A means to an end: slim hopes and cigarette advertising.

Alarming increases in the number of women smokers have focused attention on the tobacco industry's efforts to appeal to women who are likely to try and/or adopt tobacco products. The authors discuss the past 30 years of Virginia Slim advertisements and explore the link between consumers' values such as beauty and independence and tobacco use. A brief history of tobacco advertising efforts to appeal to women is followed by an exploratory study of Phillip Morris's advertising campaign for Virginia Slims. The authors use a means-end interpretation to explain the success of the advertisements and then discuss how a means-end framework can be used to create more effective antismoking messages.