Associations of Tobacco Advertising Appeal With Intentions to Use Alternative Tobacco Products Among Young Tobacco Users Experiencing Homelessness

Abstract

Purpose: Virtually nothing is known about the potential effects of tobacco advertising on tobacco use among youth experiencing homelessness, a vulnerable population with high tobacco use rates. This study examines associations between the appeal of advertising for 5 classes of tobacco product (electronic cigarettes, hookah, cigars, cigarillos, and smokeless tobacco) and future intentions to use those products again among homeless youth who had indicated any level of lifetime use. Design: A cross-sectional design was used. Setting: Settings were 25 service and street sites in Los Angeles County. Participants: A probability sample of 469 young tobacco users experiencing homelessness (mean age = 22; 71% male; 29% non-Hispanic White) was recruited. Measures: Assessments included product-specific tobacco advertising appeal and future intentions to use the product again, as well as a range of covariate controls (eg, demographics, homelessness severity, current tobacco use, general advertising exposure). Analysis: Linear regression tested for associations between the appeal of advertising for a specific tobacco product and intentions to use that product again in the future, controlling for myriad covariates. Results: Advertising appeal was positively associated with future intentions to use again for electronic cigarettes ( P = .006) and hookah ( P = .001), but not cigars ( P = .486), cigarillos ( P = .126), or smokeless tobacco ( P = .109). Conclusion: Results suggest that advertising appeal may increase use of certain tobacco products among youth experiencing homelessness. However, differences in themes emphasized by advertising for specific tobacco products could differentially influence use in this population.

The Moderating Effects of Self-Referencing and Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal in Anti-Smoking Advertising for Adolescents

“…They found different advertising appeals influence the uptake of e-cigarettes. Shadel et al [ 28 ] also used the survey method to examine the effects of tobacco advertising on five classes of tobacco product (electronic cigarettes, hookah, cigars, cigarillos, and smokeless tobacco) on tobacco use among youth experiencing homelessness. They found advertising appeal was positively associated with future intentions to repeat the use of electronic cigarettes and hookah.…”

“…This research examined these psychology variables to fill this research gap. (3) Previous advertising studies on youth smoking are sparse, and most of them used survey methods to explore the advertising effects, e.g., Trumbo and Kim [ 27 ] and Shadel et al [ 28 ]. This research used experimental methods to explore the causal relationships among these variables, which is irreplaceable by the survey method.…”

Predicting tobacco product initiation from intentions to use: Comparing the validity of item analysis methods

“…Other tobacco applications and research have analyzed intentions by calculating average responses or using single items without using any cut-points or dichotomization (e.g., Hines et al, 2000 , Katzet al, 2018 , Shadel et al, 2020 , Stroup and Branstetter, 2018 ). The advantage of this approach is that it avoids dichotomizing items, which can reduce statistical power by eliminating meaningful variation in the data ( Altman and Royston, 2006 , MacCallum et al, 2002 , Royston et al, 2006 , Streiner, 2002 ).…”