Youth Vaping Prevention Campaign – Testing New Messages

Final Report

Prepared for Health Canada

Supplier Name: Environics Research

Contract Number: HT372-194271/001/CY

Contract Value: $ 74,940.56 (including HST)

Award Date: 2020-02-06

Delivery Date: 2020-09-25

Registration Number: POR 095-15

For more information on this report, please contact Health Canada at: hc.cpab.por-rop.dgcap.sc@canada.ca

Ce rapport est aussi disponible en français.

Youth Vaping Prevention Campaign – Testing New Messages

Final report

Prepared for Health Canada by Environics Research

September 2020

This public opinion research report presents the results of an online survey conducted by Environics Research on behalf of Health Canada. The research was conducted between August 27 to September 4, 2020 with 869 young Canadians aged 13 to 18.

Permission to reproduce

This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes only. Prior written permission must be obtained from Health Canada. For more information on this report, please contact Health Canada at:hc.cpab.por-rop.dgcap.sc@canada.ca

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Health, 2020.

Cat. H14-354/2020E-PDF

ISBN 978-0-660-36143-7

Related publications (registration number: POR 095-15):

Catalogue number H14-354/2020F-PDF (Final report, French)

ISBN 978-0-660-36144-4

Aussi offert en français sous le titre : Campagne de prévention du vapotage chez les jeunes – Évaluation de nouveaux messages.

Table of Contents

• Executive summary
• Introduction
  • A. Background
  • B. Research objectives
  • C. About the report
• Detailed findings
  • A. Vaping status and opportunity
  • B. Awareness of current vaping prevention campaign
  • C. Rating of messaging
  • D. Impressions of messaging
• Appendix A: Methodology
• Appendix B: Research instrument

Executive summary

A. Background and objectives

The Government of Canada is concerned with the rapid increase in vaping among Canadian youth. To this end, Health Canada launched the Youth Vaping Prevention Campaign in 2018 to raise awareness of the harms and risks of teen vaping. To supplement the ongoing campaign, Health Canada intends to develop additional creative material and new messages to ensure the campaign continues to educate, inform and resonate with Canadian youth.

The main objective of this research was to test new messages for a future iteration of a Youth Vaping Prevention Marketing Campaign. Environics used a “MaxDiff” methodology, a widely-used type of discrete choice model allowing for an efficient ranking of items by their perceived effectiveness in raising awareness about the harms and risks of teen vaping and encourage youth to not start vaping or quit if they have already started.

B. Methodology

An online survey was conducted with 869 young Canadians (aged 13 to 18 inclusive) from August 27 to September 4, 2020. Environics set quota targets for region, age group (13-15 and 16-18) and gender, and data were weighted based on the 2016 Census, to ensure the final sample is reflective of the target population.

The target audience for this research was all Canadians aged 13 to 18 years (inclusive), regardless of their vaping status. Given the difficulty of reaching youth by telephone for research purposes, recruiting respondents from an online panel was deemed the most efficient and cost-effective approach for this research project, and had previously been successfully applied in recent research on youth vapers for Health Canada. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have registered to participate in online surveys, with children in the target age group. The results of such surveys cannot be described as statistically projectable to the target population. The data have been weighted to reflect the demographic composition of 13-to 18-year olds. Because this is not a random probability survey, no estimates of sampling error can be calculated.

More information about the methodology for this survey is included in Appendix A.

C. Contract value

The contract value was $74,940.56 (HST included).

D. Use of findings of the research

The results of the research will enable Health Canada to develop additional campaign material that resonates with the target audiences, educates and informs them, and encourages them to take action. The research will ensure the marketing campaign will be supported by effective messaging and creative material, and that funding allocated towards public awareness and outreach will be spent responsibly and effectively.

E. Key findings

This research was designed to test new messages for a future iteration of a Youth Vaping Prevention Marketing Campaign. The main takeaway is the youth respond best to messaging themed around empowerment. They favour concise, memorable phrases that capture attention, convey accurate information, and do not sound preachy or condescending. The message “Don't be fooled into vaping. It's not harmless” scored well among both vapers and non-vapers, and in both English and French.

The key findings of the research are summarized below:

