The fourth principle of behavioral economics states thatÂ
"Although we mostly care about our own material payoffs, we also care about the actions, intentions, and payoffs of others, even people outside our family"
This stated that social preferences matter toward individuals' decision-making. It is delivered in diverse forms, especially negative reciprocity, behindness aversion, and social pressure (Laibson et al., 2015). In this case, Bernays uses this human trait to deliver his 'propaganda' through the framing effect. He framed that smoking seemed more appealing to women and through the lights of the torches women were equal to men. Lurking back to its history, women have been struggling and suffering to achieve equal rights (and even until today). The presence of this 'empowering' message had the women gain a breath of fresh air to achieve what they had been longing for ever since---freedom. Thus, Bernays has successfully complemented the needs of women by framing impactful (and hopeful) information.
Exploitation or Empowerment?
Cigarettes are like a double-edged sword---they may 'benefit' or harm you. With its gigabit advertisement, cigarettes have been catered in most of everyone's life nowadays. It's the world's new market. Even though women's smoking is declining (see Figure 1), numerous nations are anticipated to experience an increase in the prevalence of tobacco use among females in the upcoming years (see Figure 2).Â
The tobacco industry has perfectly targeted women to gain its sights. Cigarettes are attractively packaged, available in diverse flavors, and marketed through media with a predominantly female audience (Feeny et al., 2021). These aggressive marketing tactics by the tobacco industries indicate that women are becoming an object of exploitation rather than a matter of empowerment. It regressed the essence of freedom of what women have longed for.
A rise in the consumption of tobacco among women merely shows any beneficial long-term ends. It will lead to a rise in non-communicable diseases which hinders the implications of public health and the attainment of global development goals. Also, smoking is costly in both means of health and economic stance. As smoking is a costly addiction, the addictive behavior contributes to and worsens disparities in both wealth and health. For instance, in the context of Indonesia, spending 15 trillion rupiah---equivalent to 10% of cigarette tax revenue---is necessary for the government to treat people suffering from smoking-related illnesses. Â Therefore, the means of exploitation of the tobacco industries don't necessarily imply a misleading form of empowerment but also an exploitation toward the generation of womanhood.
Rethinking the Liberation
What would Dasiyah's life be if she lived today? Will she be able to enter the forbidden room? Will she be given the chance to manage the company? There's no guarantee what her life would be. However, everything is gradually shifting today. Compared to several decades ago, nowadays women are empowered to gain the freedom to choose. Most women have gained the opportunity to not only participate in non-economic roles but also in economic roles. Through all the things that happened, should the tobacco industry deserve to take the credit?
