Impact of market value on human mate choice decisions.
(1/893)
Mate choice strategies are a process of negotiation in which individuals make bids that are constrained by their status in the market place. Humans provide an unusual perspective on this because we can measure their explicitly expressed preferences before they are forced to make any choices. We use advertisements placed in newspaper personal columns to examine, first, the extent to which evolutionary considerations affect the level of competition (or market value) during the reproductively active period of people's lives and, second, the extent to which market value influences individual's willingness to make strong demands of prospective mates. We show that female market value is determined principally by women's fecundity (and, to a lesser extent, reproductive value), while male market value is determined by men's earning potential and the risk of future pairbond termination (the conjoint probability that the male will either die or divorce his partner during the next 20 years). We then show that these selection preferences strongly influence the levels of demands that men and women make of prospective partners (although older males tend to overestimate their market value). (+info)
Recognition of cigarette brand names and logos by primary schoolchildren in Ankara, Turkey.
(2/893)
OBJECTIVE: To assess the smoking behaviour of primary schoolchildren and their ability to recognise brand names and logos of widely advertised cigarettes, compared with other commercial products intended for children. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey in classroom settings using a questionnaire designed to measure attitudes towards smoking and the recognition of brand names and logos for 16 food, beverage, cigarette, and toothpaste products. SETTING: Ankara, Turkey. SUBJECTS: 1093 children (54.6% boys, 44.4% girls) aged 7-13 years (mean = 10, SD = 1), from grades 2-5. The student sample was taken from three primary schools--one school in each of three residential districts representing high, middle, and low income populations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of ever-smoking, recognition of brand names and logos. RESULTS: Prevalence of ever-smoking was 11.7% overall (13.9% among boys and 9.1% among girls; p < 0.05). Children aged eight years or less had a higher prevalence of ever-smoking (19.6%) than older children (p < 0.002). Ever-smoking prevalence did not differ significantly across the three school districts. Ever-smoking prevalence was higher among children with at least one parent who smoked (15.3%) than among those whose parents did not (4.8%) (p < 0.001). Brand recognition rates ranged from 58.1% for Chee-tos (a food product) to 95.2% for Samsun (a Turkish cigarette brand). Recognition rates for cigarette brand names and logos were 95.2% and 80.8%, respectively, for Samsun; 84.0% and 90.5%, respectively, for Camel; and 92.1% and 69.5%, respectively, for Marlboro. The Camel logo and the Samsun and Marlboro brand names were the most highly recognised of all product logos and brand names tested. CONCLUSIONS: The high recognition of cigarette brand names and logos is most likely the result of tobacco advertising and promotion. Our results indicate the need to implement comprehensive tobacco control measures in Turkey. (+info)
Tobacco control advocates must demand high-quality media campaigns: the California experience.
(3/893)
OBJECTIVE: To document efforts on the part of public officials in California to soften the media campaign's attack on the tobacco industry and to analyse strategies to counter those efforts on the part of tobacco control advocates. METHODS: Data were gathered from interviews with programme participants, direct observation, written materials, and media stories. In addition, internal documents were released by the state's Department of Health Services in response to requests made under the California Public Records Act by Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights. Finally, a draft of the paper was circulated to 11 key players for their comments. RESULTS: In 1988 california voters enacted Proposition 99, an initiative that raised the tobacco tax by $0.25 and allocated 20% of the revenues to anti-tobacco education. A media campaign, which was part of the education programme, directly attacked the tobacco industry, exposing the media campaign to politically based efforts to shut it down or soften it. Through use of outsider strategies such as advertising, press conferences, and public meetings, programme advocates were able to counter the efforts to soften the campaign. CONCLUSION: Anti-tobacco media campaigns that expose industry manipulation are a key component of an effective tobacco control programme. The effectiveness of these campaigns, however, makes them a target for elimination by the tobacco industry. The experience from California demonstrates the need for continuing, aggressive intervention by nongovernmental organisations in order to maintain the quality of anti-tobacco media campaigns. (+info)
Technology assessment and the drug use process.
(4/893)
This activity is designed for pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare team members, payers for health services, and healthcare executives. OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this activity, the participant should be able to: 1. Describe the rationale behind, the development of, and the advantages arising from the formulary process, and discuss the health professionals involved in the creation of formularies. 2. Describe the impact of new drug development and technology on the drug use process. 3. Discuss the functions of the pharmacy and therapeutics committee. 4. Describe the impact of consumers on the drug use process. (+info)
How patient outcomes are reported in drug advertisements.
(5/893)
OBJECTIVE: To examine how changes in outcomes are reported in drug advertisements in medical journals. QUALITY OF EVIDENCE: Advertisements from a convenience sample of 38 issues of Canadian Family Physician, Canadian Journal of Anaesthesia, Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Canadian Medical Association Journal, and the New England Journal of Medicine. MAIN MESSAGE: Method of reporting changes in clinical outcomes (relative risk reduction [RRR], absolute risk reduction [ARR], number needed to treat [NNT]), name of product, and company marketing product were sought. In the 22 advertisements included in the analysis, 11 reported results as RRRs; two reported results as RRRs, but readers could calculate ARRs or NNTs from figures given in the advertisement; and nine gave no measure of results, but readers could calculate RRRs, ARRs, or NNTs from figures given. CONCLUSIONS: Most companies report changes in outcomes as RRRs, and this bias could influence the way physicians prescribe. Changes to the rules governing journal advertising and increased emphasis on critical appraisal skills would help mitigate this bias. (+info)
Features of sales promotion in cigarette magazine advertisements, 1980-1993: an analysis of youth exposure in the United States.
