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

April 4, 2025 updated by: Jennifer Unger, University of Southern California

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

Intervention / Treatment

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

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

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

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

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

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

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
Time Frame: assessed during the ~ 30-minute experiment, immediately after each of the three pairs of influencer images
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
Time Frame: one-time assessment after the experimental exposure (immediately post-treatment)
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

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Southern California

Investigators

  • Study Director: Gina Klemm, University of Southern California

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

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

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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