Media Literacy
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As a result, this study tests the effectiveness of a two-year program that relied on media literacy
training as a key to tobacco use prevention among adolescents in western Washington state.
Mediated Tobacco Portrayals and Adolescents
Researchers, scholars and others regularly criticize movies, television and other mass
media for directly and indirectly contributing to smoking among adolescents (Chung, Garfield,
Rathouz, & Lauderdale, 2002; CDC, 2000; Perry, 1999), with tobacco advertising being a
primary concern. Chen and his coauthors (2002) found receptivity toward tobacco
advertisements predicted cigarette smoking among adolescents, and the tobacco industry uses a
variety of marketing tools to encourage consumer purchase, increase market share and attract
new customers. In fact, children and teenagers comprise most of the tobacco industry’s new
customers (CDC, 2000). Consistent with this research, Wakefield and his colleagues found that
special promotions and point-of-purchase advertising by tobacco companies were associated
with a greater likelihood of teens smoking a particular cigarette brands (Wakefield, Ruel,
Chaloupka, Slater, & Kaufman, 2002). In addition, research results show participants’
experiences with tobacco company promotions such as Camel Cash are strongly associated with
higher levels of susceptibility for tobacco use (Altman, Levine, Coeytaux, Slade, & Jaffe, 1996).
Perry’s (1999) review of tobacco company documents asserts that tobacco companies directly
target young people and interpret reductions in youth smoking as a negative trend. Together
these findings suggest that adolescents are a lucrative market for tobacco companies, who
directly and indirectly target their marketing efforts at young people in an effort to attract new
consumers and build brand loyalty at a young age.
Convention