Published

2025-03-14

Visual Nudges and Smoking Prevention: Exploring Implicit and Explicit Emotional Responses to Graphic Health Warnings

Empujones visuales y prevención del tabaquismo: Exploración de las respuestas emocionales implícitas y explícitas a las advertencias sanitarias gráficas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15446/rcp.v34n1.115255

Keywords:

Nudges, Graphic Health Warnings, Automatic Processing, Controlled Processing, Implicit Cognition, Smoking (en)

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This article presents two studies (N = 301) investigating the implicit and explicit effects of graphic health warnings (GHWs) on smoking prevention. Framed within the intersection of implicit cognition and bounded rationality models, we aim to characterize GHWs as Type 1 nudges driven by automatic processing and evaluate the consistency of observed effects with this characterization. In the first study, participants performed the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) with a prime exposure time of 75 milliseconds (ms). Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental condition with graphic warnings as primes or a control condition with neutral images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Results indicated that graphic warnings produced significantly more negative valence and faster implicit evaluations of the target stimuli compared to neutral images. The second study utilized a modified AMP where participants evaluated the valence of the prime images directly, with an extended exposure time of 500ms. This study also demonstrated significant differences in both image valence and reaction times, consistent with the findings from the first study, indicating explicit effects of the graphic warnings. Our findings suggest a translation process from implicit to explicit effects, shedding light on the relationship between automatic and controlled processing in the context of nudges. These results have key implications for understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying health warnings and optimizing their design for public health interventions.

Este artículo presenta dos estudios (N = 301) en los que se investigaron los efectos implícitos y explícitos de las advertencias sanitarias gráficas (GHW) en la prevención del tabaquismo. Enmarcados en la intersección de los modelos de cognición implícita y racionalidad limitada, pretendemos caracterizar las advertencias sanitarias gráficas como empujones de tipo 1 impulsados por el procesamiento automático y evaluar la coherencia de los efectos observados con esta caracterización. En el primer estudio, los participantes realizaron el Procedimiento de Mala Atribución del Afecto (AMP) con un tiempo de exposición primario de 75 milisegundos (ms). Los participantes fueron asignados aleatoriamente a una condición experimental con advertencias gráficas como imprimación o a una condición de control con imágenes neutras del Sistema Internacional de Imágenes Afectivas (IAPS). Los resultados indicaron que las advertencias gráficas producían significativamente más valencia negativa y evaluaciones implícitas más rápidas de los estímulos objetivo en comparación con las imágenes neutras. El segundo estudio utilizó un PGA modificado en el que los participantes evaluaron directamente la valencia de las imágenes primarias, con un tiempo de exposición ampliado de 500 ms. Este estudio también demostró diferencias significativas tanto en la valencia de las imágenes como en los tiempos de reacción, en consonancia con los resultados del primer estudio, lo que indica efectos explícitos de las advertencias gráficas. Nuestros resultados sugieren un proceso de traslación de los efectos implícitos a los explícitos, arrojando luz sobre la relación entre el procesamiento automático y el controlado en el contexto de los codazos. Estos resultados tienen implicaciones clave para comprender los mecanismos cognitivos subyacentes a las advertencias sanitarias y optimizar su diseño para intervenciones de salud pública.

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APA

Sánchez-Mora, J. and Tamayo, R. M. (2025). Visual Nudges and Smoking Prevention: Exploring Implicit and Explicit Emotional Responses to Graphic Health Warnings. Revista Colombiana de Psicología, 34(1), 145–160. https://doi.org/10.15446/rcp.v34n1.115255

ACM

[1]
Sánchez-Mora, J. and Tamayo, R.M. 2025. Visual Nudges and Smoking Prevention: Exploring Implicit and Explicit Emotional Responses to Graphic Health Warnings. Revista Colombiana de Psicología. 34, 1 (Mar. 2025), 145–160. DOI:https://doi.org/10.15446/rcp.v34n1.115255.

ACS

(1)
Sánchez-Mora, J.; Tamayo, R. M. Visual Nudges and Smoking Prevention: Exploring Implicit and Explicit Emotional Responses to Graphic Health Warnings. Rev. colomb. psicol. 2025, 34, 145-160.

ABNT

SÁNCHEZ-MORA, J.; TAMAYO, R. M. Visual Nudges and Smoking Prevention: Exploring Implicit and Explicit Emotional Responses to Graphic Health Warnings. Revista Colombiana de Psicología, [S. l.], v. 34, n. 1, p. 145–160, 2025. DOI: 10.15446/rcp.v34n1.115255. Disponível em: https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/psicologia/article/view/115255. Acesso em: 29 mar. 2025.

Chicago

Sánchez-Mora, Johanna, and Ricardo M. Tamayo. 2025. “Visual Nudges and Smoking Prevention: Exploring Implicit and Explicit Emotional Responses to Graphic Health Warnings”. Revista Colombiana De Psicología 34 (1):145-60. https://doi.org/10.15446/rcp.v34n1.115255.

Harvard

Sánchez-Mora, J. and Tamayo, R. M. (2025) “Visual Nudges and Smoking Prevention: Exploring Implicit and Explicit Emotional Responses to Graphic Health Warnings”, Revista Colombiana de Psicología, 34(1), pp. 145–160. doi: 10.15446/rcp.v34n1.115255.

IEEE

[1]
J. Sánchez-Mora and R. M. Tamayo, “Visual Nudges and Smoking Prevention: Exploring Implicit and Explicit Emotional Responses to Graphic Health Warnings”, Rev. colomb. psicol., vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 145–160, Mar. 2025.

MLA

Sánchez-Mora, J., and R. M. Tamayo. “Visual Nudges and Smoking Prevention: Exploring Implicit and Explicit Emotional Responses to Graphic Health Warnings”. Revista Colombiana de Psicología, vol. 34, no. 1, Mar. 2025, pp. 145-60, doi:10.15446/rcp.v34n1.115255.

Turabian

Sánchez-Mora, Johanna, and Ricardo M. Tamayo. “Visual Nudges and Smoking Prevention: Exploring Implicit and Explicit Emotional Responses to Graphic Health Warnings”. Revista Colombiana de Psicología 34, no. 1 (March 14, 2025): 145–160. Accessed March 29, 2025. https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/psicologia/article/view/115255.

Vancouver

1.
Sánchez-Mora J, Tamayo RM. Visual Nudges and Smoking Prevention: Exploring Implicit and Explicit Emotional Responses to Graphic Health Warnings. Rev. colomb. psicol. [Internet]. 2025 Mar. 14 [cited 2025 Mar. 29];34(1):145-60. Available from: https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/psicologia/article/view/115255

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