Adolescents’ Responses to e-Cigarette and Cigarillo Advertising: An Experimental Study

• In Event: Children, Adolescents, and Media: Research Escalator 1

Abstract

While smoking rates are declining among adolescents, rates of use of alternative tobacco products are increasing. An extensive body of research points to a strong connection between youth exposure to tobacco marketing and subsequent interest in and/or initiation of smoking behavior. Our study examined effects of e-cigarette and cigarillo advertisements on perceived social norms, perceived risks and benefits, and intentions to use tobacco products among a nationally representative sample of 1,336 adolescents ages 13-17. We did not find significant effects on perceptions, but those who saw cigarillo ads were more receptive to trying cigarillos.

Authors

• Lucy Popova, University of California, San Francisco

• Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, Stanford U

• Kimberly R. Walsh, U of California - Santa Barbara

• Pamela M. Ling, U of California - San Francisco