Before cigarette packets displayed pictures of diseased lungs, they contained fruity pictures of comely ladies. Tobacco companies might wish they could bring back such saucy cards, as a study has found that men are less likely to quit smoking when looking at attractive women.
Scientists from Taiwan asked 76 men to rate how appealing pictures of different women were. Although the men did not know it, they had been chosen because they were all smokers who wanted to cut down. Each was given an ashtray and told he could smoke.
After counting the cigarette butts in the ashtrays afterwards, the researchers found that those men given the more attractive women to rate had smoked more than those left with the allegedly less attractive pile.
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