• Jessica M Rath, Alexa R Romberg, Siobhan N Perks, Domonique Edwards, Donna M Vallone, and Elizabeth C Hair.
• Schroeder Institute at Truth Initiative, 900 G Street, NW, Fourth Floor, Washington, DC 20001, USA; Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Behavioral and Community Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, 4200 Valley Drive, Suite 2242, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Electronic address: jrath@truthinitiative.org.
• Prev Med. 2021 Sep 1; 150: 106683106683.

AbstractIn 2020, almost 20% of high school students reported current e-cigarette use. Mass media tobacco prevention campaigns are effective for preventing tobacco use among youth and young adults but selecting messages that will have maximum impact on the target audience is a significant challenge for campaign developers. This study describes the method for identification of potential messaging targets for a national anti-vape mass media campaign using criteria proposed by Hornik and Woolf in their health communication framework. A national sample of 15- to 24-year-olds (N = 1564) was recruited via an online panel in May 2020. Participants endorsed a series of vape-related attitudinal items. Items were considered potential message targets if they distinguished between the four vape use groups (current users, ever users, susceptible never-users, and non-susceptible never-users) and if less than 70% of respondents endorsed the anti-vape item response. The resulting items targeted five potential message themes, each forming a scale measured with three to four individual items. Message themes included social acceptability of vaping, anti-vape industry sentiment, independence from vaping, non-vaping identity, and perceived risk of harm. Findings were used to inform the development of truth® campaign messaging focused on reducing the prevalence of e-cigarette use among youth and young adults.Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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