Name of Intervention/ Program
My Best Me Is Vape Free
Background and Situation Analysis
The program focused on the dangers of the intersection of vaping and marijuana, a trend that’s been growing in popularity among youth in the target area as well as nationwide.
Recent research on peer crowd identification suggests that youth who value alternative lifestyles are more likely to use marijuana. Specifically, youth identified as Hip Hop (or urban, gangsters) were 45% more likely to use marijuana than youth from other groups. Alternative youth, which includes a variety of alternative lifestyles, used marijuana slightly more than average. LGBTQ youth also appear at significant risk – 51.4% of LGBTQ youth in the area have used e-cigarettes and vapes (compared with 44.2% heterosexual youth). And 20.3% of LGBTQ students currently used marijuana one or more times during the 30 days before the survey as compared with 16.9% of heterosexual youth.
Priority Audiences(s)
The program was tailored to specific youth peer groups at risk for marijuana use. 39% of young adults 18-25 used marijuana in the last year so this campaign was created with youth peer groups 18-25 in mind.
Behavioral Objectives
Reduce first use of vaping and marijuana as well as discouraging continued use. Encourage the perception of how living marijuana-free will benefit overall health and life satisfaction. By delivering a campaign that incorporates the values and beliefs of a peer crowd, the campaign can be more efficient with the budget and more effective at changing behavior.
Description of Strategy/Intervention
The program addressed motivators and perceived barriers to delay of first use/cessation and delivered messaging using outdoor in environments where these peer groups frequented as well as delivering messaging digitally.
Perceived General Barriers: According to YRBS data, barriers to delay of first use/cessation include:
• Strong Motivators for use – social acceptance, recreational, stress relieving, coping, to sleep
• Low perceived risk of use (since it’s used for medical reasons, since it’s perceived as an “herb”, it’s seen as not harmful)
• Favorable attitudes toward use
• Normative climate for use
• Community perception is that marijuana is not illegal
The program brought awareness to the issue and the dangers of vaping THC and marijuana products while highlighting the benefits of living vape free.
Implementation
Implementation integrated multiple tactics including digital video, transit ads, social media ads and organic content plus print ads and flyers.
Evaluation Methods and Results
The campaign delivered over 1 million impressions, 2,671 clicks and reached over 96,000 youth. Snapchat was a main social medium to reach the targeted youth peer groups and delivered four times the engagement of other social media. Additionally, results will be measured through the yearly youth survey that has not yet been implemented.
Entry Letter: AAA