Effects Of Tobacco Advertising On Youths

INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The period of youth is a very delicate time in the life of an individual. It is very critical and delicate because most of the things individuals do always affect them in the future. Youthful period is characterized by zealous acts, which could be positive or negative. That is when the individual would want to feel and taste everything within his reach or environment regardless of the morality of the act or it’s effects on the individual well being.
Some of these acts could be addictive and regretted in future. A typical example of which is tobacco consumption. Tobacco consumption is one of the strongest addictions in the catalogue of addiction acts. Inspite of the known dangers, it is being consumed and advertised through the media, thus creating a negative effect on the users especially the youths. Before now, tobacco, which has been the most profitable or lucrative product, has been on adverts in all the media houses. This product, though profitable in the business is not in the health perspective.
Tobacco, which has eaten or taken raw, can be used in variety of ways. It can be in the powdered form (snuff), cigarette, pipes etc. when one gets used to filling one’s blood stream with nicotine ( a substance in the tobacco) one is apt to feel uncomfortable when it’s level decreases in the blood stream. So it is very addictive.
Advertising being a powerful instrument of persuasion has helped in no small measure in persuading the public especially youths, to indulge in the dangerous act of tobacco consumption, an act that is threatening to destroy our youths, the supposed leader of tomorrow.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:
Apart from the fact that adolescent smokers are 50 time likely to use cocaine than non smokers, television guide (1996) states that, cigarette use is often the “gateway” to behaviours that leads to other types of risk taking, including drug and alcohol use, because these behaviours are indicators of poor self-esteem and susceptibility to poor pressure. And what is worse, tobacco advertisers are walking round the clock.
According to Awake 1996, if three million people each year around the world are dying from smoking related causes and many others quit smoking, then more than three million new users must be found annually. And they succeed more among the youths who are always out of a misguided adventure.
The health implications of smoking are almost innumerable. They include lung cancer, heart disease, breast cancer, hearty asthma, leukemia, and so on.
Socially, youths who indulge in smoking soon find out that their inter –personal relationship with non-smokers and elders is not very mutual and economically, because of the psychological and physical dependence on nicotine, there is need to borrow to buy to satisfy the coordinate urge. This urge is so grave because of the addictive nature of nicotine.
The statistics on the hazards of tobacco smoking that is so glaring that one wondered why people still smoke.
It is the light of the above ugly sides of tobacco smoking that a survey of its effects among youths to determine what motivates them into picking the habit becomes necessary. The cause of the study would have been run when an answer to this question has been found.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of this study are:
a. To find out the extent to which tobacco advertising influences youths in forming the habit of smoking.
b. To find out the extent to which tobacco advertising influence youths in keeping at the habit of smoking.
c. To find out the extent to which tobacco advertising influences youths as they spend money on commodity and to prefer solution to the adverts effects to tobacco consumption.

SIGNIFICNCE OF THE STUDY
Research is usually the first step in finding answers to peculiar problems. This research will therefore be of immense benefit to government as well as helping in finding the best way of turn lead to a great reduction of tobacco consumption, which will in turn lead to a great reduction of tobacco related diseases such as cancer of the lungs, black lung bronchitis and others.
This research will also satisfy the academic interest of students in the effects of tobacco advertising on youths. It will also be of great help to other researchers, as the research will add to the pool of knowledge existing in the field of study.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The main aim of this research is to examine and evaluate the effect of tobacco advertising on youths. To this end, the researchers would specifically want to find answer to the following question:
1. Does tobacco advertising influence the mood of the youths and this affects them in forming the habit of smoking?
2. Does tobacco advertising re-enforce the habit of smoking among youths?
3. Does tobacco smoking in any way affect the economic power of the youths in particular and the pubic in general?
4. does tobacco smoking among youths affect social fabric of the society?
5. is there any solution to the glaring negatives effects of tobacco consumption?

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS:
A hypothesis is a tentative statement about phenomenon the validity of which is unknown. The hypothesis could be confirmed or disapproved after subjecting it to a test. Therefore in this study, we have formulated the following hypothesis.
H1: advertising of tobacco product plays a supportive role to tobacco consumption
H0: advertising of tobacco product does not play a supportive roles to tobacco consumption
H2: tobacco adverts reinforce the habit of smoking among youths.
H0: tobacco adverts do not re-enforce the habit of smoking among youths.
H3: tobacco adverts affects the economic power of the youths and the public in general.
H0: tobacco adverts do not affect the economic power of their youths and the public in general.
H4: tobacco smoking among youth affects the social fabric of the society.
H0: tobacco smoking among youths does not affect the social fabric of the society.
H5: tobacco advertising influences the mood of the youths and thus affect them in formulating the habit of smoking.
H0: tobacco advertising does not in any way influence the mood of the youths and this affect them informing.

CONCEPTUAL DEFINITIONS:
EFFECTS: Impression produced on them and of a spectator, hearer or reader.
TOBACCO: plants having leaves which are dried, cured and used for smoking un pipes cigars, cigarettes or as a snuff.
ADVERTISING: the act of making things known to people by printing notices in newspaper or by other mean, like radio or television.
NICOTINE: poisonous oily substance found in tobacco leaves.
YOUTHS: the state of time of being young.
INFLUENCE: power to affect somebody’s character, believes or action through example fear or admiration.
CONSUMPTION: using up food, energy or material.
GOVERNMENT: a body that make, interpret and carryout laid down rules and regulations in a state.
MEDIA: channels through which things are passed through.
ECONOMY: system for management and use of resources.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITION
EFFECTS: effect in this context means the after math of tobacco advertising on the youths.
TOBACCO: it is used in the study to expose the means through which cigarette of different brands are produced.
ADVERTISING: this study, advertising is used as a means of increasing the consumption of tobacco product or creating awareness or communicating the public about the existence of some brands of cigarette and other tobacco products.
NICOTINE: it is used in this context to show the negative effect of the poisonous substance in tobacco endangers health.
YOUTHS: in this study, youths are used to bring out people that are mostly affected by tobacco advert because they are the most adventurous populaces in the society.
INFLUENCE: influence is used in this study to show the extent tobacco advertising lures youths into tobacco consumption
CONSUMPTION: in this context consumption is used to show the intake of tobacco by the youths.
GOVERNMENT: government is used in this context as body that has the power to issue command on how to curtail the habit of tobacco consumption.
MEDIA: media in this context means the channel through which tobacco adverts are relayed.
ECONOMY: economy is used in this context to evaluate the appropriateness of the money allocated to tobacco products and consumption.
ASSUMPTIONS: it is assumed that youths engage in tobacco consumption and that advertising is the oly one force among several forces which interest in a complex manner in making the youths develop the ac of being addicted to tobacco.
Also that tobacco products are solution on Nigerian media of communication and that they sometimes contain attractive pact ages.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
A survey of this nature does not lie down to determines the whole garment of effects of advertising of tobacco products on youths. This research work covered only students in institute of management and technology. The researchers restricted their investigations to students in,
Department of mass communication.
Department of Business administration
Department of Accountancy
Department of marketing, all in institute of management and technology, Enugu. Information derived from them was used to make a generalization on the effect of tobacco advertising on youths.
Regarding the limitation of the study, the researchers were given a relatively short time frame to complete the study.
Again, the researchers were exposed for the first time to the process of a research project. It took us reasonable time to get acquainted with the format. Besides, the financial involvement in schooling under the present economic situation is not amusing.
Being students and with no other income except the measure allocation from our parents, the researchers found it a bit difficult to carry out a more comprehensive work.
Finally, our respondents were at first reluctant to fill the questionnaire, but a letter from us assuring them of the confidently of their responses did the trick.