title: The effect of marijuana scenes in anti-marijuana public service announcements on adolescents' evaluation of ad effectiveness.
abstract: This study explored the possible negative impact of a specific ad feature-marijuana scenes-on adolescents' perceptions of ad effectiveness. A secondary data analysis was conducted on adolescents' evaluations of 60 anti-marijuana public service announcements that were a part of national and state anti-drug campaigns directed at adolescents. The major finding of the study was that marijuana scenes in anti-marijuana public service announcements negatively affected ad liking and thought valence toward the ads among adolescents who were at higher levels of risk for marijuana use. This negative impact was not reversed in the presence of strong anti-marijuana arguments. The results may be used to partially explain the lack of effectiveness of the anti-drug media campaign. It may also help researchers design more effective anti-marijuana ads by isolating adverse elements in the ads that may elicit boomerang effects in the target population.
authors.affiliation: Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA. kangyahui_2000@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Yahui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Joseph N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Cappella
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fishbein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000329:Advertising; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011634:Public Health; D014481:United States