Aim: To explore young people’s awareness of, and engagement with, marketing and content on social media related to age-restricted products (cigarettes, vapes, HFSS products and alcohol), and what they think about related policy options.

Methodology: The study comprised a quantitative survey to explore the key questions (1) and a qualitative study involving self-ethnography and focus groups to explore the key results from the survey in more detail and provide more context (2).

Key findings

Marketing exposure and engagement

Cigarettes: In the survey, 1 in 5 young social media users reported seeing posts relating to cigarettes by businesses in the past month, and 1 in 4 saw posts by influencers. Participants in the qualitative study didn’t report seeing any content relating to cigarettes, nor did they share any examples from their feeds. They expressed being either satisfied or indifferent about the perceived lack of cigarette-related content and attributed it to social media algorithms and marketing restrictions.

Vapes: In the survey, almost 1 in 3 young social media users reported seeing posts relating to vapes by businesses in the past month, and almost 4 in 10 saw posts by influencers, with higher exposure among people who had vaped before. Mandatory warnings on posts relating to vapes (i.e. ‘This product contains nicotine’) were often reported as not being seen by young people. The qualitative study revealed examples of social media content relating to vapes, including entertaining meme-style videos (see key terms). A minority of participants felt that this content might subtly increase the appeal of vaping, but the majority felt negatively towards vapes and believed them to be more harmful than they are. Both the survey and the qualitative study examined young people’s awareness of, and engagement with, marketing for cigarettes, vapes,

HFSS products: In the survey, more than 1 in 2 young social media users reported seeing posts relating to HFSS products by both businesses and influencers in the past month. The qualitative study revealed that content relating to HFSS products was highly prevalent in young people’s social media feeds, with examples including restaurant content, recipe videos and entertaining videos featuring HFSS products. Engagement with HFSS product posts was high, with young people enjoying this content, especially when it showcased new products for them to try.

Alcohol: In the survey, more than 1 in 3 young social media users reported seeing posts relating to alcohol by businesses in the past month, and almost 2 in 5 saw posts by influencers. Exposure was higher among people who had drunk alcohol before. The qualitative study indicated that content containing alcohol was often humorous or casually mentioned, with some people over the age of 18 who already drunk alcohol reporting that it did have an influence on them wanting to drink.