Effective Messaging Against Youth E-Cigarette Use: Does Humor Make a Difference?

Anti-vaping campaigns have the potential to reduce youth e-cigarette use in the United States. It is unclear how humor, a common feature in youth anti-tobacco communication, affects intended and unintended message outcomes and interacts with message themes and youth rebelliousness. We conducted a mixed between- and within-subjects experiment using an online convenience sample of 13-17-year-old non-current e-cigarette users (N = 1,366). Participants were randomized to view anti-vaping public service announcement (PSA) ads with humorous text and humorous imagery (HH), humorous text and non-humorous imagery (HN), or non-humorous text and non-humorous imagery (NN). Within each condition, participants viewed five images. The five images represented five themes identified in previous literature as highly effective (i.e., health effects and chemicals) and less effective (i.e., flavors, industry manipulation, mental health). Linear mixed effects models explored main effects of message condition on intended effects (i.e., perceived message effectiveness, message liking, amusement, and worry) and unintended effects (i.e., reactance, anger, perceived message credibility, and susceptibility to e-cigarettes), and additionally tested interactions with theme and youth rebelliousness. Eighty-six percent of the sample were susceptible to e-cigarette use at baseline. Main effects indicated lower perceived message effectiveness (PME) and ad liking for the HN compared to the NN condition (p < .05). Ads in the HH condition elicited higher amusement compared to the NN condition (p < .05). Significant interactions were observed between theme and condition for PME and messaging liking. Interactions between condition and youth rebelliousness were not significant. PSAs with both humorous text and imagery performed similarly to non-humorous messages and did not result in unintended consequences, a finding that can support the use of humor as a variation in message strategy in anti-vaping campaigns. Humor, however, may decrease perceived effectiveness and liking relative to non-humorous messages when paired with lower effectiveness themes. Pilot testing of humorous anti-vaping PSAs may be needed prior to dissemination.