Young Adult Responses to Cannabis Prevention Message Features

Given the high prevalence of cannabis use among young adults, it is important to identify and develop appealing messaging strategies that will engage young adults when presented with cannabis health information. The purpose of this study was to identify appealing image features from a cannabis prevention campaign.

We conducted a cross-sectional survey among N = 303 US young adults (ages 18-30) during February 2024. Consented participants reported their cannabis use and were randomly assigned to view 2 (of 6) selected images from California's "Mind over Marijuana" cannabis prevention campaign. Participants were prompted to select the 3 most appealing regions of the image and report perceived message effectiveness (PME). Two-sample t-tests were used to compare differences between participants' cannabis use status (any past-30-day use, no past-30-day use) and selected image regions. We used linear regressions to assess associations between sociodemographic factors and PME for each image.

Participants indicated that people's faces (19.6%-66.3%) and anti-cannabis text (29.0%-83.6%) were the most appealing. The appeal of specific regions differed for 1 image (people who currently used cannabis found text in a unique format more appealing, and people with no past-30-day use found a person holding a phone more appealing). Depending on the image, race, and sexual orientation dictated PME scores. Non-Hispanic Black race (vs Non-Hispanic White) was associated with higher PME for 3 of the 6 images, and Multiple/Other races were associated with higher PME for 1 image. Identifying as LGBTQ+ (vs heterosexual) was associated with lower PME for 1 image.

Future cannabis prevention campaigns for young adults may continue using creative and bold text as well as people when designing images.