Effect of Viewing Smoking Scenes in Motion Pictures on Subsequent Smoking Desire in Audiences in South Korea

BACKGROUND: In the modern era of heightened awareness of public health, smoking scenes in movies remain relatively free from public monitoring. The effect of smoking scenes in movies on the promotion of viewers’ smoking desire remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to explore whether exposure of adolescent smokers to images of smoking in fılms could stimulate smoking behavior. METHODS: Data were derived from a national Web-based sample survey of 748 Korean high-school students. Participants aged 16-18 years were randomly assigned to watch three short video clips with or without smoking scenes. After adjusting covariates using propensity score matching, paired sample t test and logistic regression analyses compared the difference in smoking desire before and after exposure of participants to smoking scenes. RESULTS: For male adolescents, cigarette craving was significantly higher in those who watched movies with smoking scenes than in the control group who did not view smoking scenes (t(307.96)=2.066, P<.05). In the experimental group, too, cigarette cravings of adolescents after viewing smoking scenes were significantly higher than they were before watching smoking scenes (t(161.00)=2.867, P<.01). After adjusting for covariates, more impulsive adolescents, particularly males, had significantly higher cigarette cravings: adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 3.40 (95% CI 1.40-8.23). However, those who actively sought health information had considerably lower cigarette cravings than those who did not engage in information-seeking: aOR 0.08 (95% CI 0.01-0.88). CONCLUSIONS: Smoking scenes in motion pictures may increase male adolescent smoking desire. Establishing a standard that restricts the frequency of smoking scenes in films and assigning a smoking-related screening grade to films is warranted.