Methods
The institutional review board at the University of California San Francisco approved this study. For this study, participants met in eight 90-minute focus groups to discuss topics related to cigarettes and alternative tobacco products. This focus group study is part of a larger study to characterize older smokers’ perceptions of the risks and benefits associated with conventional and emerging tobacco products and determine the extent to which these perceptions relate to exposure to pro- and anti-tobacco messages. To explore perceived effectiveness of warning messages, participants were asked to recall and describe anti-tobacco messages and were asked questions about their perceived effectiveness (e.g. Would/did this influence your smoking behavior? Do you think this is an effective anti-smoking message? If not, what would work for you?)