Helping smokers quit: a study on tailoring anti-smoking campaigns to individual characteristics
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN15398358 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN15398358 |
| Sponsors | Institut Jean Nicod, Santé Publique France |
| Funder | Santé Publique France |
- Submission date
- 28/01/2026
- Registration date
- 30/03/2026
- Last edited
- 30/03/2026
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
Tailoring health communication is a promising way to help people quit smoking. This online study aims to evaluate whether showing anti-smoking messages that match a person's personality can increase the likelihood that they try to quit. The study focuses on daily smokers and aims to test whether tailored messages are more effective than generic ones.
Who can participate?
The study is open to daily smokers aged 18 to 75 years, living in France. All participants must have access to the internet and an email address. Both men and women can take part.
What does the study involve?
About 4,000 smokers will be recruited through an online panel. They will be randomly divided into three groups. In the intervention group, participants will see an anti-smoking video that has been tailored to match their personality. In the first control group, participants will see a randomly selected anti-smoking video. In the second control group, participants will see a video unrelated to tobacco. Before each exposure, all participants will report whether they have made a quit attempt, and they will rate their change in intention to quit smoking after each exposure. Both measures will be compared across the three groups.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Participants may benefit by feeling more motivated or supported in their effort to quit smoking. There are no known risks associated with participating in the study, as it only involves watching videos and answering questionnaires.
Where is the study run from?
The study is jointly led by the Institut Jean Nicod (École normale supérieure, Université PSL, EHESS, CNRS) and Santé Publique France. Data collection will be handled by an external service provider, Ipsos-bva, a survey agency.
When is the study starting and how long will it run for?
February 2026 to March 2026
Who is funding the study?
Santé Publique France
Who is the main contact?
Justine Avenel, aveneljustine@gmail.com
Contact information
Public, Scientific
29 rue d'Ulm
Paris
75005
France
| Phone | +33 (0)618471791 |
|---|---|
| justine.avenel@ens.psl.eu |
Principal investigator, Scientific
Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing
Northumbria University
Newcastle
NE1 8ST
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0001-9089-2599 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +33 (0)1 44 32 26 47 |
| daniel.nettle@northumbria.ac.uk |
Study information
| Primary study design | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Allocation | Randomized controlled trial |
| Masking | Blinded (masking used) |
| Control | Active |
| Assignment | Parallel |
| Purpose | Prevention |
| Scientific title | An individually-tailored intervention to trigger smoking cessation attempts: a three-arm randomized controlled trial |
| Study objectives | Primary objective: To evaluate whether exposure to personality-tailored anti-smoking advertisements increases the likelihood of making a quit attempt (at least 24 hours long) compared to exposure to a randomly selected anti-tobacco advertisement or a generic video. Secondary objectives: 1. To assess whether individually-tailored messages increase intention to quit over repeated exposures compared to repeated exposure to a randomly selected anti-tobacco message or an unrelated video. 2. To replicate findings from a previous study (Study 1: https://osf.io/mqwu2) on changes in intention in a new sample. The previous study investigated which narrative cues encourage smoking cessation intentions across personality traits and perceived financial situations. |
| Ethics approval(s) |
Approved 06/02/2026, Paris School of Economics Institutional Review Board (48 Bd Jourdan, Paris, 75014, France; -; irb@psemail.eu), ref: 2026-006 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Smoking behaviour, tobacco use disorder |
| Intervention | A randomised controlled trial with three arms: 1. Tailored group: repeated exposure to an individually-tailored anti-tobacco advertisement 2. Random control group: repeated exposure to a randomly selected anti-tobacco advertisement (overall, the advertisements will be shown in the same frequencies as in the Tailored group) 3. Unrelated control group: repeated exposure to a video not related to tobacco cessation Tailoring will be done using an algorithm taking into account different variables: personality traits (as defined by the Big Five), perceived financial situation and age. This algorithm was designed using results from the previous study mentioned above. This study will be conducted online. Step 1: Each participant will complete an initial questionnaire collecting sociodemographic information (including perceived financial situation), tobacco consumption, any intention to quit smoking, and a personality questionnaire. In the treatment arm, the algorithm will deliver the advertisement best matched to the participants’ profiles. In the random control arm, an advertisement will be delivered at random (while maintaining the same distribution frequency across arms). In the unrelated control arm, participants will be exposed to an unrelated video. Following exposure, participants will report any change in their intention to quit smoking (as in Study 1). Steps 2 to 5: 1 week later (Step 2), participants will be asked if they made a quit attempt of at least 24 hours since the beginning of the study (Possible answers: “No”; “Yes and I have not smoked since”; “Yes, but I have relapsed since”) and how long it lasted. Then, they will be exposed to the same advertisement as in Step 1 on the digital platform. Viewing completion will be mandatory. After exposure, participants will report any change in their intention to quit smoking (as in Study 1). This procedure will be repeated three times at 1-week intervals (Steps 3, 4 and 5). At each step, participants will receive email reminders to fulfil the next step, and they will have a maximum of 3 weeks to complete it (before the questionnaire is closed). T0: pre‑exposure, personality questionnaire, intention to quit T1: 1st exposure, change in intention T2: 2nd exposure, quit attempt, change in intention T3: 3rd exposure, quit attempt, change in intention T4: 4th exposure, quit attempt, change in intention T5: 5th exposure, quit attempt, change in intention |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure(s) |
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| Key secondary outcome measure(s) |
|
| Completion date | 23/03/2026 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | |
|---|---|
| Age group | Mixed |
| Lower age limit | 18 Years |
| Upper age limit | 75 Years |
| Sex | All |
| Target sample size at registration | 4000 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. Daily smokers 2. 18-75 years old 3. Living in France 4. Access to a valid email address and internet connection 5. Able to provide informed consent 6. Sufficient proficiency in French to complete the questionnaires and understand the video materials |
| Key exclusion criteria | 1. Non-smokers or occasional smokers 2. Under 18 years 3. Over 75 years |
| Date of first enrolment | 02/02/2026 |
| Date of final enrolment | 22/02/2026 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- France
Study participating centres
Results and Publications
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
|---|---|
| IPD sharing plan | The anonymised individual participant data (IPD) collected during this study (including demographic variables, personality traits, smoking behaviour, and outcomes related to smoking cessation intentions and quit attempts) will be stored in a publicly available repository after publication of the primary results. The dataset will be made available on the Open Science Framework (OSF) platform (https://osf.io), and will include detailed variable documentation and a data dictionary. Data will be available for academic and non-commercial research purposes. Access will be open, but subject to agreement with a standard data use policy, requiring proper citation and commitment to ethical use. All shared data will be fully anonymised prior to upload. No direct or indirect identifiers will be included. Data will become available within 6 months following publication of the main results and will remain accessible for at least 5 years. For any specific questions, requests, or clarifications, please contact the principal investigator: Justine Avenel (aveneljustine@gmail.com). |
Editorial Notes
28/01/2026: Study's existence confirmed by Ipsos-bva.