1. Vaping status and opportunity
   • Three-quarters (74%) of youth age 13 to 18 (inclusive) have never tried vaping, while one quarter have ever vaped. Eight percent are regular vapers, meaning they vape at least monthly, although this increases with age (ranging from under one percent% age 13 or 14 to one in ten age 15 or more).
   • Among those who are not regular vapers, two in ten (22%) were offered an opportunity to vape in the past month. This is more common among older age groups, from 16 percent aged 13 or 14, up to 30 percent age 17 to 18.
2. Awareness of current campaign
   • Close to four in ten (38%) recall seeing some aspect of the current youth prevention campaign. Recall is higher among older age groups, but is similar regardless of vaping status.
   • Notably, recall of the existing ad campaign does not factor into perceptions of the vaping messages tested.
3. Ranking of vaping messages
   • Of the 20 messages tested, empowerment-themed messages were ranked highest (of the four themes) for their perceived effectiveness at persuading youth to quit or not start vaping. Environment-themed messages were deemed least effective in convincing young people not to vape.
   • The individual message youth believe would be most persuasive is “Don't be fooled into vaping. It's not harmless,” (8.4 percent share of preference), followed by “You'll never need to quit vaping, if you don't start,” (8.0%) and “You don't have to vape to fit in” (7.7%). These messages also scored well in Quebec, although the top French message, at 7.6 percent of share, is “You don’t have to vape to fit in” (“Pas besoin de vapoter pour faire partie du groupe”).
   • The highest scoring message in the Addiction theme is “Don't let nicotine control your life. Don't vape” (7.3%), and the highest scoring Cessation message is “Take charge of your future. Leave the vape behind.” (7.2%). However, both of these messages can also be interpreted as being about empowerment.
   • “Don’t be fooled into vaping. It’s not harmless” is the top ranked message across most subgroups, including regular vapers. Their second choice is the Cessation message “Take charge of your future. Leave the vape behind” (7.2%) and third is the Addiction message “Don’t let nicotine control your life. Don’t vape” (7.0%).
   • Preferences differ slightly among the youngest cohort (age 13-14, who are least likely to have vaped) who favour “You'll never need to quit vaping, if you don't start” (8.8%) and “You don't have to vape to fit in” (8.6%), with “Don’t be fooled into vaping. It’s not harmless” in third place.
4. Impressions of vaping messages
   • Respondents were also invited to comment in greater detail about whatthey liked and/or disliked about two messages of their choice. Overall, young people made positive comments about the messages they selected to discuss. Consistent with the choice modelling exercise, messages ranking higher in terms of their perceived effectiveness in convincing youth to quit or not start vaping tend to receive the highest proportions of positive comments and the lowest proportions of negative comments.
   • In general, youth liked messages for being informative, straightforward, clear and memorable, and emphasizing that they are in control of their lives and vaping decisions. This latter reason helps explain the overall popularity of the empowerment-related messages. Interestingly, by comparison to the other Empowerment messages, the top ranked message “Don’t be fooled into vaping. It’s not harmless” is most appreciated for alerting teens that vaping has risks.
   • While negative comments are typically in the minority, messages were most often criticized for being overly long, preachy in tone, confusing or not universally applicable, or “stupid,” “cheesy” or “boring.”

F. Political neutrality statement and contact information

I hereby certify as a senior officer of Environics that the deliverables fully comply with the Government of Canada political neutrality requirements outlined in the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, and Procedures for Planning and Contracting Public Opinion Research. Specifically, the deliverables do not include information on electoral voting intentions, political party preferences, standings with the electorate, or ratings of the performance of a political party or its leaders.

Sarah Roberton

Vice President, Corporate and Public Affairs

613-793-2229

Supplier name: Environics Research Group

PWGSC contract number: HT372-194271/001/CY

Original contract date: 2020-02-06

For more information, contact the Department at hc.cpab.por-rop.dgcap.sc@canada.ca

Introduction

A. Background

The Tobacco and Vaping Products Act was enacted on May 23, 2018, to regulate the manufacture, sale, labelling and promotion of tobacco products and vaping products sold in Canada. The Government of Canada is concerned with the rapid increase in vaping among Canadian youth. This is worrying as vaping has risks and young people are particularly susceptible to the negative effects of nicotine. Furthermore, the long-term health impacts of vaping are unknown.

Health Canada launched the Youth Vaping Prevention Campaign in 2018 which aims to prevent youth uptake of vaping by educating youth about the harms and risks associated with using vaping products; providing parents, adults and educators with resources to support conversations with youth about vaping; and, of where to go to get more information. To supplement the ongoing campaign, Health Canada intends to develop additional creative material and new messages to ensure the campaign continues to educate, inform and resonate with Canadian youth.

B. Research objectives

The main objective of this research was to test new messages for a future iteration of a Youth Vaping Prevention Marketing Campaign. The research objectives include, but were not limited to, the following:

• To evaluate each of the new messages to determine if they are:
  • clearly understood by the audience
  • credible, relevant and of value to the audience
  • appropriate to the audience and appealing (i.e. catch their attention)
  • memorable in the minds of the audience
  • utilizing the right tone
  • able to motivate the audience to take personal action(s)
• To gather suggestions for potential message changes to ensure the campaign and products continue to resonate with the target audience.
• To measure the risk of revised vaping messages in terms of behaviour change, for instance to avoid resulting in increased vaping among youth.

Due to the large number of potential messages to be tested, the limitations on survey length and to avoid undue burden on the youth respondents, Environics recommended the use of a “MaxDiff” analysis, a widely-used discrete choice model allowing for an efficient ranking of items by their perceived effectiveness in convincing youth to quit or not start vaping.

C. About the report

This report begins with an executive summary outlining key findings, followed by a detailed analysis of the survey data. All results were analysed by the total responding and by key subgroups of the population (that is, by region, age, gender, vaping status, and other factors). Noteworthy subgroup differences are highlighted where relevant.

Provided under a separate cover is a set of detailed “banner tables” presenting the results for all questions by population segments (including by region, demographics and vaping and smoking behaviours). These tables are referenced by the survey question in the detailed analysis.

