Portrayal of tobacco smoking in popular women's magazines: a content analysis

Background: Whilst many countries have introduced legislation prohibiting tobacco advertising and sponsorship, references to tobacco continue to appear in the media. This study quantified and characterized tobacco smoking content in popular women's magazines. Methods: The 10 top weekly and 5...

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Main Authors: Kasujee, Naseera, Britton, John, Cranwell, Jo, Lyons, Ailsa, Bains, Manpreet
Format: Article
Published: Oxford University Press 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37354/
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author Kasujee, Naseera
Britton, John
Cranwell, Jo
Lyons, Ailsa
Bains, Manpreet
author_facet Kasujee, Naseera
Britton, John
Cranwell, Jo
Lyons, Ailsa
Bains, Manpreet
author_sort Kasujee, Naseera
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: Whilst many countries have introduced legislation prohibiting tobacco advertising and sponsorship, references to tobacco continue to appear in the media. This study quantified and characterized tobacco smoking content in popular women's magazines. Methods: The 10 top weekly and 5 monthly women's magazines most popular among 15–34 year olds in Britain published over a 3-month period were included. A content analysis was conducted for both written and visual content. Results: In 146 magazines, there were 310 instances of tobacco content, the majority of which were positive towards smoking. Instances of celebrities smoking were most common (171, 55%), often in holiday or party settings that could be perceived to be luxurious, glamorous or fun. In all, 55 (18%) tobacco references related to fashion, which generally created an impression of smoking as a norm within the industry; and 34 (11%) text and image references to tobacco in TV and film. There were 50 (16%) reader-initiated mentions of smoking, typically in real-life stories or readers writing in to seek advice about smoking. Anti-smoking references including the hazards of smoking were infrequent (49; 16%). Conclusions: Although tobacco advertising is prohibited in Britain, women's magazines still appear to be promoting positive messages about tobacco and smoking.
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spelling nottingham-373542020-05-04T18:09:29Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37354/ Portrayal of tobacco smoking in popular women's magazines: a content analysis Kasujee, Naseera Britton, John Cranwell, Jo Lyons, Ailsa Bains, Manpreet Background: Whilst many countries have introduced legislation prohibiting tobacco advertising and sponsorship, references to tobacco continue to appear in the media. This study quantified and characterized tobacco smoking content in popular women's magazines. Methods: The 10 top weekly and 5 monthly women's magazines most popular among 15–34 year olds in Britain published over a 3-month period were included. A content analysis was conducted for both written and visual content. Results: In 146 magazines, there were 310 instances of tobacco content, the majority of which were positive towards smoking. Instances of celebrities smoking were most common (171, 55%), often in holiday or party settings that could be perceived to be luxurious, glamorous or fun. In all, 55 (18%) tobacco references related to fashion, which generally created an impression of smoking as a norm within the industry; and 34 (11%) text and image references to tobacco in TV and film. There were 50 (16%) reader-initiated mentions of smoking, typically in real-life stories or readers writing in to seek advice about smoking. Anti-smoking references including the hazards of smoking were infrequent (49; 16%). Conclusions: Although tobacco advertising is prohibited in Britain, women's magazines still appear to be promoting positive messages about tobacco and smoking. Oxford University Press 2016-09-27 Article PeerReviewed Kasujee, Naseera, Britton, John, Cranwell, Jo, Lyons, Ailsa and Bains, Manpreet (2016) Portrayal of tobacco smoking in popular women's magazines: a content analysis. Journal of Public Health . ISSN 1741-3850 Britain magazines media tobacco language tobacco imagery https://academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/pubmed/fdw104 doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdw104 doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdw104
spellingShingle Britain
magazines
media
tobacco language
tobacco imagery
Kasujee, Naseera
Britton, John
Cranwell, Jo
Lyons, Ailsa
Bains, Manpreet
Portrayal of tobacco smoking in popular women's magazines: a content analysis
title Portrayal of tobacco smoking in popular women's magazines: a content analysis
title_full Portrayal of tobacco smoking in popular women's magazines: a content analysis
title_fullStr Portrayal of tobacco smoking in popular women's magazines: a content analysis
title_full_unstemmed Portrayal of tobacco smoking in popular women's magazines: a content analysis
title_short Portrayal of tobacco smoking in popular women's magazines: a content analysis
title_sort portrayal of tobacco smoking in popular women's magazines: a content analysis
topic Britain
magazines
media
tobacco language
tobacco imagery
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37354/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37354/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37354/