Learning Objectives: Describe the relative effectiveness of merchant education and ordinance-based approaches to limiting point of purchase advertising.
Abstract: Problem/Objective. As federal and state efforts succeed in limiting mass media tobacco advertisement, point of purchase (POP) advertising increases in importance as an advertising medium. These ads, often placed in convenience stores and supermarkets at eye-level for children, contribute considerably to the promotion of tobacco use, especially among young people. In 1996 Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance (PVPSA) began efforts aimed at reducing POP advertising, including youth-run merchant education visits, letter writing campaigns, and media advocacy. In 1999 the focus shifted to the promotion of local ordinances that restrict POP advertising.
Methods. Data was collected through a standardized observation of the quantity, type and placement of POP advertising, with randomly chosen intervention and control sites. Following passage of local ordinances, standards of ordinance compliance were developed. Intervention and control sites within different regions were compared in a four-part time series analysis.
Results. In the pre-ordinance phase, stores receiving merchant education showed slightly better outcomes than control sites. During the ordnance-pending phase intervention sites were more likely to move directly into compliance than control sites. Immediate post-adoption results show a considerable increase in compliance among all sites, although up to one-third of stores remained out of compliance. Long-term compliance (up to one year following passage) was nearly universal.
Discussion. Merchant education and incentive programs appear to promote minor and temporary change in advertising practices. Ordinance-based strategies, however, achieve greater success with far less effort. Yet on-going monitoring and a history of persuasion strategies may be crucial to ordinance passage.
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