Abstract

In the last few years, Malaysia government has put in a lot of efforts in order to reduce the number of smokers
especially youths in Malaysia. Unfortunately, the numbers of smokers are still increasing according to Global
Adult Survey Tobacco (2012). This survey was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-smoking
advertising message and media in Malaysia. A questionnaire was used as a research instrument in this survey.
The findings showed that the respondents are “neutral” on the anti-smoking advertising messages except for the
fear message. One-way ANOVA and independent samples t-test were used to test the hypotheses. The result
from independent samples t-test shows there is a real difference between gender and effectiveness of the anti -
smoking message. However, the result from one-way ANOVA shows there is no difference between ethnic
groups and effectiveness of the anti - smoking message. Besides, the findings also showed that the Internet was
the most effective medium to promote anti-smoking advertisements. In future, the comprehensive evaluation of
anti-smoking advertising effectiveness in terms of copy, layouts and appeals needs to be studied.

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