Scott I Donaldson, Kathryn La Capria, Amanda DeJesus, Ollie Ganz, Jon-Patrick Allem
{"title":"Content analysis of tobacco brands' \"Tagged\" section on Instagram.","authors":"Scott I Donaldson, Kathryn La Capria, Amanda DeJesus, Ollie Ganz, Jon-Patrick Allem","doi":"10.1093/ntr/ntaf039","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Brands can be \"tagged\" in Instagram posts to communicate a partnership with a social media influencer. Little is known about the content of these communications in the tobacco-related literature. To address this gap, this study identified tagged posts on the official Instagram pages of tobacco brands and described the themes of such posts.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Six tobacco brands with official Instagram pages were identified. Each tagged section of the brand's official Instagram page was examined to identify potential partnerships with social media influencers. Posts to the tagged section of the Instagram page were collected from November 2022 to February 2024. For each post, tobacco-related themes were coded.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>This study identified 594 tagged posts from 222 potential social media influencers. The most common theme among tagged posts was product presence (n=430, 72.4%), followed by branding (n=421, 70.9%). Young adults were identified in 40.4% (n=240) of posts. Among users who tagged a brand account, 96.1% (n=571) of their account profiles contained URL links to commercial websites, suggesting social media influencer status.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study showed that the tagged section of tobacco brands' Instagram pages contained posts suggestive of paid partnerships between the brand and social media influencers. These posts often featured tobacco use and young adults. Future research should examine whether the presence of (or accessibility to) URL links to commercial websites appearing on influencers' pages increases an Instagram user's purchase intentions and tobacco use initiation.</p><p><strong>Implications: </strong>This study showed that the \"tagged\" sections of the official Instagram pages of six tobacco brands featured tobacco use, contained links to commercial websites, avoided content about addiction, and revealed that social media influencers inconsistently disclosed financial relationships with tobacco brands. In addition to enforcing and bolstering online marketing restrictions, prevention programs and interventions may focus on tobacco-related digital media literacy to help inoculate young adults against the pro-tobacco online environment.</p>","PeriodicalId":19241,"journal":{"name":"Nicotine & Tobacco Research","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nicotine & Tobacco Research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntaf039","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Brands can be "tagged" in Instagram posts to communicate a partnership with a social media influencer. Little is known about the content of these communications in the tobacco-related literature. To address this gap, this study identified tagged posts on the official Instagram pages of tobacco brands and described the themes of such posts.
Methods: Six tobacco brands with official Instagram pages were identified. Each tagged section of the brand's official Instagram page was examined to identify potential partnerships with social media influencers. Posts to the tagged section of the Instagram page were collected from November 2022 to February 2024. For each post, tobacco-related themes were coded.
Results: This study identified 594 tagged posts from 222 potential social media influencers. The most common theme among tagged posts was product presence (n=430, 72.4%), followed by branding (n=421, 70.9%). Young adults were identified in 40.4% (n=240) of posts. Among users who tagged a brand account, 96.1% (n=571) of their account profiles contained URL links to commercial websites, suggesting social media influencer status.
Conclusions: This study showed that the tagged section of tobacco brands' Instagram pages contained posts suggestive of paid partnerships between the brand and social media influencers. These posts often featured tobacco use and young adults. Future research should examine whether the presence of (or accessibility to) URL links to commercial websites appearing on influencers' pages increases an Instagram user's purchase intentions and tobacco use initiation.
Implications: This study showed that the "tagged" sections of the official Instagram pages of six tobacco brands featured tobacco use, contained links to commercial websites, avoided content about addiction, and revealed that social media influencers inconsistently disclosed financial relationships with tobacco brands. In addition to enforcing and bolstering online marketing restrictions, prevention programs and interventions may focus on tobacco-related digital media literacy to help inoculate young adults against the pro-tobacco online environment.
期刊介绍：
Nicotine & Tobacco Research is one of the world''s few peer-reviewed journals devoted exclusively to the study of nicotine and tobacco.
It aims to provide a forum for empirical findings, critical reviews, and conceptual papers on the many aspects of nicotine and tobacco, including research from the biobehavioral, neurobiological, molecular biologic, epidemiological, prevention, and treatment arenas.
Along with manuscripts from each of the areas mentioned above, the editors encourage submissions that are integrative in nature and that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries.
The journal is sponsored by the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT). It publishes twelve times a year.
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