Promising Themes for Electronic Cigarette Prevention Campaigns for Youth and Young Adults

Xiaoquan Zhao; Andie Malterud; Laurel Curry; Vincenzo Malo; Anna MacMonegle; James Nonnemaker; Jane Allen

doi:10.1093/ntr/ntae019

Promising Themes for Electronic Cigarette Prevention Campaigns for Youth and Young Adults

Nicotine Tob Res. 2024 Feb 1:ntae019. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntae019. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Xiaoquan Zhao^{1

2}, Andie Malterud¹, Laurel Curry³, Vincenzo Malo³, Anna MacMonegle³, James Nonnemaker³, Jane Allen³

Affiliations

¹ Center for Tobacco Products, Food & Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA.
² Department of Communication, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA.
³ RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.

PMID: 38302084
DOI: 10.1093/ntr/ntae019

Abstract

Introduction: Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are the most widely used tobacco product by youth and young adults in the United States (U.S.). Effective prevention campaigns require identification of appropriate content focus for message construction.

Methods: A sample of 2,622 youth and young adults ages 15-24 were recruited through social media advertisements and completed an online survey. Respondents reported current e-cigarette use or intention to use if not currently using. They also indicated agreement or disagreement with 75 e-cigarette-related beliefs representing 16 themes. The relative promise of each theme/belief for campaign messaging was investigated by examining its association with the behavior/intention outcomes and the opportunity for positive change in its distribution (room to move).

Results: All themes showed significant associations with the behavior (ORs = 2.49 to 19.04) and intention (ORs = 2.21 to 6.11) outcomes. Room to move for themes ranged from 32.9% to 96.3% in behavior analysis and 15.6% to 93.9% in intention analysis. A normed relative promise index (M = 50, SD = 17) showed flavors (72), comparison to cigarettes (69), and relaxation and mental health (68) as the top ranked themes. Subgroup analyses by demographics and gender identity revealed few differences. Results on the belief level were largely consistent with those on the theme level.

Conclusions: Data from this study provide timely evidence for the relative value of various themes/beliefs as potential targets for message development in e-cigarette prevention campaigns. Final selection of target themes/beliefs requires consideration of openness to persuasion, which may be informed by additional testing.

Implications: Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are the most widely used tobacco products among youth and young adults in the United States (US). This study adds new evidence on the relative promise of a wide range of e-cigarette beliefs and belief clusters (themes) as potential targets for message development in educational campaigns. This evidence is important to consider in future campaign efforts directed at the youth and young adult populations in the US.

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