The Impact of E-cigarette Marketing Features on Youths' E-cigarette Perceptions and Use Intentions

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT E-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among youth, and can pose various risks among youth. Exposure to branded e-cigarette marketing and marketing features, such as the use of color, use of people in images, and language specifically targeting smokers, likely contributes to youths’ e-cigarette-related perceptions and use intentions. A better understanding of how these features work, and how they interact with the required nicotine warning on e-cigarette marketing material, will help to inform future regulatory efforts pertaining to marketing, and may also serve as guidelines for industry self-regulation. In addition, the field is in need of new study designs that will complement existing methods to accurately assess the impact of e- cigarette marketing. Thus, the overarching goal of my proposed research is to determine the impact of branded e-cigarette marketing features on youths’ e-cigarette perceptions and use intentions, relying on a triangulation of methods. In Aim 1, I will conduct a longitudinal content analysis of e-cigarette print, online, and point-of-sale marketing material, to monitor the potential for youth exposure to e-cigarette marketing and to detect changing trends in e-cigarette marketing over time. In Aim 2, I will assess the impact of different branded e-cigarette marketing features on youths’ e-cigarette perceptions and use intentions via two activities. First, I will conduct four online focus groups with youth (13-17) non-current users of e-cigarettes, to qualitatively understand their perceptions about e-cigarettes and branded e-cigarette marketing. Findings will inform the development of a survey instrument for the next activity, in which I will conduct a 2x2x2 online survey experiment with 600 youth (13-17) non-current users of e-cigarettes to quantitatively test the effects of use of color, use of people in images, and smoker-targeting language on e-cigarette perceptions and use intentions. In Aim 3, I will supplement the findings from Aim 2 with objective measures of attention, assessed with eye tracking technology. In this pilot eye tracking study with 60 youth (13-17) non-current users of e- cigarettes, I will examine dwell time and gaze patterns to explore the effects of use of people in images and smoker-targeting language, as well as whether these features undermine attention paid to the nicotine warning. This research addresses FDA CTP’s priority scientific interest in understanding marketing influences, particularly on youth initiation in the context of industry marketing of novel and/or potential modified risk tobacco products. In addition, this K01 will allow me to achieve my long-term career goal of becoming a leading behavioral scientist in tobacco regulatory science by providing training in a new content area, i.e., industry marketing, and new methodologies, i.e., focus groups, content analyses, and eye tracking, and supporting my transition to becoming an independent researcher. The proposed research will allow me to work towards an R01 grant that will examine potential regulatory solutions to mitigate the impact of tobacco industry marketing of potential modified risk tobacco products on youth.