Chapter six
Cultural change & trends
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Smoke Free Europe - A Forum for Networks
s smoking prevalence in many western European countries declines,
it is important that the developments achieved are sustained.
What we need are new ways to describe and measure cultural change.
One indicator could be the exposure of small children to environmental
smoke, ETS. People are beginning to agree that smoking in the
immediate vicinity of children is not acceptable.
Once people are themselves controlling their environment, new social norms are created. These social norms are born through understanding. Legislation first requires pioneers to introduce change. Once widely accepted and based on norms that already exists, legislation can become an accelerating element in the process of cultural change.
We live in an environment of very sophisticated and clearly targeted
messages. Discussion about smoking relates not only to physiological
health but also to social health concepts. As social norms are
influenced by different types of cultural messages, the industry
incorporates culturally composed values in its marketing strategies.
Harri Vertio