The FDA's Graphic Imagery: A Step in the Right Direction

Two years ago, President Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act into law which requires the FDA to beef up warning labels on cigarette packs. Instead of containing text only, the new labels will feature a graphic image that covers 50% of the front and back of each cigarette pack. This week, the FDA released the nine images it will be placing on the packages. They include a man smoking through a tracheotomy, a dead man with a T-incision (apparently after his autopsy), and an image of a diseased pair of lungs placed side-by-side with a healthy pair. Previous studies by psychologists have shown that graphic images like these encourage thoughts of quitting in smokers. The FDA has taking this into account by adding a 1-800 number on every pack which directs the smoker to a toll-free line offering help to those wishing to quit.

These results are backed up by experiments in behavioral economics which have shown that images like these are effective in deterring consumption of cigarettes by lowering their demand. In a study published by Kenyon College, economists rated the amount adult smokers would be willing to pay for either A) a regular pack of cigarettes with the current warning label B) a pack with a larger text-only warning label on the front C) a pack with a graphic image covering 50% of the front and back, and D) a "plain packaged" pack with a graphic image where all signature advertising such as the company's logo has been removed .

As part of the study, subjects were given a sum of money for their participation, presented a pack of cigarettes and asked to place a bid for how much they were willing to pay for the pack. After this process, an arbitrary "true" value of the pack is revealed. If the participant's bid was higher than the "true" value, then he purchases the pack for his asking price; if his bid is lower, he does not receive the cigarettes. By making participants monetarily accountable for their bids, the experiment possesses a high degree of external validity.

At the conclusion of the experiment, the results showed that, on average, the subjects were willing to pay $3.52 for the control pack and $3.43 for the pack with the large text-only label -- exhibiting a modest decrease in demand. When the graphic images were added, however, the asking price plummeted to $3.11, and when logos were removed, bids dropped even lower down to $2.93.

This experiment exhibits the efficacy of pictorial warning labels and therefore supports the FDA's new deterrence technique. It also demonstrates the potential to decrease demand further by instituting a "plain packaging" rule which strips logos from cigarette packages. As of now, no country has laws mandating plain packaging, and cigarette companies are sure to levy lawsuits citing free speech if such a statute were implemented (much like they did in response to the current law). Despite this, America should take the lead on this type of legislation like we did 45 years ago in becoming the first country to mandate warning labels on cigarette packs. Given that cigarettes account for 443,000 deaths every year in America - the equivalent of a 9/11 happening every two and a half days - the government should be doing all it can to decrease the demand for this deadly substance.