Influencer E-Cigarette and Cannabis Marketing: a Survey-Based Experiment Among Adolescents

University of Southern California

Status: Completed

Conditions: Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems

Treatments: Behavioral: Influencer marketing

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06919263

HS-19-00682-AM016

T33DT6620 (Other Grant/Funding Number)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Adolescent non-users of e-cigarettes and cannabis (N = 1,462) participated in the in-class survey-based experiment. They were randomly shown 3 pairs of images featuring influencers promoting e-cigarettes alongside cannabis, (experimental group), or no-substance use or display (placebo treatment), or e-cigarette promotion alone (control). After viewing each pair of images, participants rated perceptions of influencer credibility (i.e., honesty, trustworthiness, knowledge) on the scale of 0 (e.g., dishonest) to 100 (honest).

Susceptibility to use e-cigarettes was assessed after participants viewed all the images. These outcomes were then compared among participants who perceived influencers as credible and those who perceived influencers as non-credible.

Full description

Adolescents (13-17 years of age) living in California were recruited by Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science at the University of Southern California (USC TCORS) to participate in the ADVANCE survey cohort focused on tobacco-related attitudes and behaviors. Participants completed the experiment, which was part of the survey at cohort's Wave 7, on Chromebooks in classroom. All participants provided informed consent and parental assent prior to participating in the experiment. The study was approved by the University of Southern California Institutional Review Board (HS-19-00682-AM016). Respondents were randomly shown 3 pairs of images featuring influencers promoting e-cigarettes (image 1) paired with cannabis (image 2), (experimental group), or no-substance use or display (two images featuring neutral profiles of influencers), (placebo treatment), or e-cigarette promotion (image 1) paired with a neutral profile (with no e-cigarette) of the influencer featured in image 1 (control).

Enrollment: 1,462 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 16 to 17 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• English fluency,
• Current California resident.

Exclusion criteria

Not meeting these criteria:

• English fluency,
• Current California resident.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Factorial Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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1,462 participants in 3 patient groups

Experimental group

Active Comparator group

Description:

Images featuring influencers promoting e-cigarettes alongside cannabis

Treatment:

Behavioral: Influencer marketing

Placebo group

Active Comparator group

Description:

Images featuring neutral profiles of influencers not using or displaying any substances

Treatment:

Behavioral: Influencer marketing

Control

Active Comparator group

Description:

Images featuring influencers promoting e-cigarettes alone

Treatment:

Behavioral: Influencer marketing