Celebrity-endorsed e-cigarette brand Instagram advertisements: Effects on young adults’ attitudes towards e-cigarettes and smoking intentions

Introduction:
This text discusses a study examining the effects of celebrity endorsement on consumer engagement with e-cigarette advertising on Instagram. The study focuses on the impact of product-celebrity image congruence, consumer-celebrity risk-oriented image congruence, and parasocial identification on consumer engagement.

Key Points:

* The study found that high product-celebrity image congruence and high consumer-celebrity risk-seeking image congruence led to more positive ad attitude and greater intention to spread eWOM and use e-cigarettes.
* Consumer-celebrity risk-averse image congruency, on the other hand, led to less favorable ad attitude and lower intention to spread eWOM and use e-cigarettes.
* Post-hoc analyses suggested that smoking status and gender had a significant influence on processing of, and consumer engagement with, e-cigarette Instagram ads.
* Parasocial identification moderated the effects of celebrity-product image congruence and consumer-celebrity risk-oriented image congruence on key engagement measures.
* The study also found that e-cigarette use is often glamorized on social media through celebrity endorsers, which may contribute to the popularity of e-cigarettes among young people.
* The researchers note that while the FDA has announced regulation of e-cigarettes and other ENDS, there has been no announcement regarding regulation of e-cigarette advertising online.

Main Message:
The main message of this text is that celebrity endorsement can significantly impact consumer engagement with e-cigarette advertising on social media. The study found that high product-celebrity image congruence and high consumer-celebrity risk-seeking image congruence led to more positive attitudes and greater intentions to use e-cigarettes. Additionally, the researchers note that e-cigarette use is often glamorized on social media through celebrity endorsers, which may contribute to their popularity among young people. The text suggests that policy makers should consider regulating the use of celebrities in online advertising of e-cigarettes and implementing stricter regulations on social media-based e-cigarette marketing to protect teenagers and young adults from potential negative health-related effects.

Phua, Joe, Seunga Venus Jin, and Jung Min Hahm. “Celebrity-Endorsed e-Cigarette Brand Instagram Advertisements: Effects on Young Adults’ Attitudes towards e-Cigarettes and Smoking Intentions.” Journal of Health Psychology 23, no. 4 (March 2018): 550–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105317693912.