From “Stoptober” in the UK to “Mois Sans Tabac” in France: How to Import and Evaluate a Complex and Large-Scale Social Marketing Campaign

Beyond health improvement, quitting smoking also affects the quality of smokers’ lives by actually improving mental health and wellbeing: it can improve mood and help relieve stress, anxiety and depression. In order to increase the health (and thus the quality of life) of French people, Santé publique France, the French National Public Health Agency, launched for the first time in 2016 “Mois sans tabac”, a social marketing campaign inspired by Public Health England’s “Stoptober”. “Mois sans tabac” is an ongoing intervention based on the PRIME theory of motivation and on the social contagion theory. It sets smokers the challenge of being smoke-free for the month of November. This campaign uses social marketing principles (the 5Ps, branding, mass-media campaign, cessation help services, etc.) and targets smokers but also their loved ones, with a view to encouraging the latter to support smokers in their attempts to quit their habit. This campaign was strongly rooted in collaboration between Santé publique France and various public and private partners who can influence smokers’ behaviours (health professionals and facilities, NGOs, companies, etc.), in particular by implementing actions at the local level which focus on awareness and provide help for smoking cessation.This chapter has two aims: (1) to describe theoretical and social marketing principles of “Mois sans tabac” implemented in France in 2016 (and later); (2) to present how this complex and large-scale social marketing campaign was evaluated.