A qualitative content analysis of cigarette health warning labels in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Rebecca J Haines-Saah; Kirsten Bell; Simone Dennis

doi:10.2105/AJPH.2014.302362

A qualitative content analysis of cigarette health warning labels in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Rebecca J Haines-Saah, Kirsten Bell, Simone Dennis

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Abstract

The legislation of health warning labels on cigarette packaging is a major focus for tobacco control internationally and is a key component of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This population-level intervention is broadly supported as a vital measure for warning people about the health consequences of smoking. However, some components of this approach warrant close critical inspection. Through a qualitative content analysis of the imagery used on health warning labels from 4 countries, we consider how this imagery depicts people that smoke. By critically analyzing this aspect of the visual culture of tobacco control, we argue that this imagery has the potential for unintended consequences, and obscures the social and embodied contexts in which smoking is experienced.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	e61-9
Journal	American Journal of Public Health
Volume	105
Issue number	2
Early online date	18 Dec 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302362
Publication status	Published - Feb 2015

Keywords

Australia
Canada
Humans
Product Labeling
Smoking
Tobacco Products
United Kingdom
United States
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Access to Document

10.2105/AJPH.2014.302362

Haines-Saah et al. 2015Final published version, 585 KBLicence: Other

Cite this

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