Comment on "American media and the smoking-related behaviors of Asian adolescents"

In the March 2003 issue of the Journal of Advertising Research, Marvin Goldberg suggests that correlations found in his study correspond with findings of other studies and, hence, suggest a causal relationship between exposure to cigarette advertising (as well as promotional items and American movies) and the smoking-related behaviors of Hong Kong adolescents. In an earlier comment, Robert Reitter pointed out that the study provides no evidence of causality. We point out additional methodological flaws including inappropriate reclassification of data, the need to consider potential sources of bias, and lack of internal consistency of reported data. Additionally, the design of the study does not allow for a test of the proposed theories. We note that the study cites only literature that supports the author's views on the effects of cigarette advertising. The weight of the evidence from the academic literature suggests that (1) advertising does not play a significant role in smoking initiation; (2) advertising does not increase primary demand for cigarettes; and (3) advertising bans do not appear to reduce demand for cigarettes in mature markets.