LGBT young adults’ awareness of and receptivity to the This Free Life tobacco public education campaign

Abstract

PurposeThis study measures awareness of and receptivity to the Food and Drug Administration’s This Free Life campaign seeking to change tobacco-related attitudes and beliefs among lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) young adults.MethodsParticipants were young adults who self-identify as LGBT. The evaluation uses a treatment-control design. This study includes data from four survey rounds with participants from each round invited to participate in subsequent rounds and new participants invited to account for attrition. Bivariate analyses assess treatment-control differences in campaign awareness by round. We used multivariable logistic regression models with a time×treatment interaction and covariates to assess whether increases in awareness were greater in treatment than control from follow-ups 1 to 4. Descriptive statistics describe perceived effectiveness and models explore covariates of perceived effectiveness.ResultsAt each round, an increasing number of participants in treatment were brand aware (25%–67%) and reported high (16%–34%) and medium (16%–25%) video awareness compared with control (all p<0.001). Regressions revealed interactions in brand and video awareness, wherein the effect of treatment on awareness increased more over time, with significant treatment-control differences in change from follow-up 1 to 4 (all p<0.05). Reactions to all but one ad were positive (one neutral) with mean perceived effectiveness scores from 3.21 to 3.92 (‘neither disagree nor agree’ to ‘agree’ on 5-point scale). Perceived effectiveness differed by LGBT identity (all p<0.05).ConclusionsAt follow-up 4, This Free Life reached most of the campaign audience in treatment markets and has achieved higher awareness in treatment than control markets, at individual survey rounds and over time.