A detailed description of the methodology used to conduct this research is presented in Appendix A as well as the survey instrument in Appendix B.

Throughout the report, results are expressed as percentages unless otherwise noted. Where base sizes are reported, they reflect the actual number of respondents who answered the question. Results may not add to 100% due to rounding or multiple responses. Net results cited in the text may not exactly match individual results shown due to rounding.

Detailed findings

A. Vaping status and opportunity

Three-quarters have never tried vaping; eight percent of youth aged 13 to 18 are regular vapers. Among those who are not regular vapers, two in ten were offered an opportunity to vape in the past month.

1. Vaping status

Young Canadians were asked to identify which of six statements describes their vaping status. Majorities of all age groups say they have never tried vaping. One-quarter have ever vaped. Eight percent vape at least monthly, ranging from under one percent age 13 or 14 to one in ten age 15 or more.

Never having vaped is the dominant response across all regions but is highest in BC (83%). Vaping status is comparable by gender and most other subgroups.

The research established that age and amount of weekly spending money are linked, with older youth reporting higher amounts of spending money than their younger counterparts. As a result, having ever vaped is linked to having more spending money: 10 percent with no spending money have ever vaped, steadily increasing to a high of 44 percent of those with $61 or more to spend weekly.

2. Had recent opportunity to vape

Those who are not regular vapers (i.e., those who do not vape at least once a month; 92% of total sample) were asked if they had been offered the opportunity to vape in the last 30 days. Two in ten say they have, which increases as age increases, from 16 percent aged 13 or 14, up to 30 percent in the oldest age cohort.

Having recently been offered a chance to vape is similar by region and gender. However, two factors (both related to age) are linked to having been offered the chance to vape. Having had an opportunity to vape is considerably higher among those who tried vaping in the past (54%) than those who have never vaped (14%). There is also an income effect: having been offered a chance to vape ranges from a low of 9 percent with no weekly income, up to 34 percent with over $20 to spend.

B. Awareness of current vaping prevention campaign

There is a moderate degree of familiarity with the current campaign, with close to four in ten who recall seeing an element of it.

Young Canadians were shown a short video ad and two examples of print ads from the current vaping prevention campaign, and asked if they recalled seeing any of the ads (the ad media shown can be seen in the questionnaire in Appendix B). Close to four in ten say they recall any of the ads, just over half say they have not previously seen them, and one in ten are not sure. Having seen any campaign media increases as age increases.

Recall of any campaign element ranges from a low of 29 percent in BC to a high of 42 percent of Prairies residents (including Alberta). Recall is statistically similar by vaping status, with 36 percent who have never vaped, 40 percent who are regular vapers, and 42 percent who tried vaping once recalling the campaign. Recall is somewhat higher - 46 percent – among those who are not regular vapers but were offered an opportunity in the past 30 days. Having seen an ad is similar by gender and weekly income, but is higher among the small minority who are not full-time students (55%) and those who belong to an equity group (46%, compared to 35% who are not).

Recall of the existing ad campaign is not a notable factor in the subsequent evaluation of vaping messages.

C. Rating of messaging

Of the potential new messages, young Canadians feel the most effective is “Don’t be fooled into vaping. It’s not harmless.” Environmental messages are deemed least effective.

Methodology. Health Canada wished to understand which messages to discourage youth vaping would be the most effective, from a list of 20 messages across four themes (Empowerment, Cessation, Addiction and Environment). Because asking a series of questions about each of 20 messages would be prohibitively burdensome, Environics recommended the use of a MaxDiff analysis, a widely-used type of discrete choice model that allows for an efficient ranking of items.

Respondents were asked to indicate both the most and least effective messages to convince young people to quit or not start vaping, within a subset of 4 out of 20 messages, per the example below. Respondents completed this exercise several times, each with a different subset of messages. This approach is preferable to a straight ranking of all the messages, because it is easy to understand and mimics how people make choices in real life. The table below is an example of how the messages were presented.

The outcome of this analysis is a share of preference score for each message (rather than a percentage of respondents), reflecting the likelihood it was selected as effective. If people were choosing randomly, each of the messages would have scored 5.0% (20/100) share. This approach has the valuable property of ratio-scaling, meaning a message with a score of 8 is twice as effective as a message with a score of 4.

The youth were shown the messages randomly, and were not told the themes, so they judged each set of four messages solely against each other. During analysis we examine how the themes performed against each other.

Results. The results of the analysis indicate Empowerment performed best of the four themes, with three of top ranked (most persuasive) messages: “Don't be fooled into vaping. It's not harmless,” (8.4 percent share of preference), “You'll never need to quit vaping, if you don't start,” (8.0%) and “You don't have to vape to fit in.” (7.7%).

The highest scoring message in the Addiction theme is “Don't let nicotine control your life. Don't vape” (7.3%), and the highest scoring Cessation message is “Take charge of your future. Leave the vape behind.” (7.2%). However, both of these can also be interpreted as being about Empowerment; other messages more specifically about cessation or addiction scored lower. The two messages in the Environment themes scored lowest. Note this does not mean young people do not think the environment is important, just that they do not believe these are the most persuasive arguments to convince other youth to quit or not start vaping.

