Lucio Naccarella
Ron Borland
David Hill
Sponsorship as a means of promoting a message is relatively new for health groups, but has a long history with commercial organisations. In 1987, the formation of the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth), which is funded by a levy on tobacco sales, provided funds for health groups to be involved in the 'buy-out' of tobacco-related sponsorships and more generally to promote healthy lifestyles.
Many health promotion campaigns now include a range of sponsorship activities as part of their health promotion strategies. In Victoria the Quit campaign, with funding from VicHealth, is involved in the sponsorship of ten sporting clubs, associations and events. These include: Fitzroy Football Club, Victorian Football Association, Eastside Spectres (Men's Basketball), Victorian Netball Association, Women's Surfing Championship, Women's Basketball, VFL Football Coaching Clinics, the Olympic Squad and Victorian Tennis Association. Quit campaign sponsorships aim to promote non-smoking as a healthy lifestyle component with a positive image. More specifically the sponsorship aims to develop a positive profile for the Quit campaign by identifying it with popular sport and to use popular sports people as non-smoking role models for the Quit campaign.
The largest of the Quit campaign sport sponsorships is of the Victorian (now Australian) Football League Club, Fitzroy. The sponsorship began in 1987 and was the first in Victoria undertaken by a health promotion campaign. In return for the sponsorship fee of $300,000 in 1989, the Fitzroy footballers wore the Quit logo on their football guernseys, and wore Quit windcheaters during non-playing duties. Each week the Fitzroy Football Club run-through banner carried a non-smoking message, for example: 'Quit: Give Smoking the Boot', and at home ground games the sponsorship is backed up with Quit campaign perimeter advertising which is visible during telecast football games, for example: 'Call the Quit Line 11538', The sponsorship also includes the use of Fitzroy footballers and of their coach for promotional purposes, and the opportunity to promote a non-smoking message through AFL Football Coaching Clinics.
As part of the overall need to determine the potential utility of Quit campaign sponsorships, a study was designed to assess the impact of the Quit sponsorship on adolescents. It is at this age when most people first experiment with smoking and many commence regular smoking. The aims of the study were to:
Design: The design of the study required gaining a broadly representative sample of adolescents in the community, and of football supporters who are likely to have had maximum exposure to the sponsorships. We also wanted to look for differences as a function of club allegiance and the kind of sponsor it had. In Victoria, league football clubs have a range of sponsorships from commercial organisations as well as health promotion organisations. A health promotion sponsorship, comparable to the Quit campaign sponsorship of Fitzroy, is the [0.05] 'Say No To Drink Driving' campaign sponsorship of the Footscray Football Club, and a non-health sponsored VFL club, North Melbourne sponsored by Qantas airline, was also used. All three are middle ranking clubs in the Victorian competition.
Football supporters aged between 10 and 16 years were recruited by two methods: a mail-out to VFL Football Club members and an intercept survey at six VFL football grounds. The community sample of adolescents of the same age were recruited by a mail-out to a random sample of households. All three recruitment methods involved young people receiving a survey, two letters (a parent and a personal letter) on letterhead, and an entry form. Appropriate football club letterhead was used for supporters and a market research company letterhead for the community sample. The entry form asked for their cooperation in completing the survey and offered the opportunity to win a prize, if they returned both the completed survey and entry form by a specified date.
Football supporter sample: A total of 1129 surveys were distributed to junior football supporters, either intercepting them as they left a league game or by mail-out to junior supporter lists. Of the surveys distributed 548 (49%) were returned. Of these, 486 respondents completed the survey in full and were in the 10-16 year age range. Forty-one per cent were Fitzroy supporters; 36% were Footscray supporters, and 23% were North Melbourne supporters. The football supporters were predominantly males (67%).
Community sample: A total of 3103 surveys were distributed to households with one or two children to obtain a broadly representative community sample of Victorians in this age group. Of these 785 (25%) surveys were returned. The sex distribution of the community sample was more evenly distributed, with 51% males and 49% females.
Caution needs to be taken in generalising the results of this study to the general population, as the survey return rate suggest that respondents may not be broadly representative of either football supporters or the community.
