Exploring US college students' perceived credibility of the world's largest tobacco company's promise for smoke-free future.

Abstract

Objective: Philip Morris International's Smoke-Free Future (SFF) campaign pledged to replace conventional cigarettes with smoke-free alternatives, promoting smokers' health and combating smoking-related misinformation.

Method: We interviewed 25 college students to assess their perceived credibility of SFF messages and interest in smoke-free products.

Results: Nearly half couldn't identify a tobacco company as the message source, speculating it came from public health entities. Many overlooked profit motives, instead seeing SFF as genuinely supportive of smoking cessation and being aligned with public health. About a third found the message credible, citing factors like lay narrators and language/images signifying science. Most expressed interest in smoke-free products, driven by curiosity and misunderstanding of their health implications.

Conclusion: Our study underscores concern that recent tobacco corporate communications may influence young people's interest in these products, even without explicit promotion, necessitating better education about industry tactics to disguise their identity with health and science initiatives, while undermining tobacco control efforts.