Examining the Protective Effects of Brand Equity in the keepin' it REAL Substance Use Prevention Curriculum

Abstract

While branding appears to be an effective health prevention strategy, it is less clear how successful brands have protective effects. To better understand the role of branding in health prevention and promotion, it is necessary to examine how the persuasive mechanisms of branding function in health campaigns (e.g., modeling socially desirable behaviors). Using cross-sectional data (n = 709), the current study uncovered the mechanisms explaining branding's effects on adolescent substance use in a school-based substance use intervention, the keepin' it REAL (kiR) curriculum. Consistent with our predictions, a confirmatory factor analysis suggested that kiR brand equity had a higher order, multidimensional factor structure. In addition, a path analysis revealed that brand equity affected adolescent substance use directly and through the predicted social cognitive processes, including refusal efficacy and resistance skills. Thus, it is concluded that kiR brand equity serves as a protective factor for adolescent substance use. Practical implications, research limitations, and future directions are discussed.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was supported by a grant (RO1 DA005629) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to the Pennsylvania State University (Michael Hecht, principal investigator). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.