Monday, March 05, 2007

"Don't do it" is the wrong message to send teenagers if you want them not to
gamble, a new study says. Based on 30 focus groups with teenagers in
southeastern Ontario and Montreal, two researchers concluded that it's easy
for ad campaigns designed to discourage certain behaviours to run afoul of
the target audience.
Carmen Messerlian and Jeffrey Derevensky concluded that teenagers: Reject
one-sided campaigns as unrealistic. Don't respond to don't do it. Get bored
with ads that are repeated too often. In an anti-gambling campaign, the
teenagers thought ads that focused on the negatives - loss of sleep, missing
school or work, harm to friends and family, emotional stress and financial
costs - would be most effective. They also said they were concerned that the
government makes money from gambling. And the gambling industry didn't
escape criticism.