An examination of attitudes towards public advertisements and visual messages on the packages from the social marketing perspevtive: The example of tobacco products

Public service ads by various State Offices and NGOs, with a consant increase in numbers, have attained a greater place in our lives. Results of surveys shows that these ads, especially those with the issue of health. In the first part of the study, the concept of marketing, the changes in marketing notion and concepts of social marketing have been studied. In the second, the history of tobacco in both Turkey and the world, its varieties grown and the policies towards the import and export along with tobacco companies have been considered. In the final part, tables concerning survey methodology, universe, sampling and survey analysis have been given. In the survey, the attitude of individuals regardless of whether they smoke or not towards visual and written mesages on the cigarette packages and public service ads has been studied. The results show that, in terms of gender, women watch these ads more intently than men and that women have slightly more optimistic approach to the reduction of tobacco consumption and prevention. They also indicate that public service ads on hazards of tobacco consumption vary in terms of the audience's age groups; those over 46 think that these ads help quit tobacco and related products and those below 25 feel vice versa. That consumers reaction tovards these ads differ according to their possession of such hazardous habis and that they are less effective amongst the consumers than amongst non smokers have been concluded in the study.