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

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.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Influencer marketing

Detailed 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).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 1462
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90032
      • University of Southern California

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• English fluency,
• Current California resident.

Exclusion Criteria:

Not meeting these criteria:

• English fluency,
• Current California resident.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Experimental group; Images featuring influencers promoting e-cigarettes alongside cannabis	Behavioral: Influencer marketing; Participants viewed survey-imbedded promotional images featuring influencers
Active Comparator: Placebo group; Images featuring neutral profiles of influencers not using or displaying any substances	Behavioral: Influencer marketing; Participants viewed survey-imbedded promotional images featuring influencers
Active Comparator: Control; Images featuring influencers promoting e-cigarettes alone	Behavioral: Influencer marketing; Participants viewed survey-imbedded promotional images featuring influencers

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Perceptions of influencer credibility	Perceptions of influencer credibility (i.e., honesty, trustworthiness, knowledge) were assessed using a 0 (e.g., dishonest) -100 (e.g., honest) scale that has been validated in prior research.	assessed during the ~ 30-minute experiment, immediately after each of the three pairs of influencer images
Susceptibility to use e-cigarettes	Susceptibility to use e-cigarettes was measured using the validated three-item scale adapted from Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH), and combined into one variable (α=0.93). Consistent with prior research, the measure was dichotomized with responses "definitely not" to all items being coded as "not susceptible" and responses "probably not," "probably yes", or "definitely yes" being coded as "susceptible."	one-time assessment after the experimental exposure (immediately post-treatment)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Southern California
• Investigators: Study Director: Gina Klemm, University of Southern California

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 25, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 30, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): November 30, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 20, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 4, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): April 9, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 9, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 4, 2025
• Last Verified: March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: HS-19-00682-AM016; T33DT6620 (Other Grant/Funding Number: TRDRP)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No