Research and evaluation over the years has indicated that people living in lower socio-economic areas are just as motivated to quit smoking as those in higher socio-economic areas. However, relapse is significantly higher.
Lack of support, fear of judgement, and discouragement after perceived failure were found to be the main barriers to successful quit attempts. To address this, Cancer Council Victoria’s Behavioural Science team launched a geo-targeting social media campaign to change negative perceptions of quitting and encourage more attempts to quit.
Focussing on six intervention local government areas (LGAs) and six control LGAs, geo-targeting occurred between May and July 2022 and coincided with a mass media quit smoking campaign in the market.
The campaign (pictured) featured positive messages to encourage people who smoke to quit as well as messages for their family and friends to grow their understanding of the quit journey and how to better support their loved ones.
At its conclusion, those who recalled seeing the campaign reported being significantly more confident in their capacity to quit, with 71 per cent saying it made them feel quitting was achievable and 64 per cent saying it made them feel supported.
Family and friends of people who smoke who recalled the campaign also reported similar improved perceptions, with 69 per cent saying it made them feel motivated to support loved ones to quit.
“The campaign was successful in increasing belief that they could quit, increased their perceived social support, and increased quitting behaviours. So, we did see an increase in sustained quitting, which is fantastic,” said Sarah Durkin, Principal Research Fellow, Behavioural Science Division.
It was more difficult, however, to convince people that slip ups were not a failure and that quitting is a process that takes practice. Encouraging and empowering people who smoke to keep trying will now continue with modified messaging, while also addressing their loved ones to improve support systems.
“By reducing the barriers to quit and reinforcing that it's worth it for people to have another go, we can encourage people to be supportive of each other and quit together,” said Sarah.
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