There are a few language-based differences. While “Don’t be fooled into vaping. It’s not harmless” (“Ne te fais pas avoir. Vapoter n’est pas sans risque”) scores well in both languages, it scores higher in English. “You deserve better than vaping” (“Vapoter? Tu vaux mieux que ça”) and “Proud to be vape-free” (“Sois fier de ne pas vapoter”) score higher among Francophones than Anglophones.

These findings are largely consistent across regions and population segments, with a few notable differences, discussed below.

Vaping status. In general, those who have never vaped nor tried vaping are more positive about the top four Empowerment messages than those who have ever vaped; scores for these four messages are lowest among regular vapers. However, of all the messages, regular vapers are still most likely to think the top response (“Don’t be fooled into vaping. It’s not harmless”) will be persuasive (score of 7.6%), followed by the Cessation message “Take charge of your future. Leave the vape behind” (7.2%) and the Addiction message “Don’t let nicotine control your life. Don’t vape” (7.0%).

Several of the empowerment messages resonated better among those who have never vaped than among regular vapers:

• Don't be fooled into vaping. It's not harmless. (8.7%, vs. 7.6% of regular vapers)
• You'll never need to quit vaping, if you don't start. (8.5%, vs. 5.7% of regular vapers)
• You don't have to vape to fit in. (8.1%, vs. 6.1% of regular vapers)
• Proud to be vape-free. (6.3%, vs. 4.3% of regular vapers)

Scores for the following messages are higher among regular vapers than others:

• Nicotine is highly addictive, but quitting vaping is possible. Why not quit now? (6.1%, vs. 4.9% of never-vapers)
• Challenge yourself to be vape-free for a day/week. (5.0%, vs. 2.8% of never-vapers)

Age. “Don’t be fooled into vaping. It’s not harmless” is the top ranked message for those age 15-16 and 17-18; it is the third highest response among those age 13-14, just behind “You'll never need to quit vaping, if you don't start” (8.8%) and “You don't have to vape to fit in.” (8.6%)

The oldest cohort (age 17-18) is more likely than their younger counterparts to think three messages may be persuasive:

• Are you worried about lung health? Make now the time to quit vaping(6.8%).
• Why risk nicotine addiction? The buzz just isn't worth it. (6.3%)
• Nicotine is highly addictive, but quitting vaping is possible. Why not quit now? (5.6%)

Gender. There are almost no notable differences by gender, except boys are more likely than girls to think “Are you worried about lung health? Make now the time to quit vaping” could be effective (6.4% vs. 5.7%), and girls are more likely than boys to think this of the message about plastics and metals, although their score for this is still low (2.8 vs. 2.3).

Region. As can be expected given the subtleties of translation, Quebec residents had somewhat different responses. Their top choice, at 7.6 percent of share, is “You don’t have to vape to fit in” (“Pas besoin de vapoter pour faire partie du groupe”). However, the top scoring message nationally of “Don’t be fooled into vaping. It’s not harmless.” (“Ne te fais pas avoir. Vapoter n’est pas sans risque.”) also performed very well among young Quebecers (7.5%). Quebecers are also more likely than others to consider effective the message “You deserve better than vaping” (“Vapoter? Tu vaux mieux que ça”) (6.7% of share).

D. Impressions of messaging

Background. To obtain deeper insights into why youth preferred or disliked specific messages, they were asked to select two messages that stand out to them and explain what they like or dislike about them.

Because the Empowerment theme had nine messages and the other themes had considerably fewer each, all respondents were asked to select one of the Empowerment messages to discuss; for the second message, they were randomly shown either the Cessation, Addiction or Environment themes, and asked to select one message from that theme to discuss. Note that respondents freely chose the message they wanted to comment on within each theme: the selection was not based on the results of the MaxDiff analysis. Also, this was the first time in the survey they were informed about the themes to the messages.

In the analysis stage, verbatim comments were coded, and then those codes were categorized as either positive, neutral or negative. In the following tables, themes with less than five percent mentions are not reported; neutral comments are also not reported if fewer than five percent.

Results. In general, majorities of young people liked the messages they picked to discuss. Consistent with the choice modelling exercise, messages ranking higher in the MaxDiff analysis tend to have the highest proportions of positive comments and lowest proportions of negative comments. Positive comments about messages included their being informative, straightforward, clear and memorable. Those who disliked the message they picked mention these were overly long, had a preachy tone, were confusing or not universally applicable, or were “stupid,” “cheesy” or “boring.”

1. Empowerment messaging

Many of the positive comments about the Empowerment theme messages indicate youth are attracted to the idea they are “in charge” of their vaping decision, and like it when the messages convey information without being condescending.

All respondents were shown the list of nine Empowerment-themed messages and asked to select one that stood out to them (positive or negative). The following tables provide a summary of the top comments made by those selecting each message. Note subgroup sizes are small for most messages, and so analysis at the subgroup level is not advised.

