Perceived Effectiveness of Vaping Prevention Ads Among Adolescents and Young Adults

Not Applicable

Not yet recruiting

• Conditions: Vaping

• Registration Number: NCT07116837
• Lead Sponsor: UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Brief Summary

The purpose of the Aim 2 study is to assess the perceived effectiveness of vaping prevention ads among adolescents and young adults and identify which features of video ads predict perceived message effectiveness. Participants will include adolescents aged 13-17 and young adults aged 18-20 who live in the US and who are susceptible to vaping or who currently vape. In an online survey, participants will be randomized to view five randomly selected vaping prevention ads identified from a previous content analysis. After viewing the videos, participants will rate each video on the perceived message effectiveness scale and respond to questions about vaping appeal and urge to vape. The survey will take 15-20 minutes.

A follow-up survey of a subset of participants will be conducted around two weeks after they have been exposed to vaping prevention video ads in the baseline survey. Participants will view a total of six videos, including the five videos they watched previously, shown one at a time, along with one "decoy" video ad. After watching each video ad, participants will indicate whether they remember seeing the ad in the survey they took around two weeks prior. The survey will take 10-15 minutes.

Detailed Description

Health communication campaigns are a scientific approach for preventing and reducing tobacco product use among adolescents. Although a growing number of studies have examined the effects of e-cigarette communication among young adults, there is only a modest number of published studies targeting adolescents. There is little information about the objective features of vaping prevention video ads. Additionally, the follow-up study will explore how ad features are associated with recognition.

Setting: This study is an online survey of adolescents and young adults (age 13-20) who are susceptible to vaping or who currently vape and live in the United States.

Recruitment and Informed Consent: Adolescent and young adult participants will be recruited by Qualtrics Services. Participants who are 18 to 20 years old and are eligible for the study will view a consent form as part of the survey and check a box to indicate that they agree to participate in the study. For minor participants, Qualtrics will recruit parents of 13-17-year-olds, so they will receive the survey invitation with the parental permission/consent form. From there, parents will be asked to pass the survey to their child. Once the participant has completed the consent/assent process, they will be able to begin the survey.

Procedures: up to 3,500 adolescents and young adults who are susceptible to vaping or currently vape will be randomized to view 5 randomly selected ads from a pool of vaping prevention video ads identified from previous study activities. Participants will be screened for susceptibility to vaping or current vape use. Participants will then answer questions on demographic information and tobacco product use. They will view 5 videos, 1 at a time ,randomly assigned from the larger pool of videos. After viewing the videos, participants will rate each video on perceived message effectiveness (primary outcome) and respond to questions about vaping appeal and urge to vape (secondary outcomes). Finally, participants will respond to standard questions on psychological distress, tobacco product use in the home, and general health-related questions. After the survey, participants will view a debrief page with information about tobacco use harms. The survey will take 15-20 minutes.

For the follow-up study, a subset of participants will be asked to complete another survey around two weeks after they have been exposed to vaping prevention video ads in the first survey. In this survey, participants will view a total of six videos, including the five videos they watched when taking the Aim 2 survey around two weeks earlier, shown one at a time, along with one "decoy" video ad. The order of the videos will be randomized. After watching each video ad, participants will indicate whether they remember seeing the ad in the survey they took around two weeks prior. The follow-up survey will take 10-15 minutes.

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2025-08
• Study Start: 2025-08-01
• Study First Submitted: 2025-08-07
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-08-07
• Study First Posted: 2025-08-12
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-08-18
• Last Update Posted: 2025-08-19
• Primary Completion: 2025-12-31
• Study Completion: 2025-12-31

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 3500

Inclusion Criteria

• Age 13-20 years old
• Current vaper (defined as using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days) or susceptible to vaping. Participants will be considered 'susceptible to vaping' if they answer anything other than "definitely not" to 3 screening items assessing their susceptibility to vaping. An example item is, "If one of your best friends were to offer you a vape, would you use it?" (Definitely not, probably not, probably yes, definitely yes).
• Live in the United States

Exclusion Criteria

• Live outside of the United States

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Perceived Message Effectiveness	Baseline (Main study)	The 3-item perceived message effectiveness scale assesses the extent to which participants perceived the vaping prevention video ads as effective. Response options are on a 5-point scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="A great deal". The overall scale score is determined by averaging scores from the 3 items, with higher scores representing higher perceived message effectiveness. This is the primary outcome for the main study.
Recognition	Two-week Follow-up	This survey item assesses whether the participant remembers viewing the ad in the baseline survey 2 weeks prior. Response options are "Yes", "No", and "Not sure". The response will be dichotomized as 1 = "Yes" and 0 = "No"/"Not sure" for analyses. This is the primary outcome for the follow-up study.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Urge to vape	Baseline	This survey item assesses the extent to which the video ad makes participants want to vape. Response options are on a 5-point scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="A great deal". A higher score represents a stronger urge to vape. This is a secondary outcome of the main study.
Vaping appeal	Baseline	This survey item assesses the extent to which the ad makes vaping seem appealing. Response options are on a 5-point scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="A great deal". A higher score represents higher vaping appeal. This is a secondary outcome of the main study.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; 🇺🇸 Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States