NSW Health Do you know what you’re vaping?
NSW Health found vaping amongst young Australians is rapidly becoming of greater concern as the rates of usage significantly increase and vapes are being confiscated from ever younger children.
While these youth today believe that smoking cigarettes is unattractive, dirty, smelly, foul tasting and harmful to your health and reject cigarettes, they have a blind spot to the dangers of vapes and are drawn to the device, colours, packaging, and flavours – all specifically designed to attract a younger audience via semiotics borrowed from RTD drinks and confectionary.
The Bastion team undertook qualitative research with young people, to investigate their attitudes and behaviours and potential messages that would drive both cessation and reduced uptake of vapes. This process identified that there is a long list assumptions and mistruths surrounding vapes, and many of these been popular opinions have been classified as truth. They assume they are safe as they aren’t cigarettes, and a common misconception that they only omit water vapour. Our creative idea reframed these associations, through the use of comparison, we revealed that vapes actually contain the same harmful chemicals found in cleaning products, weed killers, bug spray and nail polish remover. They just don’t put it on the pack. By framing the message in a question, we allowed the audience to persuade themselves to the harm they will receive from vaping.
From quantitative idea testing, we know that this idea was the strongest performing – it motivated those who don’t vape to not vape, it drove the highest concern about the health risks and get them to stop and think about vaping. It taught them something new and got them to think differently.
Bastion is also working with the Cancer Institute of NSW to develop the next two phases of this campaign.
