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Influencer Marketing and Adolescent E-cigarette Use

NCT07420842 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 700

Last updated 2026-02-19

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Adolescents (N = 700) participated in the online survey-based randomized experiment focused on understanding youth perceptions of e-cigarette influencer marketing on social media. Specifically, the study assessed how age appearance of social media influencers, fitness-related contextual framing of e-cigarette content, and perceived influencer credibility jointly shape adolescent harm perceptions, appeal, and susceptibility to e-cigarette use. Participants were randomly shown 6 videos, featuring younger- or older-looking influencers promoting e-cigarettes in the following experimental conditions: 1) younger-looking influencers promoting e-cigarettes alongside fitness-oriented activities (condition 1); 2) older-looking influencers promoting e-cigarettes alongside fitness-oriented activities (condition 2); 3) younger-looking influencers promoting e-cigarettes without any fitness-oriented content; and 4) older-looking influencers promoting e-cigarettes without any fitness-oriented content (control). After watching each video, participants rated perceptions of influencer credibility (i.e., honesty, trustworthiness, knowledge) on the scale of 0 (e.g., dishonest) to 100 (honest). Among all participants, harm perceptions and appeal of e-cigarettes was also assessed. Susceptibility to use e-cigarettes was assessed among never users of e-cigarettes.

Conditions

  • Vaping

Interventions

OTHER

Youth Perceptions of Influencer Age and Fitness Contexts in E-Cigarette Marketing

Participants watched online survey-imbedded promotional videos featuring influencers. Influencer age appearance was manipulated using AI-based age filter.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Tobacco Related Disease Research Program

    collaborator OTHER

  • University of Southern California

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Jennifer B Unger, PhD · University of Southern California

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Model
FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age
14 Years
Max Age
17 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2025-07-16
Primary Completion
2025-08-01
Completion
2025-08-01

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07420842 on ClinicalTrials.gov