stoptober.nlStoptober (Netherlands)
Dutch version of England's 28-day collective quit challenge, run each October since 2014 by the health charities KWF, Hartstichting and Longfonds with the Trimbos Institute: mass media before the start, then ambassadors, an app, social-media community and daily support during the month.
- Years
- 2014–now
- Country
- Netherlands
- Topic
- Tobacco
- Asks people to
- Stop
- Strategy
- CelebrityCollective challengeSelf efficacySocial norms
- Channel
- AppSocial (organic)Website
- Audience
- Adults
Evidence
ObservationalPositive
Troelstra, Harting & Kunst (2019): 2016 participant cohort, 6,856 at baseline and 1,127 (16.4%) at three months; 71.8% of responders reported having quit, which the authors adjust to about 50% for differential dropout; no comparison group. Tieks et al. (2018): interrupted time series of Google searches 2014-2016 found Stoptober weeks raised quit-related search volume by 11-22% in the Netherlands with no rise in Belgium (control). Troelstra et al. (2019) qualitative interviews (n=23): participants valued the social contagion and goal-setting but wanted more support after the 28 days. More than 50,000 participants a year per the evaluation.
Sponsor (who paid)
- KWF Kankerbestrijding, Hartstichting, Longfonds (Gezondheidsfondsen voor Rookvrij) NGO, organisers
- Trimbos-Instituut NGO, partner
Credits (who made it)
Not recorded yet.
Related campaigns
- Mois sans tabac 2016–now
Sources
- Troelstra SA, Harting J, Kunst AE. Effectiveness of a Large, Nation-Wide Smoking Abstinence Campaign in the Netherlands: A Longitudinal Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2019;16(3):378 evaluation · 2019 · DOI 10.3390/ijerph16030378 · PMID 30699988
- Tieks A, Troelstra SA, Hoekstra T, Kunst AE. Associations of the Stoptober smoking cessation program with information seeking for smoking cessation: A Google trends study. Drug Alcohol Depend 2019;194:97-100 evaluation · 2018 · DOI 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.08.040 · PMID 30419407
- Troelstra SA, Kunst AE, Harting J. 'Like you are fooling yourself': how the Stoptober temporary abstinence campaign supports Dutch smokers attempting to quit. BMC Public Health 2019;19:522 evaluation · 2019 · DOI 10.1186/s12889-019-6833-y · PMID 31064349
- Stoptober: Over Stoptober sponsor
Research notes
No agency credit found. Organisers fetched from stoptober.nl 2026-10-22; earlier partner lists in press (VWS ministry, GGD GHOR, Alliantie Nederland Rookvrij) are search-snippet only. The evaluation says pre-launch 'traditional and new mass media' were used; specific TV/radio buys not confirmed, so not tagged. 'celebrity' = the role-model ambassadors named in the evaluation (press says well-known Dutch people; snippet). England's Stoptober (2012-) has no case yet; 'related' should point to it if one is added. Related 113-zelfmoordpreventie is only for Dutch-country browsing; drop if unwanted.
Record cases/stoptober-netherlands.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign