Image: Image: Vaper City/Wikimedia Commons
By LAUREN FROST
Calls for an anti-vaping campaign that paints ‘Big Tobacco’ as the enemy have been made by Senior Lecturer in Marketing at RMIT University, Dr Sandy Fitzgerald.
As the typical age of people who vape is below 25 years of age, Dr Fitzgerald urges that “the government needs a different approach to their previous anti-smoking campaigns as this is a whole new generation they are targeting.”
Dr Fitzgerald insists that more needs to be done than merely limiting flavour options and introducing plain packaging in order to curb vaping amongst young people.
“While there are now policies and budgets in place to stem vaping for good reasons,” she recognises,”we need to acknowledge, particularly for people under 25, that these interventions can be perceived as paternalistic, revenue-raising by the government and punitive in orientation.”
The need for an effective anti-vaping campaign targeted towards young people is emphasised by Dr Emily Stockings, Program Lead of Smoking, vaping and mental health at The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, The University of Sydney.
“Vaping is significantly impacting young people, often in ways they don’t realise,” Dr Stockings tells City Hub.
“Nicotine addiction can develop incredibly quickly and with few warning signs. Young people are reporting disruptions to sleep and schooling, often saying they can’t make it through a lesson without vaping.”
Dr Stockings also notes the multitude of reports of young people experiencing symptoms of nicotine withdrawal such as “feeling agitated, restless, anxious and jittery”.
A New Kind of Campaign
In order to create an effective anti-vaping campaign targeted towards young people, Dr Fitzgerald believes that “we need to understand the perspective of vapers and why they try vaping in the first place”.
She notes that choosing to vape can lead to an increase in social capital, especially for young, school-aged vapers who may feel a sense of belonging amongst their peers and a sense of being perceived as ‘cool’.
It is important for an anti-vaping campaign to not belittle young people for choosing to vape for these reasons.
“A successful campaign must be communicative and make vapers feel that they are not singled out and made to feel that they are stupid or dumb just because they were curious to try vaping in the first place,” says Dr Fitzgerald.
“An anti-vaping campaign must also respect that the target audience are curious young individuals with full autonomy to choose and determine their future.”
As for the most effective means of delivering an impactful message to the young target audience, Dr Fitzgerald notes the importance of appealing to the values of this generation, such as their distrust of big industries and their desire for freedom and autonomy.
“Anti-vaping campaigns need to present a convincing value proposition for this age group to quit – that vaping robs you of your autonomy and turns you into a pawn.
“How would they feel if targeted information about Big Tobacco is presented to them – that they are simply pawns and are used and controlled by this industry?”
The idea that being addicted to vaping takes away one’s freedom and may hinder future success, especially financially, may make young vapers question “who they are vaping for”, says Dr Fitzgerald.
“Communicating the message in a school context could be effective by appointing student leaders (who peers look up to) as opinion leaders, to shift the perspective of how vaping takes away one’s freedom.”
“We also need to recognise that once a habit or addiction is established, it takes effort, the right support and social messaging to change.”
Effects On The Brain
Dr Stockings echoes this, noting that teaching young people about how their habit or addiction affects their brain is an important step in health promotion.
“Understanding how nicotine works in the brain is crucial for young people, as well as developing appropriate, healthy coping strategies and skills for managing stress, relationship turbulence, depression and anxiety during these formative years.”
In terms of the best way to approach such a health campaign, Dr Stockings notes that it is important to steer clear from hysteria and scare tactics whilst still driving the message that “these devices aren’t harmless.”
“Importantly, they also have to highlight where to go for help and to empower young people to demonstrate they can take control of their bodies and health in a positive way,” Dr Fitzgerald adds.
“Engaging young people in the design (i.e. co-design) is essential to ensure the messaging hits the mark and is reflective of young people’s experiences today.”
“Generative AI is exciting and a potential way to develop highly customised mass media campaigns with little resource and time.”
Ultimately, an anti-vaping campaign must reflect the values of young people whilst remaining respectful and informative. A successful anti-vaping campaign should not shroud vapers in shame.
“Young people are cluey, they have vast amounts of information at their fingertips. Respecting and privileging their voice in health campaigns is crucial.”
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