The Effect of Branding to Promote Healthy Behavior: Reducing Tobacco Use among Youth and Young Adults

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017 Dec 7;14(12):1517. doi: 10.3390/ijerph14121517.

Abstract

Policy interventions such as public health mass media campaigns disseminate messages in order to improve health-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors at the population level. Only more recently have campaigns that promote health-related behaviors adopted branding, a well-established marketing strategy, to influence how consumers think and feel about a message. This study examines whether positive brand equity for the national truth® campaign is associated with lower likelihood of cigarette use over time using the nationally representative Truth Longitudinal Cohort of youth and young adults, aged 15-21. Logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between brand equity and the likelihood of reporting past 30-day smoking over a 12-month period. Respondents who reported positive brand equity were significantly less likely to report past 30-day smoking 12 months later (OR = 0.66, p < 0.05), controlling for covariates known to influence tobacco use behavior. Findings also translate the effect size difference to a population estimate of more than 300,000 youth and young adults having been prevented from current smoking over the course of a year. Building brand equity is a strategic process for health promotion campaigns, not only to improve message recall and salience but also to influence behavioral outcomes.

Keywords: brand equity; branding; health behavior; health promotion campaign; smoking; tobacco.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Cohort Studies
  • Health Behavior*
  • Health Promotion / methods*
  • Humans
  • Smoking
  • Smoking Prevention / methods*
  • Tobacco Use / prevention & control*
  • Young Adult