Exposure to tobacco and nicotine product advertising: Associations with perceived prevalence of use among college students

Abstract

Given the normative effects of advertising on perceived peer tobacco use, college tobacco initiatives should include descriptive norms education to counteract inaccurate perceptions.

Puff or pass: do social media and social interactions influence smoking behaviour of university students? A cross-sectional mixed methods study from Dhaka, Bangladesh

“…48 49 Furthermore, this advertising influenced the initiation and continued the use of tobacco among them. [50][51][52] Consistent with previous studies, this study also suggests that use of social media, including sharing and liking tobacco-related content, is associated with smoking. 39 53 54 This study also suggests that long-term engagement with social media is associated with smoking, as participants who have been using social media for 5 years or more had almost two times the odds of being smokers than those who have been using social media for less than 5 years.…”

An old flame: The e‐cigarette industry advertises, addicts, and challenges scientific evidence using the cigarette industry playbook

“…Increased advertising has been found to have many deleterious effects among adolescents. Those exposed to advertisements are more likely to use tobacco products and to perceive increased use by their peers . Further, advertisements by e‐cigarette companies have been found to increase not only e‐cigarette use but also cigarette use in youths …”

Importance of online exposures to pro-tobacco messaging

“… 3 , 4 As with exposure via other media, online exposure to pro-tobacco messaging normalises tobacco use and contributes to positive attitudes towards tobacco products. 5 , 6 However, online pro-tobacco messaging exposures can be especially impactful, because young people who encounter pro-tobacco messaging online can interact with the messages by liking or commenting on a social media post, clicking an advertisement to visit an online tobacco retailer, or signing up to receive tobacco coupons. 2 With today’s youth spending an increasing amount of their time online, conducting surveillance of online pro-tobacco messaging exposures among young people is crucially important.…”