The Empowerment message scoring highest in the MaxDiff analysis: “Don’t be fooled into vaping. It’s not harmless,” was described as being informative about the health risk, simple and easy to understand, short and direct, and convincing, with the ring of truth. Several mentioned they thought many teens do not know vaping can be harmful or that it can be addictive.

For “You don't have to vape to fit in,” youth liked the message encouraging teens to be proud of who they are, as well as that it is short, to-the-point and easy to understand, and encourages teens to make their own vaping decision.

“You'll never need to quit vaping, if you don't start” had commenters thinking you don’t have to vape and that vaping is not something to be proud about. Many felt it was simple, straightforward and a strong, convincing message.

“Proud to be vape-free” commenters mentioned vapers should not be proud of vaping, and that you can feel pride in being who you are, not trying to fit in to the crowd, and that being vape-free is the healthy choice. They felt this message is direct and easy to understand.

Those who mentioned something positive about “End the trend” like its directness and brevity, the message that you can stand out by not following a trend, and felt it is clear, catchy and strong.

“Make informed choices about your life” made teens feel they would be taking charge of their choices and future, and felt it explained the situation well. Several mention they like the idea behind this message, and that it sounds positive.

The “You deserve better than vaping” message made teens feel they are in charge of the vaping decision and engendered pride in being who they are, that vaping is not worth the risk and they are worth more than that. It was also felt to be short and direct. A small minority think teens might not find it convincing.

The Empowerment message generating the highest proportion of negative comments was “There’s no ‘you’ in vaping” (also the lowest scoring Empowerment message in the MaxDiff ranking). Negative comments about this message include that it is not effective or convincing, not precise enough, meaningless, and cheesy.

“So you've vaped. Don't let it define who you are” had teens thinking about taking charge of their choices, and taking pride in that. It was also felt to be relatable and easy to understand.

2. Cessation messaging

Teens discussing cessation messages made comments suggesting a few of these are also empowering, and some were thought to be informative about health effects and nicotine, but a small number thought a challenge to be vape free might have the opposite effect.

One-third of respondents were shown the list of five Cessation-themed messages and asked to select one they felt stood out to them (positive or negative). The following tables provide a summary of the top comments made by those selecting each Cessation message. Note subgroup sizes are small for these messages, so analysis at the subgroup level is not advised.

Comments about the top scoring Cessation message “Take charge of your future. Leave the vape behind” echoed some of the mentions about the Empowerment theme, with young people liking the idea they are in charge of this aspect of their lives, and recognising their future is important. Several thought this message was thought-provoking and powerful.

The message “You started vaping because of a friend. Why not quit with a friend?” also evoked the idea of choice and resisting peer pressure; many liked the idea that quitting with friends would make cessation easier.

“Are you worried about lung health? Make now the time to quit vaping” brought the issue of health to mind for several and was felt to convey truthful information.

“Nicotine is highly addictive, but quitting vaping is possible. Why not quit now?” was said by those positive about the message to be both informative and encouraging, with important emphasis on health, but it also was said to be too long.

“Challenge yourself to be vape-free for a day/week” was on one hand seen to be motivating, but on the other a few felt it would not have an impact on teens, or might possibly backfire by giving permission to continue vaping.

3. Addiction messaging

Those commenting on three of the Addiction-themed messages made several positive comments (empowering, informative or powerful), but the “Why headrush into an addiction” comment had a number of detractors.

One-third of respondents were shown the list of four Addiction-themed messages and asked to select one they felt stood out to them (positive or negative). The following tables provide a summary of the top comments made by those selecting each Addiction message. Note subgroup sizes are small for all of these messages, so analysis at the subgroup level is not advised.

“Don’t let nicotine control your life. Don’t vape,” like the Empowerment messages, is seen to give youth agency and control over their life and future.

“Why risk nicotine addiction? The buzz just isn’t worth it” is seen as informative and truthful, and confirms the risk of addiction. A small proportion felt there was a negative aspect, in that kids would still want to try it and find out for themselves.

“What are you missing out on because you “need” to vape?” was seen to be positive in that it reinforces there are more important things than vaping (“vaping is stupid”) and several felt it was a powerful message; detractors felt there was also the risk that kids might still want to try vaping for themselves.

“Why headrush into a nicotine addiction?” was not chosen by many to evaluate. Those who liked it say it links vaping to addiction and the wording is powerful; those who do not like it object to the wording, say it is boring or not impactful.

4. Environment messaging

Although the Environment-themed messages score low in the MaxDiff analysis, teens who commented on them did have positive things to say. The main objections were a lack of connection between the environment and vaping, and that messages about the personal effects of vaping would be more persuasive in getting teens to quit or not start vaping.

One-third of respondents were shown the two Environment-themed messages and asked to select one that stood out to them (positive or negative). The following tables summarize the top comments made by those selecting each Environment message. Note most subgroup sizes are small for these messages, so analysis at the subgroup level is not advised.

For “Plastics and metals in vaping products can impact the environment. Choose not to vape,” positive comments include it being informative and truthful and potentially appealing to environmentally-conscious teens. However, on the negative side, it was felt nobody is considering the environment when vaping, and that focusing on pollution instead of the personal effects of vaping is not effective.

