Content analysis reveals a transition from fear-based to gain-framed messaging in anti-smoking advertisements, highlighting strategic shifts driven by changing public health policies and media.
This study provides a comparative analysis of advertising appeals in static anti-smoking advertisements in the U.K. from the 1990s to the 2020s, using quantitative content analysis. The research evaluates print and online display advertisements, focusing on the prevalence of rational (gain-framed and statistical) and emotional (fear and guilt) appeals. The study investigates shifts in appeal usage over time and the broader societal and regulatory influences driving these changes. Findings indicate a strategic shift in public health messaging, moving from fear-based appeals in the 1990s to increased reliance on gain-framed appeals by the 2020s. This study enhances academic understanding of how advertising appeals have evolved in response to media transformations, government regulations, and social attitudes.
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Adebare et al. (2025) studied this question.
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