# Young Adults Responses to E-Cigarette Advertisement Features and the Effect of Restricting Features on Tobacco Use

> **NIH NIH R00** · UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER · 2021 · $249,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
While conventional cigarette use continues to decline among youth and young adults, e-cigarette (EC) use is
on the rise. The use of ECs during young adulthood, particularly 18 years of age, is especially alarming
because it is not only a critical period in development but also a time when tobacco use is established.
Additionally, the tobacco industry targets individuals of this age with the hope that they will one day progress to
using combustible cigarettes. Advertising may be one of the reasons leading young people to use ECs, and the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now has the authority to regulate EC advertisement features. The goal of
the proposed two-phase study is to determine which EC ad features most strongly influence young adults'
attitudes, susceptibility, and intentions to use ECs (K99), and determine if the restriction of these ad features
influences EC attitudes, experimentation, and sustained use (R00). In phase 1 (K99), we will select 15 ads
from the most popular EC brands that employ a brand, product descriptions, and modeling features. Young
adults who are susceptible to EC use will come into the lab and view these ads. During exposure, they will be
assessed for real-time visual attention using eye-tracking, orienting responses using heart rate, and arousal
using skin conductance as well as pre- and post-ad self-report measures of attitudes, susceptibility, and
behavioral intentions. These factors will help determine the most high impact features, which will be associated
with the greatest visual attention, orienting responses, and arousal levels and changes in attitudes and will be
targeted for restriction in the regulated ad arm of the R00. In phase 2 (R00), we will experimentally estimate
the causal effect of restricting high impact EC ad features on tobacco use behavior. Specifically, we will
conduct a randomized control trial (RCT) where young adults are randomized to one of two conditions: 1) a
regulated ad environment, with high impact EC ad features removed or 2) an unregulated ad environment, with
high impact EC ad features left intact. Participants will view EC ads embedded in an online magazine 24 times
over the course of 6 months. EC experimentation and sustained use will be the primary outcome of interest.
Findings from this study will provide public health officials important and urgently needed information as to
what advertising features are contributing to the sharp rise in the use of ECs among young adults, and if
restrictions reduce the use of EC among young adults.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10336548
- **Project number:** 4R00DA046563-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Elise Marie Stevens
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $249,000
- **Award type:** 4N
- **Project period:** 2019-08-16 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10336548

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10336548, Young Adults Responses to E-Cigarette Advertisement Features and the Effect of Restricting Features on Tobacco Use (4R00DA046563-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10336548. Licensed CC0.

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