CAN - “Don’t say ‘don’t’ in anti-gambling ads: teens”
from http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/03/02/youth-marketing.html
Last Updated: Friday, March 2, 2007 | 5:46 PM ET
CBC News
“”Don’t do it” is the wrong message to send teenagers if you want them not to gamble, a new study says.
Based on 30 focus groups with teenagers in southeastern Ontario and Montreal, two researchers concluded that it’s easy for ad campaigns designed to discourage certain behaviours to run afoul of the target audience.
Carmen Messerlian and Jeffrey Derevensky concluded that teenagers:
Reject one-sided campaigns as unrealistic.
Don’t respond to don’t do it.
Get bored with ads that are repeated too often.
In an anti-gambling campaign, the teenagers thought ads that focused on the negatives — loss of sleep, missing school or work, harm to friends and family, emotional stress and financial costs — would be most effective.
They also said they were concerned that the government makes money from gambling.
And the gambling industry didn’t escape criticism.”
continued ….
From a study that was published in the March/April issue of the Canadian Journal of Public Health.