The second environmental message “Vaping products create waste. Choose to be vape-free” was felt to be short and to-the-point, simple and easy to remember, but it was thought to have the same downfalls as the plastics message.

Appendix A: Methodology

Target population and sample design

The target audience for this research was Canadians aged 13 to 18 years (inclusive), regardless of their vaping status. Given the difficulty of reaching youth by telephone for research purposes, recruiting respondents from an online panel was deemed the most efficient and cost-effective approach for this research project, and had previously been successfully applied in recent research on youth vapers for Health Canada.

Environics sourced the sample from the Asking Canadians panel. The Asking Canadians panel has access to over 600,000 Canadians, including almost 10,000 already profiled as having children within the target audience of this research. As parental consent is not required for respondents age 18, Environics invited respondents in this age group to participate directly. To reach those 13 to 17 years of age, Environics invited panellists with children this age and asked them to have their child complete the survey. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have registered to participate in online surveys, with children in the target age group. The results of such surveys cannot be described as statistically projectable to the target population. The data have been weighted to reflect the demographic composition of 13-to 18-year olds. Because this is not a random probability survey, no estimates of sampling error can be calculated.

Environics set quota targets for region, age group (13-15 and 16-18) and gender based on the 2016 Census to ensure the final sample approximated the population to the extent possible. A total of 869 youth responded to the survey.

Weighting is used to account for these demographic differences by weighting up the groups which are underrepresented so that the weighted totals match the general population and any under-/over-representation is corrected. The proportions are shown in the table below.

Questionnaire design

In consultation with Health Canada, Environics developed a draft questionnaire; the draft questionnaire was subsequently refined to accommodate the final number of messages required for testing, including adding the MaxDiff exercise. Upon approval from Health Canada, the questionnaire was translated into French. The questionnaire was designed to meet all of the research objectives set out for this project and adhere to Federal Government standards for public opinion research. The final questionnaire is included as Appendix B.

Prior to finalizing the survey for field, a pre-test (soft launch) was conducted in English (65 completed) and French (6 completed). The pre-test assessed the questionnaires in terms of question wording and sequencing, respondent sensitivity to specific questions and to the survey overall, and to determine the survey length; standard Government of Canada pre-testing questions were also asked. No changes which affected the integrity of the pre-test interviews were made so they were all kept as part of the final sample. The ultimate average survey length was 6.1 minutes.

Fieldwork

The surveys were conducted by Environics using a secure, fully featured web-based survey environment, from August 27 to September 4, 2020. Environics’ data analysts programmed the questionnaires then performed thorough testing to ensure accuracy in set-up and data collection. This validation ensured that the data entry process conformed to the surveys’ basic logic. The data collection system handles sampling invitations, quotas and questionnaire completion (skip patterns, branching, and valid ranges).

All respondents were offered the opportunity to complete the surveys in their official language of choice. All research work was conducted in accordance with the Standards for the Conduct of Government of Canada Public Opinion Research – Online Surveys as well as applicable federal legislation (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, or PIPEDA). All survey respondents were informed of the Health Canada’s sponsorship of the research, that their participation was voluntary, and that information collected was protected under the authority of privacy legislation.

Survey respondents, who were drawn from panels of individuals who have agreed to participate in online surveys, were rewarded for taking part in the survey per the panel’s incentive program. The reward was structured to reflect the length of survey and the nature of the sample.

Completion results

The completion results are presented in the table below:

Respondent profile (weighted)

The following table provides the demographic characteristics of the survey respondents.

The following table shows the expected and achieved breakdown of respondents by age and vaping status.

Appendix B: Research instrument

Environics Research

August 17, 2020

Health Canada

Youth Vaping Prevention Campaign – Message Testing

Final Questionnaire

Online survey with 850 youth 13-18

Landing Page

Please select your preferred language for completing the survey / SVP choisissez votre langue préférée pour remplir le sondage

• 01 - English / Anglais
• 02 - Français / French

Background information

INVITATION FOR PARENTS AND LEGAL GUARDIANS OF 13-17 YEARS OLDS

As a parent of or legal guardian to a youth living in your household, we are requesting your permission for your teenager aged 13-17 to participate in an important survey being conducted for Health Canada.

The purpose of the survey is to gather feedback and reactions to advertising messages about vaping prevention. This feedback will be used by Health Canada to design public education materials.

The survey is being conducted by Environics, an independent research firm, and will take about 10 minutes to complete.

Since privacy is important while respondents answer this survey, we request that your child be able to complete the survey in a setting where his/her answers will not be seen by others. All answers will remain anonymous.

How does the online survey work?

• Your child is being asked to give their opinions about advertising messages related to vaping prevention.
• Your child’s participation is completely voluntary.
• Your decision on whether or not to allow your child to participate will not affect any dealings you may have with the Government of Canada.

What about your child’s personal information?

