Corporate Credibility Campaigns Attempt To Legitimize Disease Promotion

Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Article Date: 24 Dec 2008 - 0:00 PDT

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A new study explores tobacco companies' conceptions of and research on corporate "credibility" to understand why it matters to companies and what a lack of credibility means to them. It suggests that the tobacco industry views credibility as largely a matter of altering public perceptions about the industry and tobacco issues. It's a way to appear reasonable, responsible and contrite, while continuing to aggressively promote and sell the most deadly consumer product ever made. Authors collected and analyzed documents from an online tobacco industry document archive. They discovered that the tobacco industry's credibility-building projects failed repeatedly, in part because the public regards credibility differently than the tobacco industry.

For the public, tobacco company credibility hinges upon authenticity, true contrition over misdeeds and taking responsibility for harmful products or even exiting the tobacco business altogether. According to author Ruth E. Malone, "This study shows why it is so critical that public health campaigns include a focus on how corporate behavior contributes to disease. It is strategically important, and the public is getting the message."

"The Role of Corporate Credibility in Legitimizing Disease Promotion."

This article came online online on December 23, 2008, at 4 p.m. (ET) by the American Journal of Public Health under "First Look" at http://www.ajph.org/first_look.shmtl, and it is currently scheduled to appear in the March 2009 print issue of the Journal. "First Look" articles have undergone peer review, copyediting and approval by authors but have not yet been printed to paper or posted online by issue. The American Journal of Public Health is published by the American Public Health Association, http://www.apha.org, and is available at http://www.ajph.org.

The American Journal of Public Health is the monthly Journal of the American Public Health Association (APHA), the oldest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world. APHA is a leading publisher of books and periodicals promoting sound scientific standards, action programs and public policy to enhance health.

American Journal of Public Health