Researchers say that not only can nicotine patches and other smoking-cessation aids help smokers quit, just being exposed to ads for these products makes it more likely that they will try to quit and succeed, Science Daily reported July 25.

"We think that the reason may be that important 'spillover effects' from advertising may be occurring, which has important implications for advertising for a wide range of health products," said study co-author Alan Mathios, professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell.

The researchers examined the impact of magazine ads on quitting decisions among 28,303 current and former smokers. While some quitters purchased the products, simply viewing the ads made it more likely that others would quit, they said. "Thus, the public-health returns to smoking-cessation product advertisements exceed the private returns to the manufacturers," the study noted.

The Cornell researchers also found that smokers who don't read any magazines were less likely to quit, while those who read magazines that refuse tobacco ads -- as well as those who read parenting or health magazines -- were more likely to quit.

The research will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Political Economy.