A new study has found that a better option for smokers planning to quit this habit is to be told about the benefits of quitting. They are usually persuaded to quit smoking by emphasizing on its negative effects rather than speaking about the good effects of not smoking.

Researchers set up two groups of 28 specialists working at the New York State Smokers’ Quitline. One of these groups was trained to stress on the benefits of quitting smoking to smokers whereas the other group gave standard-care messaging emphasizing on the potential losses from smoking and the benefits of quitting.

813 callers received gain-framed messaging and 1,222 other callers received standard messaging from the second group between March and June 2008.

After two-weeks when the follow-up interviews were done, it was found that smokers who received gain-framed messaging attempted to quit at a much higher rate than those who received standard-care messaging.

The study published online Jan. 7 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests that after three months no difference could be seen between the two different groups of callers.