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Icons for health effects of cigarette smoke: a test of semiotic type

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Abstract

We sought to identify icons to effectively communicate health harms of chemicals in cigarette smoke. Participants were a convenience sample of 701 U.S. adults. A within-subjects online experiment explored the effects of icon semiotic type: symbolic (arbitrary, most abstract), indexical, and iconic (representative, most concrete). Outcomes were perceived representation, affect toward smoking, elaboration, perceived severity, and perceived effectiveness. For not-easy-to-visualize harms of cancer and addiction, symbolic icons received the highest ratings (all p < .001). For easy-to-visualize symptoms of heart attack/stroke, indexical icons received the highest ratings (all p < .001). For easy-to-visualize harm of reproductive organ damage, the iconic image did best (all p < .001). Icon type often had a larger impact among participants with higher health literacy. Symbolic icons may be most effective for health effects not easily visualized. Iconic or indexical icons may be more effective for health effects attributable to specific body parts or symptoms.

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Acknowledgements

Research reported in this publication was supported by Grant Number P50CA180907-03S1 from the National Cancer Institute and FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or the Food and Drug Administration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Media and Journalism, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 384 Carroll Hall (CB 3365), Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3365, USA

    Allison J. Lazard

  2. Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Annie Schmidt, M. Justin Byron, Marcella H. Boynton & Noel T. Brewer

  3. Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Huyen Vu, M. Justin Byron, Marcella H. Boynton & Noel T. Brewer

  4. Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Ellen Peters

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  1. Allison J. Lazard
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Correspondence to Allison J. Lazard.

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Conflict of interest

Allison J. Lazard, Annie Schmidt, Huyen Vu, M. Justin Byron, Ellen Peters, Marcella H. Boynton, and Noel T. Brewer declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and animal rights and Informed consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all participants for being included in the study.

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Lazard, A.J., Schmidt, A., Vu, H. et al. Icons for health effects of cigarette smoke: a test of semiotic type. J Behav Med 40, 641–650 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-017-9833-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-017-9833-3

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