Noticing people, discounts and non-tobacco flavours in e-cigarette ads may increase e-cigarette product appeal among non-tobacco-using young adults

Authors

Julia Chen-Sankey, Center for Tobacco Studies, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA jc.sankey@rutgers.edu.
Michelle Jeong, Center for Tobacco Studies, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.
Olivia A. Wackowski, Center for Tobacco Studies, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.
Jennifer B. Unger, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Jeff Niederdeppe, Department of Communication, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.
Edward Bernat, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland, USA.
Maansi Bansal-Travers, Health Behavior, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York, USA.
Meghan Moran, Department of Health, Behavior & Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Ryan David Kennedy, Department of Health, Behavior & Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Aaron Broun, School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
Kiana Hacker, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Kelvin Choi, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

6-7-2022

Journal

Tobacco control

DOI

10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2022-057269

Keywords

advertising and promotion; media; prevention

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Young adults new to tobacco (including e-cigarettes) are at an increased risk of e-cigarette use after e-cigarette exposure. This study examined the association between noticing e-cigarette advertising features and perceived product appeal among non-tobacco-using young adults. METHODS: A sample of non-tobacco-using young adults (ages 18-29 years; n=1993) completed an online survey in 2021. We content analysed visible features from 12 e-cigarette ads that represented commonly used e-cigarette brands. Participants viewed the ads and clicked on the areas of the ads that drew their attention. Participants reported e-cigarette product appeal for each ad, including ad liking, product curiosity and use interest. We used generalised estimating equations to examine within-person associations between noticing specific ad features and reporting each and any type of product appeal, adjusting for noticing other features and participant characteristics. RESULTS: Noticing people, discounts, non-tobacco (menthol and mint/fruit) flavours, positive experience claims or product images was positively associated with having any e-cigarette product appeal. Noticing discounts or mint/fruit flavours was also positively associated with e-cigarette use interest. In contrast, noticing nicotine warnings or smoking cessation claims was negatively associated with ad liking and product curiosity. CONCLUSIONS: Attention to several e-cigarette ad features (eg, people, discounts, non-tobacco flavours) was associated with increased e-cigarette product appeal, whereas attention to nicotine warnings and smoking cessation claims was associated with reduced appeal among non-tobacco-using young adults. Restricting appeal-promoting features while strengthening the effects of nicotine warnings and smoker-targeted claims in e-cigarette ads may potentially reduce e-cigarettes' overall appeal among this priority population.

APA Citation

Chen-Sankey, Julia; Jeong, Michelle; Wackowski, Olivia A.; Unger, Jennifer B.; Niederdeppe, Jeff; Bernat, Edward; Bansal-Travers, Maansi; Moran, Meghan; Kennedy, Ryan David; Broun, Aaron; Hacker, Kiana; and Choi, Kelvin, "Noticing people, discounts and non-tobacco flavours in e-cigarette ads may increase e-cigarette product appeal among non-tobacco-using young adults" (2022). GW Authored Works. Paper 1150.
https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/gwhpubs/1150

Department

Public Health Student Works