(6/893)
OBJECTIVE: To examine the presence of features of sales promotion in cigarette advertising in United States magazines, and to describe trends in youth (ages 12-17) exposure to such advertising (termed "promotional advertising"). DESIGN: Analysis of 1980-1993 annual data on: (a) total pages and expenditures for "promotional advertising" (advertising that contains features of sales promotion) in 36 popular magazines (all magazines for which data were available), by cigarette brand; and (b) readership characteristics for each magazine. We defined promotional advertising as advertisements that go beyond the simple advertising of the product and its features to include one or more features of sales promotion, such as coupons, "retail value added" promotions, contests, sweepstakes, catalogues, specialty item distribution, and sponsorship of public entertainment or sporting events. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Total pages of, and expenditures for promotional advertising in magazines; and gross impressions (number of readers multiplied by the number of pages of promotional advertising) among youth and total readership. RESULTS: During the period 1980-1993, tobacco companies spent $90.2 million on promotional advertising in the 36 magazines. The proportion of promotional advertising appearing in "youth" magazines (defined as magazines with a greater than average proportion of youth readers) increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 100% in 1987. Although youth readers represented only 19% of magazine readers, the proportion of youth gross impressions to total gross impressions of tobacco promotional advertising exceeded this value throughout the entire period 1985-1993, peaking at 33% in 1987. The five "youth" cigarette brands (defined as brands smoked by at least 2.5% of smokers aged 10-15 years in 1993) accounted for 59% of promotional advertising in all magazines, but for 83% of promotional advertising in youth magazines during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: In their magazine advertising, cigarette companies are preferentially exposing young people to advertisements that contain sales promotional features. (+info)
Sharing the blame: smoking experimentation and future smoking-attributable mortality due to Joe Camel and Marlboro advertising and promotions.
(7/893)
BACKGROUND: Despite public denials, internal tobacco company documents indicate that adolescents have long been the target of cigarette advertising and promotional activities. Recent longitudinal evidence suggests that 34% of new experimentation occurs because of advertising and promotions. OBJECTIVE: To apportion responsibility for smoking experimentation and future smoking-attributable mortality among major cigarette brands attractive to young people (Camel and Marlboro). DATA SOURCES, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Data were from confirmed never-smoking adolescents (12-17 years old) responding to the 1993 (n = 2659) and 1996 (n = 2779) population-based California Tobacco Surveys. MAIN OUTCOMES: Adolescents named the brand of their favourite cigarette advertisements and tobacco promotional items. Using these "market shares" and the relative importance of advertising and promotions in encouraging smoking, we estimated how many new experimenters from 1988 to 1998 in the United States can be attributed to Camel and Marlboro. From other data on the natural history of smoking, we projected how many future deaths in the United States can be attributed to each brand. RESULTS: Although Camel advertisements were favoured more than Marlboro and other brands in 1993 and 1996, the "market share" for promotional items shifted markedly during this period from Camel and other brands towards Marlboro. We estimated that between 1988 and 1998, there will be 7.9 million new experimenters because of tobacco advertising and promotions. This will result in 4.7 million new established smokers: 2.1, 1.2, and 1.4 million due to Camel, Marlboro, and other brands' advertising and promotions, respectively. Of these, 1.2 million will eventually die from smoking-attributable diseases: 520,000 from Camel, 300,000 from Marlboro, and the remainder from other brands. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis provides a reasonable first estimate at sharing the blame for the long-term health consequences of smoking among the major brands that encourage adolescents to start smoking. (+info)
Psychosocial predictors of cigarette smoking among adolescents living in public housing developments.
(8/893)
BACKGROUND: Adolescents residing in low-income public housing developments in inner-city regions may be particularly vulnerable to a variety of risk factors associated with cigarette smoking. OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the aetiology of cigarette smoking among adolescents living in public housing developments. DESIGN, SETTING, AND SUBJECTS: We examined predictors of smoking from four domains: background characteristics, social influences, behavioural control, and psychosocial characteristics using a sample of seventh graders (mean age 12.9 years) who reside in public housing developments in New York City (n = 624). The addresses of participants in a larger investigation of the aetiology and prevention of smoking were checked to determine if they lived in one of 335 public housing developments in New York City. All participants living in public housing developments were included in the current study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: African-American and Hispanic students completed questionnaires about their cigarette use, social pressures to smoke, smoking attitudes, smoking knowledge, and smoking resistance skills. Students also provided information on demographic and behavioural control (such as church and school attendance). RESULTS: Logistic regression analyses indicated that social influences from friends and family members predicted smoking. Psychosocial characteristics such as advertising resistance skills, anti-smoking attitudes, and refusal skills lowered the odds of smoking. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that smoking prevention approaches targeted at these young people should increase their awareness of social pressures to smoke, correct misperceptions about the prevalence of smoking among friends, and teach relevant psychosocial skills. (+info)