Effect of e‐cigarette advertisement themes on hypothetical e‐cigarette purchasing in price‐responsive adolescents

Abstract

Aims To examine the effect on adolescents of exposure to different e‐cigarette advertisement themes on reported likelihood of purchasing e‐cigarettes in a hypothetical scenario. Design Between‐subjects design of four randomly‐assigned thematic conditions derived from a content analysis of 350 e‐cigarette ads: general, flavor‐ and taste‐themed, people‐ and product use‐themed, or control ads for bottled water. Setting Virginia, USA. Participants Of 1360 adolescents (13‐18 years old) participating, 1063 had complete data (519 current cigarette smokers, 544 tobacco‐susceptible nonsmokers). Measurements Participants completed an e‐cigarette purchase task, reporting the likelihood of buying an e‐cigarette at various prices. Indices of abuse liability included price responsiveness (whether likelihood of purchase decreased with increasing prices) and, among price‐responsive adolescents, breakpoint (highest price before definitely would not buy), Omax (maximum probability‐weighted expenditure), and price elasticity (how quickly willingness to purchase decreases as prices increase). Regressions controlled for demographics, prior tobacco ad exposure, tobacco/substance use, and sensation‐seeking. Findings Prior ad exposure was positively associated with being price‐responsive (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.03, 1.22, ppspps<0.05). Conclusions E‐cigarette advertising exposure may increase reported likelihood of purchasing e‐cigarettes, with effects differing by advertisement content. People‐ and product use‐themed e‐cigarette advertisements increased reported likelihood of purchasing in price‐responsive adolescents.