Paid Social Media Advertising on Vaping in Australia: A Descriptive Study Using Meta Ad Library

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Digital Marketing
• Social Media Analysis

Background:

• Growing concern over youth vaping and recent Australian policy reforms.
• Vaping marketing strategies on social media platforms require investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze vaping-related marketing on social media, focusing on advertiser types, message stance, audience targeting, and strategies.
• To understand how commercial entities and other groups advertise vaping content on Meta platforms.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 394 vaping-related advertisements from Meta Ad Library (May 2018 - July 2024).
• Advertisers categorized into government, political groups, NGOs/universities, commercial entities, news sources, and undisclosed groups.
• Descriptive statistics on impressions, spending, duration, audience size, and platform distribution.

Main Results:

• Anti-vaping messages (n=269) were mainly from NGOs/universities and political groups, targeting all ages with varied spending.
• Pro-vaping messages (n=87) predominantly came from commercial entities and undisclosed groups, targeting the 18-34 age demographic.
• Commercial entities posted pro-vaping content despite Meta's advertising restrictions.

Conclusions:

• Significant differences exist in the expenditure and demographic targeting of pro- and anti-vaping social media advertisers.
• Understanding paid social media advertising practices is crucial for developing effective digital health campaigns.
• Findings inform health promotion practitioners and policymakers on current vaping marketing trends.