• The personal information your child will provide to Health Canada is governed in accordance with the Privacy Act and is being collected under the authority of section 4 of the Department of Health Act in accordance with the Treasury Board Directive on Privacy Practices. We only collect the information we need to conduct the research project.
• Purpose of collection: We require your child’s personal information such as demographics (e.g., age, gender) to better understand the topic of the research. However, your child’s responses are always combined with the responses of others for analysis and reporting; your child will never be identified.
• For more information: This personal information collection is described in the standard personal information bank Public Communications – PSU 914, in Info Source, available online at infosource.gc.ca.
• Your child’s rights under the Privacy Act: In addition to protecting your child’s personal information, the Privacy Act gives your child the right to request access to and correction of their personal information. For more information about these rights, or about our privacy practices, please contact Health Canada at hc.privacy-vie.privee.sc@hc-sc.gc.ca. Your child also has the right to file a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if they think their personal information has been handled improperly.
• Your child’s personal information will be collected, used, retained and disclosed by Environics in accordance with the applicable provincial privacy legislation or the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Please click here to review Environics’ privacy policy.
• Your child’s survey answers will remain anonymous and will not be attributed to him/her in any way.

What happens after the survey?

• The final report written by Environics will be available to the public from Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/).

If you agree to allow your child to participate in this survey, pleaseprovide the survey link to him/her.

Your child can also access the survey by copying the following URL into his/her browser:

Thank you for your support of this important research.

ALL RESPONDENTS

Thank you for agreeing to take part in this short 10-minute survey being conducted by Environics, a Canadian public opinion research firm, on behalf of Health Canada.

The purpose of the survey is to gather feedback and reactions to advertising messages about vaping prevention. This feedback will be used by Health Canada to design public education materials.

13-17-YEAR-OLDS ONLY: Your parent or legal guardian has given permission for you to participate in this very important study. Your participation is voluntary, so it is up to you to decide whether you are willing to answer, but we hope you do!You can do the survey on your computer, laptop, tablet or phone. You can stop at any time if you feel uncomfortable or choose not to answer certain questions. Your answers will not be shown to your parent(s), legal guardian(s), teachers or anyone else, so please be as honest as you can.

How does the online survey work?

• You are being asked to give your opinions about advertising messages related to vaping prevention.
• Your participation is completely voluntary.
• Your decision whether or not to participate will not affect any dealings you may have with the Government of Canada.

What about your personal information?

• The personal information you provide to Health Canada is governed in accordance with the Privacy Act and is being collected under the authority of section 4 of the Department of Health Act in accordance with the Treasury Board Directive on Privacy Practices. We only collect the information we need to conduct the research project.
• Purpose of collection: We require your personal information such as demographics (e.g. age, gender) to better understand the topic of the research. However, your responses are always combined with the responses of others for analysis and reporting; you will never be identified.
• For more information: This personal information collection is described in the standard personal information bank Public Communications – PSU 914, in Info Source, available online at www.infosource.gc.ca.
• Your rights under the Privacy Act: In addition to protecting your personal information, the Privacy Act gives you the right to request access to and correction of your personal information. For more information about these rights, or about our privacy practices, please contact Health Canada at hc.privacy-vie.privee.sc@hc-sc.gc.ca. You also have the right to file a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you think your personal information has been handled improperly.
• Your personal information will be collected, used, retained and disclosed by Environics in accordance with the applicable provincial privacy legislation or the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Please click here to review Environics’ privacy policy.
• Your survey answers will remain anonymous and will not be attributed to you in any way.

What happens after the survey?

• The final report written by Environics will be available to the public from Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/).

This study has been registered with the Canadian Research Insights Council’s Research Verification Service, so that you may validate its authenticity. If you would like to enquire about the details of this research, you can visit CRIC’s website www.canadianresearchinsightscouncil.ca. If you choose to verify the authenticity of this research, you can reference project code 20200826-EN401

[CONTINUE TO SCREENING]

Screening

ACET

1. Are you…

• 01 - Female gender
• 02 - male gender
• 03 - gender diverse
• 99 - Prefer not to answer

ACET

2. In what year were you born?

RANGE: 1930 ONWARD - SCREEN OUT IF OTHER THAN 2002-2007 (12 OR YOUNGER/19 OR OLDER): Thank you for your interest in this survey but we are looking for individuals who are 13-18 years of age.

Year (drop down list)

9999 – I prefer not to answer

ACET– REVISED SLIGHTLY

3. [IF Q2=9999] Would you be willing to indicate your age?

Select one only

SEE QUOTAS

• 01 - 12 or under THANK AND TERMINATE
• 02 - 13
• 03 - 14
• 04 - 15
• 05 - 16
• 06 - 17
• 07 - 18
• 08 - 19 or older THANK AND TERMINATE
• 99 - Prefer not to answer THANK AND TERMINATE

ACET

4. In which province or territory do you live?

• 01 - Alberta
• 02 - British Columbia
• 03 - Manitoba
• 04 - New Brunswick
• 05 - Newfoundland and Labrador
• 06 - Northwest Territories
• 07 - Nova Scotia
• 08 - Nunavut
• 09 - Ontario
• 10 - Prince Edward Island
• 11 - Quebec
• 12 - Saskatchewan
• 13 - Yukon

Vaping use

Vaping products have many names, including: mods, vapes, sub-ohms, vape pens, e-hookahs, tank systems, electronic cigarettes/e-cigarettes, or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). They may also be known by various brand names. Vaping includes using a JUUL, often referred to as “Juuling.”

