Characteristics of Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Exposure to and Engagement with Nicotine and Tobacco Product Content on Social Media

Abstract

To inform policy and messaging, this study examined characteristics of adolescents’ and young adults’ (AYAs’) exposure to and engagement with nicotine and tobacco product (NTP) social media (SM) content. In this cross-sectional survey study, AYAs aged 13–26 (N=1,163) reported current NTP use, SM use frequency, and exposure to and engagement with SM content promoting and opposing NTP use (i.e. frequency, source[s], format[s], platform[s]). Participants who used NTPs (vs. did not use) were more likely to report having seen NTP content (p-values<.001). Prevalent sources were companies/brands (46.6%) and influencers (44.4%); prevalent formats were video (65.4%) and image (50.7%). Exposure to content promoting NTP use was prevalent on several popular platforms (e.g. TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat); exposure to content opposing NTP use was most prevalent on YouTube (75.8%). Among those reporting content engagement (i.e. liking, commenting on, or sharing NTP content; 34.6%), 57.2% engaged with influencer content. Participants reported engaging with content promoting and opposing NTP use on popular platforms (e.g. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube). Participants with (versus without) current NTP use were significantly more likely to use most SM platforms and to report NTP content exposure and engagement (p-values<.05). Results suggest that NTP education messaging and enforcement of platforms’ content restrictions are needed.

Acknowledgments

This study is a cross-institution collaborative project from the Marketing Influences Special Interest Group supported, in part, by the Center for Coordination of Analytics, Science, Enhancement and Logistics (CASEL) in Tobacco Regulatory Science U54DA046060-01 (National Institute of Drug Abuse [NIDA] and the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products [FDA CTP]). Additional support was provided by NIDA (K01 DA055073); the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the FDA CTP (U54HL120163); the American Heart Association (20YVNR35500014); NIDA and the FDA CTP (U54 DA036151, R01 DA049878); the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and FDA (U54CA228110); NCI (P30CA225520) and the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (R22-03).

Disclosure Statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. Content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or the Food and Drug Administration.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, EAV, upon reasonable request.

Supplementary Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2024.2355291

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the American Heart Association [20YVNR35500014]; National Cancer Institute [P30CA225520]; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [U54HL120163]; National Institute on Drug Abuse [K01DA055073]; Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust [R22-03].