Dysautonomia International

E-cigarette Social Media Marketing and Its Perceptions by Youth

Purpose

The proposed study will conduct two randomized between-subject experiments among 6,000 adolescents (per each experiment) recruited nationwide to test the effects of audio-visual features of e-cigarette influencer marketing on perceptions of influencer credibility, e-cigarette harm perceptions, appeal, and susceptibility to e-cigarette use. This protocol represent the first experiment.

Condition

Vaping

Eligibility

Eligible Ages: Between 14 Years and 17 Years
Eligible Sex: All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Inclusion Criteria

14-17 years of age, - English fluency,

Exclusion Criteria

Not meeting the following criteria: - 14-17 years of age, - English fluency,

Study Design

Phase: N/A
Study Type: Interventional
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Factorial Assignment
Intervention Model Description: We will conduct a randomized online between-subject experiment to assess how influencer characteristics and e-cigarette post features affect perceived influencer credibility, harm perceptions, product appeal, and susceptibility to e-cigarette use. 6,000 participants will be randomized to one of 12 conditions in a 2 × 6 design varying influencer age appearance, younger- versus older-looking, and e-cigarette post context, including e-cigarette-only control and e-cigarette content paired with lifestyle contexts such as fitness, entertainment, fashion, avatars, or no added context.
Primary Purpose: Other
Masking: None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

Arm	Description	Assigned Intervention
Experimental Experimental: Videos featuring young influencers promoting e-cigarettes alongside fitness		Other: Exposure to Influencer Age and Context Variations in E-Cigarette Marketing Exposure to promotional e-cigarette videos where influencers' age appearance (manipulated via an AI-based age filter) and the situational context alongside e-cigarette promotion (manipulated by background settings) are systematically varied. The videos will be embedded within an online survey platform, immediately preceding the outcome assessment.
Experimental Experimental: Videos featuring young influencers promoting e-cigarettes alongside entertainment		Other: Exposure to Influencer Age and Context Variations in E-Cigarette Marketing Exposure to promotional e-cigarette videos where influencers' age appearance (manipulated via an AI-based age filter) and the situational context alongside e-cigarette promotion (manipulated by background settings) are systematically varied. The videos will be embedded within an online survey platform, immediately preceding the outcome assessment.
Experimental Experimental: Videos featuring young influencers promoting e-cigarettes alongside fashion		Other: Exposure to Influencer Age and Context Variations in E-Cigarette Marketing Exposure to promotional e-cigarette videos where influencers' age appearance (manipulated via an AI-based age filter) and the situational context alongside e-cigarette promotion (manipulated by background settings) are systematically varied. The videos will be embedded within an online survey platform, immediately preceding the outcome assessment.
Experimental Experimental: Videos featuring young influencers promoting e-cigarettes alongside avatar		Other: Exposure to Influencer Age and Context Variations in E-Cigarette Marketing Exposure to promotional e-cigarette videos where influencers' age appearance (manipulated via an AI-based age filter) and the situational context alongside e-cigarette promotion (manipulated by background settings) are systematically varied. The videos will be embedded within an online survey platform, immediately preceding the outcome assessment.
Experimental Experimental: Videos featuring older influencers promoting e-cigarettes alongside fitness		Other: Exposure to Influencer Age and Context Variations in E-Cigarette Marketing Exposure to promotional e-cigarette videos where influencers' age appearance (manipulated via an AI-based age filter) and the situational context alongside e-cigarette promotion (manipulated by background settings) are systematically varied. The videos will be embedded within an online survey platform, immediately preceding the outcome assessment.
Experimental Experimental: Videos featuring older influencers promoting e-cigarettes alongside fashion		Other: Exposure to Influencer Age and Context Variations in E-Cigarette Marketing Exposure to promotional e-cigarette videos where influencers' age appearance (manipulated via an AI-based age filter) and the situational context alongside e-cigarette promotion (manipulated by background settings) are systematically varied. The videos will be embedded within an online survey platform, immediately preceding the outcome assessment.
Experimental Experimental: Videos featuring older influencers promoting e-cigarettes alongside avatar		Other: Exposure to Influencer Age and Context Variations in E-Cigarette Marketing Exposure to promotional e-cigarette videos where influencers' age appearance (manipulated via an AI-based age filter) and the situational context alongside e-cigarette promotion (manipulated by background settings) are systematically varied. The videos will be embedded within an online survey platform, immediately preceding the outcome assessment.
Experimental Experimental: Videos featuring young influencers promoting e-cigarettes alone		Other: Exposure to Influencer Age and Context Variations in E-Cigarette Marketing Exposure to promotional e-cigarette videos where influencers' age appearance (manipulated via an AI-based age filter) and the situational context alongside e-cigarette promotion (manipulated by background settings) are systematically varied. The videos will be embedded within an online survey platform, immediately preceding the outcome assessment.
Active Comparator Experimental: Videos featuring older influencers promoting e-cigarettes alone		Other: Exposure to Influencer Age and Context Variations in E-Cigarette Marketing Exposure to promotional e-cigarette videos where influencers' age appearance (manipulated via an AI-based age filter) and the situational context alongside e-cigarette promotion (manipulated by background settings) are systematically varied. The videos will be embedded within an online survey platform, immediately preceding the outcome assessment.
Placebo Comparator Experimental: Videos featuring two neutral profiles of older influencers		Other: Exposure to Influencer Age and Context Variations in E-Cigarette Marketing Exposure to promotional e-cigarette videos where influencers' age appearance (manipulated via an AI-based age filter) and the situational context alongside e-cigarette promotion (manipulated by background settings) are systematically varied. The videos will be embedded within an online survey platform, immediately preceding the outcome assessment.
Placebo Comparator Experimental: Videos featuring two neutral profiles of younger influencers		Other: Exposure to Influencer Age and Context Variations in E-Cigarette Marketing Exposure to promotional e-cigarette videos where influencers' age appearance (manipulated via an AI-based age filter) and the situational context alongside e-cigarette promotion (manipulated by background settings) are systematically varied. The videos will be embedded within an online survey platform, immediately preceding the outcome assessment.
Experimental Experimental: Videos featuring older influencers promoting e-cigarettes alongside entertainment		Other: Exposure to Influencer Age and Context Variations in E-Cigarette Marketing Exposure to promotional e-cigarette videos where influencers' age appearance (manipulated via an AI-based age filter) and the situational context alongside e-cigarette promotion (manipulated by background settings) are systematically varied. The videos will be embedded within an online survey platform, immediately preceding the outcome assessment.

Recruiting Locations

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California 90032

Contact:
Jennifer Unger, PhD
323-333-0580
unger@usc.edu

More Details

Status: Recruiting
Sponsor: University of Southern California

Study Contact

Jennifer B Unger, PI, PhD
(323) 442-7200
unger@usc.edu

Detailed Description

We will estimate the effects of visual features often used in e-cigarette influencer marketing on social media on perceptions of influencer credibility, harm perceptions, appeal and susceptibility to e-cigarette use among adolescents. We will assess interaction of the perceived age of influencers (young-looking vs older-looking) with the following features of influencer marketing, using two survey-based experiments: Experiment 1 will assess the effects of theme or social context appeal, i.e., use of generally positively perceived lifestyle contexts (e.g., healthy lifestyle, entertainment) alongside e-cigarette marketing.

Notice

Study information shown on this site is derived from ClinicalTrials.gov (a public registry operated by the National Institutes of Health). The listing of studies provided is not certain to be all studies for which you might be eligible. Furthermore, study eligibility requirements can be difficult to understand and may change over time, so it is wise to speak with your medical care provider and individual research study teams when making decisions related to participation.