People in E-Cigarette Ads Attract More Attention: An Eye-tracking Study

Objectives Minimally regulated electronic cigarettes (e-cigarette) advertising may be one potential factor driving the increasing prevalence of young adult e-cigarette use. Using eye-tracking, the current study examined which e-cigarette advertising features were the most appealing to young adults as a first step to examine how e-cigarette advertising may be regulated. Methods Using a within-subjects design, 30 young adults (Mage = 20.0 years) viewed e-cigarette ads in a laboratory. Ad features or areas of interest (AOIs) included: 1) brand logo, 2) product descriptor, and 3) people. During ad viewing, eye-tracking measured participants' dwell time and time to first fixation for each AOI as well as each ad brand. Harm perceptions pre- and post-viewing were measured. Results Participants spent the longest dwell time on people (M = 2701 ms), then product descriptors (M = 924 ms), then brand logos (M = 672 ms; ps < .001). They also fixated fastest on AOIs in that order. Participant sex significantly impacted dwell time of ad brand, and harm perceptions decreased after viewing the ads (ps < .05). Conclusions This study provides initial evidence about which e-cigarette ad features may appeal most to young adults and may be useful when designing evidence-based policy.