The ages of respondents in the two samples were evenly distributed across the age range 10-16 years.
Comparisons are between the football supporters and the community sample respondents. There were no significant differences on the smoker-related variables (smokers self-referent label; future intentions to smoke, and beliefs about VFL footballers smoking) between the football supporters recruited by the two methods, validating the decision to treat the intercepted and mailed groups as a single group.
The football supporters and the community sample were surveyed respectively six weeks and two weeks before the end of the 1989 League football season. There is no reason to believe that the time of surveying biased responses.
Surveys: The football supporters were asked questions about their interest in VFL football; awareness of VFL football sponsorship; participation in VFL Football Coaching Clinics; beliefs about the habits of peers, of senior students, of people aged in their 20s and of VFL footballers. There were also four items on how they saw themselves (using a self-referent label technique), with regard to a range of behaviours including smoking; and lastly ten items concerning their intentions next year to do a range of things, including to smoke cigarettes. The community sample were asked all the above questions, and additional questions on which sports they played; and the sports they would like to see 'a lot' of on TV.
Any sex and age effects were partialled out by analysis of covariance.
A key hypothesis in this study concerned interest in VFL football. A scale of interest in VFL football was developed from four items: 'How often during the football season do you go to see a VFL football game?; ... watch VFL football on TV?; ... listen to VFL football on radio?; and ... read about VFL football in newspapers/magazines?' The scale was reliable (0.82). The validity of the index is shown by the large difference between the mean level of interest in VFL football of the football fans (10.5) and the community sample (5.3) (F=544.2, df=1,1233, p<0.0001). There was no age effect.
All respondents were asked about their current smoking status (as indexed by a 'self-referent label'), i.e. 'non-smoker', 'ex-smoker', 'occasional smoker', 'light smoker', 'heavy smoker', with heavy and light smokers collapsed for analyses, and their behavioural intention, i.e. subjective likelihood of smoking this time next year, on a seven-point Likert scale ('certain not' to 'certain to be smoking'), usually collapsed into a two-point scale: 'likely' and 'unlikely'. For this report 'smokers' include light and heavy smokers; and an 'intention to smoke' refers to respondents who were at least 'likely' to smoke next year. As can be seen from Table 1, very few young people in this age group were smokers or intended to smoke in the future. There were no significant differences between the two samples or between supporters of the three clubs. However, a trend existed for football supporters to refer to themselves less often as smokers or as intending to smoke.
| Community (n=785) |
VFL football supporters (n=486) | |
| Smokers | 2.5% | 1.6% |
| Intention to smoke | 3.1% | 1.8% |
To test this further it was decided to look at whether respondents' interest in VFL football was related to current and future smoking behaviours. No association was found between interest in VFL football and current smoking status. There was, however, evidence that respondents with a high interest in football were less likely to intend to smoke in future (F=8.76, df=1,1227, p=0.003).
To determine awareness of Quit sponsorship, all respondents were asked to indicate, from a list of organisations, whether the organisation sponsored a football club, and, if so, to name the football club. As can be seen from Table 2, among the major sponsors of Victorian football clubs, Quit was the most salient with 39% of the community sample, and 89% of football supporters aware that Quit sponsored Fitzroy. The next most salient sponsor was Ford, a sponsor long associated with the Geelong Football Club.
This pattern was confirmed using the interest in VFL football measure. Respondents aware of the Quit sponsorship, also had a higher interest in VFL football (F=583.12, df=1, 1236, p=0.000).
Overall, 57% of the boys in the community sample were aware that Quit sponsored Fitzroy compared to 22% of the girls (p<0.0001). There were no age effects.
Table 3 shows the percentage of football supporters by club allegiance who correctly named a variety of clubs sponsors. As can be seen from Table 3 most supporters are aware of the sponsor of their own club, and most know about the Quit sponsorship of Fitzroy.
To determine respondent perceptions of the prevalence of smoking amongst their peers, senior students, people aged in their 20s and VFL footballers, all respondents were asked using a six-point scale (none, a few, less than half, more than half, most, all) whether they thought those groups were smokers or not. Using actual smoking prevalence data from secondary schoolchildren surveys (White et al., 1990), and adult population surveys (Hill et al., 1988) we can see from Figure 1 that respondents, generally overestimated the prevalence of smoking amongst their peers, older students, and people aged in their 20s. These findings provide support for the suggestion by several researchers that adolescents perceive smoking as more common than it really is (Sussman et al., 1988).
