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This study assesses if smoking problems in South Korea can be explained by the fundamental cause theory (FCT) and tests the effect of anti-smoking messages (fear appeals and testimonials) on the linkage between socio-economic status (SES: education, income, parental education) and intention to quit smoking, with a focus on perceived efficacy. Two online experiments (N = 331 for Study 1 on fear appeals; N = 342 for Study 2 on testimonials) among South Korean smokers were conducted. The results from Study 1 and 2 reveal that SES was not highly related to smoking cessation intention. In Study 1, fear appeals interacted with SES on smoking cessation intention of individuals with low perceived efficacy (self-efficacy and response efficacy). In Study 2, however, testimonials did not show interaction with SES on smoking cessation intention. The results that focused on South Korean context suggest that public health campaigns must consider individuals’ parental characteristics with efficacy levels in designing anti-smoking messages.