Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California.
Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2023 Dec;31(6):1032-1038. doi: 10.1037/pha0000642. Epub 2023 Feb 9.
e-Cigarette companies use cartoon images to market their products, and exposure to this marketing strategy may lead to increased risk for adolescent e-cigarette use. This study examined the effects of cartoon marketing image exposure on perceived expectations of benefits and risks of e-cigarette use, and willingness to buy e-cigarette-related products in the future, among adolescents with and without a history of e-cigarette use. To accomplish this, participants completed an online survey experiment, during which they were randomly assigned to view pictures of e-cigarette products with cartoon or noncartoon packaging, followed by questionnaires about wanting to buy e-cigarettes, and perceived benefits and risks of e-cigarette use. Participants, a sample of Southern California high school students (ninth to 11th grade; = 1,376), completed the study from September 2021 to November 2021. Overall, 27% of participants had used an e-cigarette or other tobacco product at least once in their lifetime (ever user). Thirty-six percent of participants never used e-cigarettes or other tobacco products but were considered to be susceptible to using e-cigarettes in the future (susceptible-never user). Thirty-seven percent of participants never used e-cigarettes or other tobacco products and were considered insusceptible to using e-cigarettes in the future (insusceptible-never user). There were no significant differences between image exposure groups (cartoon, no cartoon) on demographic variables (age, gender, race/ethnicity), lifetime e-cigarette use, or susceptibility to use in the future. Exposure to e-cigarette-related cartoon-based marketing produced lower perceived e-cigarette-related risks in insusceptible-never users. Exposure to e-cigarette marketing with cartoon images decreases the perceived harmfulness of e-cigarettes, which can increase adolescents' intentions to try e-cigarettes. Curbing adolescent e-cigarette use is a national public health priority. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
电子烟公司使用卡通形象来推销其产品，而接触这种营销策略可能会增加青少年使用电子烟的风险。本研究考察了卡通营销形象暴露对有或没有电子烟使用史的青少年对电子烟使用的预期益处和风险感知的影响，以及未来购买电子烟相关产品的意愿。为此，参与者完成了一项在线调查实验，在实验中，他们被随机分配观看带有卡通或非卡通包装的电子烟产品图片，然后回答有关购买电子烟意愿和对电子烟使用的预期益处和风险的问题。参与者是南加州高中生（9 到 11 年级；n=1376）的样本，于 2021 年 9 月至 11 月完成了这项研究。总体而言，27%的参与者一生中至少使用过一次电子烟或其他烟草产品（曾经使用者）。36%的参与者从未使用过电子烟或其他烟草产品，但被认为未来有可能使用电子烟（潜在的从未使用者）。37%的参与者从未使用过电子烟或其他烟草产品，被认为未来不太可能使用电子烟（不易受影响的从未使用者）。在人口统计学变量（年龄、性别、种族/民族）、一生使用电子烟情况或未来使用电子烟的易感性方面，图像暴露组（卡通、非卡通）之间没有显著差异。在不易受影响的从未使用者中，接触基于卡通的电子烟相关营销会降低对电子烟相关风险的感知。接触带有卡通形象的电子烟营销会降低电子烟的危害性感知，从而增加青少年尝试电子烟的意愿。遏制青少年电子烟使用是国家公共卫生的重点。（PsycInfo 数据库记录（c）2023 APA，保留所有权利）。
