Testing potential disclosures for e-cigarette sponsorship on social media.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Social Media Research
• Consumer Behavior

Background:

• Most e-cigarette social media content originates from sponsored influencers, not authentic user posts.
• Effective disclosure strategies are needed to ensure social media users recognize commercial sponsorship.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of different disclosure hashtags (#ad vs. #sponsored) in informing young adults about commercially sponsored e-cigarette content on Instagram.
• To assess the impact of visual attention on recognizing sponsored posts.

Main Methods:

• Young adults (16-24) viewed manipulated Instagram feeds with e-cigarette influencer posts labeled #ad or #sponsored.
• Eye-tracking software measured visual attention to hashtags, and participants self-reported their interpretations.
• Logistic regression and qualitative content analysis were used to analyze recognition and themes.

Main Results:

• The #ad hashtag was associated with nearly double the odds of recognizing commercial content compared to #sponsored.
• Increased attention to disclosure hashtags significantly raised the likelihood of commercial recognition.

Conclusions:

• The #ad disclosure effectively captures attention and enhances young users' recognition of commercial sponsorship on social media.
• Clear labeling of sponsored social media content is a viable strategy to improve user awareness of influencer marketing.