The Age-related Positivity Effect and Tobacco Warning Labels.

OBJECTIVES: This study tested whether age is a factor in viewing time for tobacco warning labels. The approach drew from previous work demonstrating an age-related positivity effect, whereby older adults show preferences toward positive and away from negative stimuli.

METHODS: Participants were 295 daily smokers from Appalachian Ohio (age range: 21-68). All participants took part in an eye-tracking paradigm that captured the attention paid to elements of health warning labels in the context of magazine advertisements. Participants also reported on their past cessation attempts and their beliefs about the dangers of smoking.

RESULTS: Consistent with theory on age-related positivity, older age predicted weaker beliefs about smoking risks, but only among those with no past-year quit attempts. In support of our primary hypothesis, older age was also related to a lower percentage of time spent viewing tobacco warning labels, both overall (text + image) and for the graphic image alone. These associations remained after controlling for cigarettes smoked per day.

CONCLUSIONS: Overall, findings suggest that age is an important consideration for the design of future graphic warning labels and other tobacco risk communications. For older adults, warning labels may need to be tailored to overcome the age-related positivity effect.