The Effects of Branded and Influencer Social Media Promotion of Flavored Tobacco Products (FTP) on FTP Use Among Youth and Young Adults

项目摘要 虽然烟草产品的数字营销越来越普遍，但社交媒体的作用 烟草控制平台的研究仍不充分。一项新的研究表明，社交媒体 调味烟草产品的推广（即，电子尼古丁输送系统（ENDS），雪茄，小雪茄， 小雪茄、水烟/水烟管、烟斗、无烟烟草、热不燃烧产品）正在迅速增长。这些 目前的信息管理不足，针对年轻人，经常包含错误信息， 商品和名人或“影响者”促销。年轻人使用社交媒体的比例高于一般人 美国的人口，这可能会成倍增加有针对性的社交媒体营销的效果。现有 调味烟草制品（FTPs）和烟草数字营销的监管不平衡 产品可以解释青年FTP使用的最新趋势。特别是，最近社交媒体的指数级增长 广告与美国年轻人中ENDS和其他FTP使用的显着增加相吻合， 消除了最近在减少青年人总体烟草产品使用方面取得的进展。了解影响 接触社交媒体内容可以为烟草监管科学提供信息。不幸的是，到目前为止，没有研究 研究了社交媒体营销对此类FTP的影响。该项目将填补这一关键的研究 间隙该项目的总体目标是研究接触FTP相关社交媒体的影响 内容，及时为限制这些产品上市的监管行动提供科学依据。的 拟议项目的具体目标是目标1：确定和描述潜在的可调控社会 按源与FTP相关的媒体消息内容（例如，品牌，影响者/社区，普通消费者）和 主要主题（例如，新用户定位，健康风险，风味类型）;目标2：检查暴露于 关于产品销售以及青年和年轻人意识、风险 对FTP产品的认知、使用意图、启动和使用模式;以及目标3：研究是否/ FTP监管政策在多大程度上修改了社交媒体内容对FTP产品的影响 销售和青年和年轻人的意识，风险认知，使用意图，启动和使用模式 FTP产品。这些目标将通过应用健康行为的经典理论来实现， 广告，沿着创新的分析方法，以独特的数据集组合，包括社会 来自Twitter和Instagram的媒体数据，关于烟草营销暴露的个人层面数据， 烟草与健康人口评估（PATH）调查中的态度和烟草使用情况，FTP销售 来自Nielsen的卷数据存储扫描仪数据，以及NORC收集的州/本地FTP策略数据。这些发现 从这个项目将（a）通过强调调味品的潜在监管行动来告知监管科学 烟草产品和社交媒体，B）有助于健康传播理论，以及c）可翻译为 其他健康行为研究。

PROJECT SUMMARY While digital marketing of tobacco products is becoming increasingly common, the role of social media platforms in tobacco control is still understudied. An emerging body of research shows that social media promotion of flavored tobacco products (i.e., electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), cigars, cigarillos, little cigars, hookah/waterpipe, pipe, smokeless tobacco, heat-not-burn products) is rapidly growing. These messages are currently under-regulated, target youth, often contain misinformation, and feature branded merchandise and celebrity or “influencer” promotion. Youth use social media at higher rates than the general population in the U.S., which potentially multiplies the effect of targeted social media marketing. The existing regulatory imbalances in treatment of flavored tobacco products (FTPs) and digital marketing of tobacco products may explain recent trends in youth FTP use. In particular, the recent exponential rise in social media advertising coincided with significant increases in ENDS and other FTP use among U.S. youth, which has erased recent progress in reducing overall tobacco product use among youth. Understanding the impact of exposure to social media content can inform tobacco regulatory science. Unfortunately, to date, no studies have examined the impact of social media marketing of such FTPs. This project will fill this critical research gap. The overarching goal of this project is to examine the effects of exposure to FTP-related social media content and provide timely scientific basis for regulatory actions on restricting marketing of these products. The specific aims of the proposed project are Aim 1: to identify and characterize potentially regulatable social media message content related to FTPs by source (e.g., brand, influencer/community, regular consumer) and major themes (e.g., new-user targeting, health risks, flavor-type); Aim 2: to examine the impact of exposure to commercial and influencer FTP content on product sales and on youth and young adult awareness, risk perceptions, intentions to use, initiation, and patterns of use of FTP products; and Aim 3: to study whether/to what extent FTP regulatory policies modify the impact of exposure to social media content on FTP product sales and youth and young adult awareness, risk perceptions, intentions to use, initiation, and patterns of use of FTP products. These aims will be accomplished by applying classic theories of health behavior and advertising, along with innovative analytic methods, to a unique combination of data sets, including social media data from Twitter and Instagram, individual-level data on exposure to tobacco marketing, tobacco attitudes, and tobacco use from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) surveys, FTP sales volume data from Nielsen store scanner data, and state/local FTP policy data collected by NORC. The findings from this project will (a) inform regulatory science by highlighting potential regulatory actions for flavored tobacco products and for social media, b) contribute to health communication theory, and c) be translatable to other health behavior research.