The anti-smoking campaign, initiated in 2020, achieved significant success in reducing youth smoking rates to an all-time low of 4.4%. However, a critical moment existed when the restrained youth smoking rates could surge, precisely when transitioning from adolescence to adulthood. The smoking rate among adult males was 34%, a stark increase of 28% compared to the 6% among adolescent males.
The challenge was to understand why smoking rates explosively increased when individuals became adults. Many adolescents perceived smoking as a "choice" issue when entering adulthood. The temptation to smoke intensified as they became adults, and the primary justification for not smoking, "adolescents should not smoke," diminished. The goal was to create a campaign that empowered adolescents to choose non-smoking even as adults, maintaining the resistance to smoking developed during their youth.
The campaign drew inspiration from the "Rosenthal Effect," a psychological theory stemming from a Harvard University experiment. In this study, randomly selected students were divided into two groups, with one group arbitrarily labeled as having high IQs. Interestingly, the group labeled as having high IQs showed significantly improved academic achievements, despite no actual correlation with their IQ. This demonstrated the power of positive influence and implicit norms within a group.
Applying this psychological insight, the campaign aimed to inform today's adolescents about their historic achievement of recording the lowest smoking rates (4.4%) in history. By instilling pride in this accomplishment, the campaign sought to encourage non-smoking adolescents to view themselves as integral to sustaining this achievement even into adulthood. The strategy aimed to foster a sense of pride and solidarity among non-smoking youth.
Initially, a TV advertisement was launched to inform today's youth that they proudly achieved the historically lowest smoking rate despite various tobacco temptations. The ad showcased youths boldly facing the temptations of cigarettes, referred to as the "NoDam Members," the first generation to resist tobacco. It aimed to intensify pride in being part of the NoDam movement.
Following this, a TV commercial portrayed youths voluntarily joining the "NoDam Members," committing to a tobacco-free life even as adults. Additionally, an actual online recruitment drive for NoDam Members was conducted. To make the concept of "NoDam Members" more engaging, exclusive benefits were offered to members.
Collaboration with popular artist "Keykney" resulted in various goods and digital items (KakaoTalk emoticons, personalized images, etc.) being created and distributed. These items allowed members to authenticate their NoDam status, fostering a sense of pride and voluntary expansion of NoDam's influence.
During the campaign period, over 20,000 adolescents joined NoDam Members, and the campaign site's visitation rate increased by 20.5% compared to the previous year. Voluntary social media postings about NoDam Members and their goods continued, contributing to increased interest and positive influence.
As a result, the intention of non-smoking among adolescents exposed to the campaign became even more robust. The percentage of respondents stating they would "absolutely not smoke in the future" increased from 91% before the campaign to 93.7% after the campaign. Moreover, the intention to quit smoking among smoking adolescents increased from 52.2% before the campaign to 60.9% after the campaign, demonstrating a substantial increase in actual quitting intentions.
A significant accomplishment was the creation of an atmosphere among adolescents where they proudly shared and encouraged each other to resist tobacco. The campaign successfully fostered a cheerful and natural atmosphere for supporting non-smoking and quitting smoking. Post-campaign, 54% of adolescents responded positively to the statement "I want to encourage others to quit smoking," and 43% reported "conveying the campaign's message to others," reaffirming the impact of the NoDam campaign.