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Table 4 provides some evidence that estimates of the prevalence of smoking may be a predictor of the uptake of smoking. Among respondents who believed most of their peers smoke, three times as many intended to smoke in the future (p<0.0001), and five times as many self labelled as smokers (p<0.0001). Among respondents who believed that most older students smoke, significantly more intended to smoke in future (p=0.0326), and there was a trend for more to label themselves as smokers. Similarly, among respondents who believed that most people in their 20s smoke, there was a trend for more to intend to smoke in future and to label themselves as smokers.
VFL footballers were generally perceived not to be smokers. However, there was a misperception by small minorities of the community sample (8%) and of the supporters sample (4%) who believed that most VFL footballers smoke. These results seem to suggest that there is a need to educate some adolescents about VFL footballers, very few of whom smoke. It was predicted that supporters would be less likely to think that VFL footballers smoke compared with the community sample. As can be seen from Table 5 this was the case (X2=9.3, df=l, p=0.002). This effect was not a function of whether respondents were aware of the Quit sponsorship. It was also predicted that, amongst football supporters, Fitzroy supporters would be less likely to think that VFL footballers smoke compared with other football supporters; however, there was no significant difference.
| Community sample | 8.0% | p=0.002 |
| VFL football supporters | 3.5% | |
| Fitzroy supporters | 3.0% | ns |
| Other supporters | 3.9% |
To further test the consistency of perceptions of VFL footballers, respondents were asked their beliefs about three other habits of people aged in their 20s and of VFL footballers. The habits included: whether they eat 'junky' take-away foods, drink only soft drinks at parties (i.e. not drink alcohol), and sometimes drink and drive. For all analyses reported, comparisons were on a binary split between respondents who reported more than half and those less than half. Using 'more than half' as an index of the extent to which the belief is held, it can be seen from Figure 2 that VFL footballers are perceived relative to people aged in their 20s to be much less likely to smoke, less likely to eat junk food, less likely to drink and drive, and to be somewhat less likely to drink only soft drinks at parties. The same patterns were found for both the community sample and the football supporters. These results suggest that people believe VFL footballers do not participate in habits which may impair, at least their short-term, sporting performance.
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The third aim of the study was to determine whether self-reported current smoking status by respondents and intention to smoke was related to awareness of sponsorship. As can be seen from Table 6 respondents who were aware of the Quit campaign sponsorship of Fitzroy were less likely to smoke (X2=4.36, df= 1, p=0.037) or to intend to smoke in future (X2=12.2, df=1,p=0.0005). This effect was not a function of whether respondents were part of the community or the VFL football supporter sample.
| Aware (n=735) |
Not aware (n=522) |
X2 | P | |
| Intention to smoke | 3% | 7.5% | 12.2 | 0.0005 |
| Smoker | 1.4% | 3.3% | 4.36 | 0.0368 |
Among respondents who believed that most footballers smoke, three times as many intended to smoke in the future (X2=12.9, df=1, p=0.0003), and nearly two times as many labelled themselves as smokers; however, this latter finding was not significant (see Table 7).
| Intention to smoke | Yes | 18% | p= 0.003 |
| No | 5.7% | ||
| Smoker | Yes | 11.1% | ns |
| No | 6.2% |
The Quit campaign is involved in a range of sport sponsorships. The rationale for sponsoring various sports is that the sport sponsorship will be an appropriate and useful avenue for presenting a positive non-smoking message to a wide range of young people; and that there is either a high level of interest, or active participation in the sports by young people. Table 8 shows the percentage of community sample respondents who play various sports. Of the sports sponsored by Quit most had at least 20% of respondents as active participants, the exception being soccer and hockey with 9% and 8% respectively. These results provide support for the involvement of the Quit campaign in football sponsorship, and in other sport sponsorships, such as tennis, basketball and netball.
