Beliefs, Attitudes, Intentions, and a Smoking-Cessation Program: A Planned Behavior Analysis of Communication Campaign Development

Abstract

This study combines insights from research on communication campaigns with a social psychological theory of planned behavior and the Purdue stepped approach model of health-care delivery. This synthesis is applied in a study of beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral intentions and interests with respect to participation in a smoking-cessation program. A telephone survey based on a probability sample of 191 student smokers indicates moderate prepromotional interest in a stepped cessation program. The strongest predictor of intention to participate is attitude toward participation, followed by perceived normative expectation and control belief. Analysis of attitude-relevant beliefs indicates that program promotion must target both expectancies for healthful outcomes of program participation and evaluations of those outcomes. We also discuss the instability of student smoking, self-perceptions of smoking, and self-reports of smoking.