Cyber-ethnography of cannabis marketing on social media

Abstract

Background Since 2012, several states have legalized non-medical cannabis, and cannabis businesses have used social media as a primary form of marketing. There are concerns that social media cannabis exposure may reach underage viewers. Our objective was to identify how cannabis businesses cultivate an online presence and exert influence that may reach youth. Methods We chose a cyber-ethnographic approach to explore cannabis retailers on social media. We searched cannabis retailers with Facebook and Instagram presence from Alaska, Oregon, Colorado, and Washington, and identified 28 social media business profiles. One year of content was evaluated from each profile. In-depth, observational field notes were collected from researchers immersed in data collection on business profiles. Field notes were analyzed to uncover common themes associated with social media cannabis marketing. Results A total of 14 businesses were evaluated across both Facebook and Instagram, resulting in 14 sets of combined field notes. A major theme was Normalization of Cannabis, involving both Broad Appeal and Specific Targeting. Conclusions It is concerning that Normalization of Cannabis by cannabis businesses may increase cannabis acceptability among youth. In a digital world where the majority of youth are spending time online, it is important for policymakers to examine additional restrictions for cannabis businesses marketing through social media.

You Shall Not Pass? The Design of Age Gates in an Emerging Cannabis Market

“…The most popular links were to Instagram and Facebook, followed by YouTube and Twitter. These links are significant because, according to prior research, social media can have a strong influence on online shopping behaviors (e.g., Asquith, 2021;Aversa et al, 2021;Jenkins et al, 2021;Meacham et al, 2018;Trangenstein et al, 2019;Whitehill et al, 2020). In fact, one survey found that youth who engaged with cannabis promotions on social media were five times more likely to report cannabis use in the past year (Trangenstein et al, 2019).…”

“…Recently, mystery shopping has been used in a number of controversial industries, including gambling (Delfabbro & King, 2021; Malischnig et al, 2021), alcohol (Barry et al, 2021; Grube et al, 2018; Kilcommons et al, 2020; Kristina et al, 2016; Paschall et al, 2020; Schelleman-Offermans et al, 2017; Van Hoof, 2019), and tobacco (Chen et al, 2021; Feltmann et al, 2021; Lakhdar et al, 2020). In fact, across countries, Elharrar et al (2020) found that mystery shopping was one of the few effective controls for preventing tobacco sales to minors.…”

State Cannabis Legalization and Cannabis Use Disorder in the US Veterans Health Administration, 2005 to 2019

“…Websites of medical cannabis companies often imply product safety and efficacy, potentially leading policy makers and the public into believing unconfirmed claims . Cannabis companies carefully design social media promotional profiles to attract customers via content focusing on cannabis normalization, and state regulations of cannabis advertising are often violated . These industry activities could contribute to changing attitudes, increased cannabis use, and CUD among some users, both within and across state boundaries.…”

Analyzing sentiments and themes on cannabis in Canada using 2018 to 2020 Twitter data

“…Social media platforms are significant venues for studying emerging patterns in social issues such as cannabis legalization. The messages generated by users, producers, and suppliers have the potential to reflect trends in real-time (Darren et al 2020 ; Moreno et al 2018 ; Jenkins et al 2021 ). The social media accounts of cannabis retailers have been studied on multiple platforms including Facebook (Moreno et al 2018 ; Jenkins et al 2021 ), Instagram (Jenkins et al 2021 ), and Twitter (Cavazos-Rehg et al 2014 , Daniulaityte et al 2016 ; Lamy et al 2016 ).…”

“…The messages generated by users, producers, and suppliers have the potential to reflect trends in real-time (Darren et al 2020 ; Moreno et al 2018 ; Jenkins et al 2021 ). The social media accounts of cannabis retailers have been studied on multiple platforms including Facebook (Moreno et al 2018 ; Jenkins et al 2021 ), Instagram (Jenkins et al 2021 ), and Twitter (Cavazos-Rehg et al 2014 , Daniulaityte et al 2016 ; Lamy et al 2016 ). Twitter, an extensively used social networking platform, offers an excellent opportunity to investigate public sentiment and perceptions on social issues including cannabis use (Darren et al 2020 ).…”