disease. Yet, as with most health behaviors, they are difficult to change. In the interdisciplinary Perfect Fit project, scientists from different fields join forces to develop an evidence-based virtual coach that supports smokers in quitting smoking and increasing their physical activity. Intervention content, design and implementation, and lessons learned are presented to support other research groups working on similar projects. Methods: Six different approaches were used and combined to support the development of the Perfect Fit virtual coach. The approaches used are: (1) literature reviews, (2) empirical studies, (3) collaboration with end-users, (4) content and technical development sprints, (5) interdisciplinary collaboration, and (6) iterative proof-of-concept implementation. Results: The Perfect Fit intervention integrates evidence-based behavior change techniques with new techniques focused on identity change, big data science, sensor technology, and personalized real-time coaching. Intervention content of the virtual coaching matches the individual needs of the end users. Lessons learned include ways to optimally implement and tailor interactions with the virtual coach (e.g., clearly explain why the user is asked for input, tailor the timing and the frequency of the intervention components). Concerning the development process, lessons learned include strategies for effective interdisciplinary collaboration and technical development (e.g., finding a good balance between end-users wishes and legal possibilities). Conclusion: The Perfect Fit development process was interactive, iterative, and challenging at times. Our experiences and lessons learned can inspire and benefit others.

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My future-self has (not) quit smoking: An experimental study into the effect of a future-self intervention on smoking-related self-identity constructs

Cited by 3 publications

References 42 publications

“Boy, what are we all doing? We are crazy, really crazy”: a qualitative study of psychosocial processes around an atypical one-time smoking cessation course

“Boy, what are we all doing? We are crazy, really crazy”: a qualitative study of psychosocial processes around an atypical one-time smoking cessation course

Unmasking the pivotal role of ad–target ethnic congruence in driving consumers' response to fear appeals

Targeting key risk factors for cardiovascular disease in at-risk individuals: developing a digital, personalized and real-time intervention to facilitate smoking cessation and physical activity (Preprint)

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