Sport sponsorship by the Quit campaign also provides the opportunity for the junior development of sport via coaching clinics. The coaching clinics are sponsored by a range of organisations (including the Quit campaign), and are run by sporting coaches/senior players of various sports, who actively discourage young people from starting to smoke, by endorsing positive non-smoking messages. All the football supporter respondents were asked if they had ever attended a VFL football coaching clinic. A total of 279 (58%) of the football supporters indicated that they had attended a coaching clinic. The Quit campaign was by far the most salient sponsor (41%), followed by Shell (9%), the VFL (8%), Vickick (5%), Hungry Jack's (3%) among the other sponsors. There were no differences in the perceptions of VFL footballers between the football supporters who named Quit, compared with those who named other organisations as the sponsor of the coaching clinics.
All respondents were also asked about their future interest in sport. A scale was developed from three items: 'Do you think you will be playing football regularly this time next year?'; 'Do you think you will be going to VFL games regularly this time next year?'; and 'Do you think you will be reading sports magazines this time next year?'. The scale was reliable (0.73). The validity of the index is shown by the large differences between the mean level of future interest in VFL football of the football supporters (16.1) and the community sample (10.1) (F=653.7, df=1,1248, p<0.0001).
The level of future interest in sport was not related to perceptions of the prevalence of smoking among VFL footballers smoking.
Overall, this study has revealed that, among 10- to 14-year-olds, there is a high level of awareness of Quit sponsorship of the Fitzroy Football Club. These results complement findings from a household survey of Victorians aged 16 years and over conducted in 1987 (Hill, 1989): only a few weeks after the Quit sponsorship of Fitzroy Football Club was announced, Quit was the second most mentioned sponsor of all the major sponsors of VFL clubs, and three-quarters of all respondents, who named Quit as a sponsor of football, associated the sponsorship with the Fitzroy Football Club.
The results are consistent with findings from surveys of secondary schoolchildren (White et al., 1990), which report that very few young people in this age group (10-14 years) are smokers or intend to smoke in the future. This suggests that a broadly representative group was sampled. It is reassuring that the smoking status and future intentions of the group sampled were similar to that found in secondary schoolchildren surveys. However, caution is needed in generalising the results of this study to the general population, due to the survey return rates of both the football supporter and community samples.
A key hypothesis in the study concerned interest in VFL football. The finding that respondents with a high level of interest in VFL football were less likely to intend to smoke in future suggests that an interest in sports may be a predictor of the future uptake of smoking. The finding that respondents aware of Quit sponsorship also had a higher interest in VFL football, and were also less likely to intend to smoke in future, suggests that sport sponsorship by the Quit campaign may be discouraging the uptake of smoking among this age group.
Among this age group, VFL footballers were generally perceived not to be smokers, providing support for using VFL footballers as carriers of non-smoking messages. However, there still is a misperception by a small minority of adolescents that most VFL footballers smoke, suggesting the need to educate some adolescents to dispel these beliefs. It is reassuring though that VFL footballers, when compared to people in their 20s, were perceived to be less likely to participate in habits such as smoking, eating junk food, drinking and driving, or drinking alcohol at parties. These findings provide evidence that VFL footballers are seen as sporting role models and thus lend credibility to their role as carriers of other messages.
The findings that respondents who believed that most of their peers, older students, people aged in their 20s and VFL footballers smoke were more likely to be smokers and intend to smoke in future are of potential importance. They provide support for findings from a number of prospective studies on the onset of smoking among adolescents that estimates of the prevalence of smoking is an important predictor of the uptake of smoking. To the extent that sponsorship of sports can influence prevalence estimates for significant reference groups (such as sports people) it could be expected ultimately that sponsorship may affect the uptake of smoking.
In conclusion, the results of this study have provided evidence that among 10- to 14-year-olds there is a high awareness of Quit sponsorship, and that VFL footballers are generally perceived not to be smokers, which lends credibility to the use of footballers as non-smoking role models. It was reassuring to find that respondents who were aware of Quit sponsorship were also less likely to be smokers. However, it is unclear from this study what effect sport sponsorship may have on perceptions of the prevalence of smoking and on the uptake of smoking. More research is needed on the effect of sport sponsorships on prevalence estimates of smoking.
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