Overview #
Youth vaping education campaigns – what works? finds that effective youth vaping education campaigns are co-created with young people and grounded in behavioural theory. They are factual rather than fear-based, and supported by practical tools to build confidence, manage stress, and quit or resist vaping. The research offers a quick evidence-based framework for campaign design, with the abstract providing the fuller detail.
Abstract #
OBJECTIVE: Youth vaping education campaigns are run in many countries and aim to prevent or reduce/stop vaping in 11–18-year-olds. Youth vape communication initiatives are a relatively new phenomena in public health evaluations. These initiatives are either not published, or vary in their scope, methodology and results. However robust evaluations and good practice do exist – and given public health, youth and education practitioners in many countries need a stronger evidence-base to build on. We conducted a literature review of the key research papers on what’s working and what’s not working in campaigns encouraging young people to quit or resist the habit.
METHOD: The review initially sourced 182 research papers. The team written up in a key academic journal or major document (for example a peer-reviewed research journal rather than a newspaper article or dissertation etc) with evidence of robust evaluation.
RESULTS: The types of campaigns evaluated often differed in their target audience and execution. But the most effective initiatives, which either changed attitudes or led to young people quitting vapes, often exhibited many of the following elements: they were co-created with young people. They drew on key behavioural theories (such as Social Cognitive Theory). Young people’s risk beliefs were addressed and they educated them on potential health harms. Approaches were factual and avoided sensationalism or fear tactics. Whilst also being supportive and gave young people confidence to resist trying vapes or quit. In additon, they offered support on stress management, quitting vaping and had fun, interactive elements – including video games, interactive quizzes etc.
CONCLUSIONS: The research shows ‘what works’ in youth vaping education campaigns from across the world. It provides an interesting framework, however, rigorous local audience research and co-production of campaigns is neccesary for any future education campaigns.
Access #
Ed Gyde – Audience Social Marketing (ed.gyde@audiencesocialmarketing.com)
Location #
UK
Keywords #
Youth, vaping, literature review, co-production, WSMC conference 2025
