For example, an inoculation message designed to discourage teen cigarette smoking (e.g., Pfau et al., 1992) might begin with a warning that peer pressure will strongly challenge their negative attitudes toward smoking, then follow this forewarning with a handful of potential counterarguments they might face from their peers (e.g., “Smoking isn't really bad for you”) followed by refutations of these counterarguments (e.g., “Actually, smoking is harmful in a number of ways…”). This inoculation format can be adapted to a number of issues, so long as (1) the intended attitude or position is already in place with message recipients, and (2) message designers are aware of some counterarguments that might be employed in attack messages in order to provide weakened, or refuted, counterarguments in the inoculation treatment message (see Ivanov, 2012, for more information on message design).