The devices used to vape are usually battery-powered and may come with removable parts. They are available in many shapes and sizes. Some are small and look like USB drives or pens, while others are much larger.

ACET

5. Which of the following best describes how often you vape?

• 01 – I have never tried vaping
• 02 – I have tried vaping once
• 03 – I vape less than once a month
• 04 – I don’t vape every week, but at least once a month SKIP TO NEXT SECTION
• 05 – I don’t vape every day, but at least once a week SKIP TO NEXT SECTION
• 06 – I vape daily or almost daily SKIP TO NEXT SECTION
• 99 – Not sure SKIP TO NEXT SECTION

ACET

6. [IF Q5=01-03] Have you been offered an opportunity to vape in the last 30 days?

• 01 - Yes
• 02 - No
• 99 - Not sure

Current campaign

We’d like to know if you have seen these recent ads about vaping.

7. Do you recall seeing any of these ads before today?

• 01 - Yes
• 02 - No
• 99 - Not sure

Message testing

Note to Reviewers about Max-Diff Analysis

We will use a Max-Diff analysis to identify which messages are preferred. A straight ranking of these messages is very difficult for participants (e.g., hard to judge which is the top when others have not been seen, so many can get very similar ratings). The online methodology is ideal for using Max-Diff, which mimics how people make choices in real life, is easier to answer (just have to choose most and least preferred of a subset of items) and will result in a ranking of all of the messages. We successfully used this approach in recent surveys for Health Canada and Natural Resources Canada.

Now we’d like to show you some messages that could be used along with the existing ads (similar to what you just saw), and get your opinions about them.

On each screen, we are going to display some messages you may or may not think are effective in convincing young people like yourself to not start or to quit vaping. For each set, we want you to choose the message you feel is the most effective and the one you feel is least effective. You will need to click on two different statements before you can advance to the next screen.

Please read all of the messages carefully. Some may be repeated on different screens.

[SHOW ON EACH SCREEN WITH MESSAGES] Which of the messages listed below do you feel is most effective in convincing young people to not start or to quit vaping, and which message is least effective? (Select one option for each). Please read all of the messages carefully.

[ADD SCREEN COUNTER: ‘This is comparison question X of Y’]

ITEMS RANDOMIZED INTO GROUPS PER MAX-DIFF SOFTWARE

8. These messages are about empowering people to quit or to not start vaping. Please select one of these messages that stands out to you (positive or negative).

LIST MESSAGES OF EMPOWERMENT THEME WITH SINGLE SELECTION BUTTONS – RANDOMIZE MESSAGES IN THEME

• Make informed choices about your life.
• You deserve better than vaping.
• So you’ve vaped. Don’t let it define who you are.
• Don’t be fooled into vaping. It’s not harmless.
• You’ll never need to quit vaping, if you don’t start.
• You don’t have to vape to fit in.
• There’s no “you” in vaping.
• End the trend.
• Proud to be vape-free.

9. Please tell us what you like or dislike about this message, in as much detail as possible:

[INSERT MEDIUM-SIZED OPEN-ENDED TEXT BOX]

RANDOMLY SELECT ONE OF THE REMAINING THREE THEMES (CESSATION, ADDICTION OR ENVIRONMENT) AND DISPLAY THE CORRESPONDING STATEMENTS WITH SINGLE SELECTION BUTTONS

10. These messages are about (CESSATION: quitting vaping. / ADDICTION:addiction and vaping. / ENVIRONMENT: vaping and the environment.) Please select one of these messages that stands out to you (positive or negative).

LIST MESSAGES OF THEME WITH SINGLE SELECTION BUTTONS – RANDOMIZE MESSAGES IN EACH THEME

11. SHOW MESSAGE SELECTED. Please tell us what you like or dislike about this message, in as much detail as possible:

[INSERT MEDIUM-SIZED OPEN-ENDED TEXT BOX]

Respondent Characteristics

D1. Are you a student currently attending school full-time?

• 01 – Yes
• 02 – No

D2. [IF D1=02] Which of the following categories best describes your current employment status? Are you…

• 01 – Working full-time (30 or more hours per week)
• 02 – Working part-time (less than 30 hours per week)
• 03 – Self-employed
• 04 – Unemployed, but looking for work
• 05 – Not in the workforce (unemployed but not looking for work)
• 99 – Prefer not to answer

D3. How much money do you usually get each week to spend on yourself or to save? Please include all money from allowances and jobs like babysitting, delivering papers or anything else.

• 01 - Zero
• 02 - $1 to $10
• 03 - $11 to $20
• 04 - $21 to $40
• 05 - $41 to $60
• 06 - $61 to $80
• 07 - $81 to $100
• 08 – More than $100
• 99 – Prefer not to answer

D4. Do you identify as any of the following?

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY

• 01 - An Indigenous person (First Nations, Inuit or Métis)
• 02 - A member of an ethno-cultural or a visible minority group
• 03 - A member of the LGBTQ2 community
• 04 - None of the above
• 99 - Prefer not to answer

This completes the survey. On behalf of the Government of Canada, thank you for your participation.