Jornal de Comportamentos Aditivos, Terapia e Reabilitação

College Student Reactions to Drug Prevention Messages

Sharon J Davis, Amanda Burrow Barker, Asher Pimpleton and Amy Barton1

College Student Reactions to Drug Prevention Messages

Advertisements through television, radio, billboards, and magazines have been used to convey anti-drug messages since the 1980s. Many of these ads have used graphic images or scare tactics in an attempt to dissuade young people from using, yet more recently, positively toned messages have become increasingly popular. Positively toned messages tend to focus on activities young people can do besides drug use. Ninety-six college undergraduates were asked to rate a series of both scare tactic or negatively toned ads and positively toned ads across three phases. Results showed the negatively toned ads were perceived as significantly more effective during all three phases of the study.