What Do Adolescents and Young Adults Think a Cigarillo Is? Implications for Health Communication

Abstract

Cigarillo use has increased among adolescents and young adults and has remained high. Public education efforts are needed to communicate with these populations about cigarillo use risks, but little is known about the implications of using the term “cigarillo” in such efforts. The study goal was to assess adolescent and young adult perceptions of the term “cigarillo”. We conducted a nationally representative online survey of 3517 adolescents and young adults (ages 13–25). We asked participants “what is a cigarillo?” with several response options. Participants were 49.6% female, 69.8% white, 5.2% reported past 30-day cigarillo use, and 11.6% reported lifetime cigarillo use. The most common response to the question “what is a cigarillo” was “I don’t know” (51% of participants), followed by “a thinner and smaller version of a traditional cigar” (30.1% of participants), which was chosen by 19.4% of adolescents and 36.8% of young adults. Among past 30-day cigarillo users, the most common response was “I don’t know” (54.9%) followed by “a thinner and smaller version of a traditional cigar” (45.1%). Cigarillo users were more likely to select the “a thinner and smaller version of a traditional cigar” response than nonusers. Findings suggest that many adolescents and young adults have varied understandings of the term “cigarillo”. Researchers and practitioners need to ensure that terminology used in health communication campaigns is clearly understood by the target audience to maximize effectiveness.