Article Text
PDF
Abstract
Background The social media conglomerate, Meta, has a policy prohibiting promotion of tobacco products, vaporisers, electronic cigarettes or other products that simulate smoking via their branded content tools. This study examines if branded Instagram posts comply with these self-regulatory efforts.
Methods We analysed the presence and content of tobacco/nicotine promotion, as well as counter-marketing, in a sample of 400 branded/paid partnership-labelled Instagram posts with tobacco/nicotine-related terms made between 31 July 2022 and 31 March 2023, gathered from Meta’s CrowdTangle tool and classified by CrowdTangle as being in English.
Results Of the 217 active branded posts that mentioned or depicted tobacco/nicotine products, most promoted rather than countered the sale of such products (84.3% vs 15.7%, respectively). Posts originating from US Instagram users accounted for 42.6% of promotional content. After the USA, posts from Indonesia (19.1%), Pakistan (9.8%) and India (8.2%) were most frequent. Most posts were fully in English (74.9%). Posts featured hookah (39.4%), electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) accessories (17.5%), ENDS devices and e-liquids (16.9%) and various types of cigars (15.3%). The majority of US posts promoted venues or events where tobacco/nicotine products were featured (71.8%). Almost half of all promotional posts (47.0%) were sponsored by tobacco industry accounts. Posts that encouraged cessation were primarily (47.1%) sponsored by non-government organisations.
Conclusion Despite attempts at self-regulation, paid partnership posts promoting tobacco and nicotine products are present on Instagram, especially posts promoting venues and events that feature tobacco and nicotine use. Self-regulation of this content shows limited success, suggesting a need for federal oversight and additional counter-marketing in social media settings.
- Media
- Non-cigarette tobacco products
- Surveillance and monitoring
- Tobacco industry
- Electronic nicotine delivery devices
This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
Statistics from Altmetric.com
- Media
- Non-cigarette tobacco products
- Surveillance and monitoring
- Tobacco industry
- Electronic nicotine delivery devices
What is already known on this subject
Social media platforms self-regulate to require that branded posts include official sponsorship disclosures, and that such content does not promote tobacco products.
What important gaps in knowledge exist on this topic
Platform polices to require sponsorship disclosures may facilitate social media platforms fully identifying and removing tobacco content; however, this has not been explored to date.
What this study adds
Compliance with Instagram sponsorship disclosure policies does not ensure that posts are compliant with platform prohibitions on tobacco promotion in branded content.
Branded promotional content far outnumbers branded counter-marketing and cessation content on Instagram.
Introduction
Social media platforms have begun adopting policies that restrict promotion and sale of tobacco/nicotine products.1 In 2019, Meta Platforms Inc. (which owns Facebook and Instagram) prohibited branded content promoting ‘tobacco products, vaporizers, electronic cigarettes, or any other products that simulate smoking.’2 3 As of June 2023, this policy did not prohibit advertising of non-tobacco nicotine products or tobacco use venues or events (see online supplemental table 1). Branded content is made by a creator or publisher in exchange for monetary payment or gifts.2 Additionally, branded posts are required to use the platform’s branded content tool, which places the label ‘paid partnership with [brand]’ on posts.
Supplemental material
Branded posts allow sponsors to receive metrics about post performance, which sponsors can use to improve marketing tactics. Formal disclosure statements may also enhance credibility and increase purchase intent relative to informal hashtag-based disclosures.4–7 Although disclosures, particularly via platform tools, should ‘facilitate enforcement’ of prohibitions on tobacco content,8 enforcement practices remain an open question. Understanding how these tools are used for tobacco/nicotine product promotion, as well as the efficacy of current self-regulation, is critical to inform regulatory guidance, federal marketing restrictions and counter-marketing priorities.
The aim of this study was to discern if and how Meta’s branded content tool is used for the promotion of tobacco/nicotine products on Instagram. We also explored the presence of counter-marketing messages and the promotion of cessation tools within branded content.
Methods
Data collection
We gathered posts from Instagram using Meta’s public insights tool CrowdTangle (https://apps.crowdtangle.com). The data collection start date was selected to ensure consistency in search data due to changes in how CrowdTangle handled Instagram videos made after 31 July 2022 (see online supplemental table 2). In April 2023, we downloaded a CSV file of publicly available Instagram posts that (1) used Meta’s branded content tool (ie, included a paid partnership label); (2) were categorised by Meta as being in English; (3) were made between 31 July 2022 and 31 March 2023; and (4) had tobacco or nicotine product related terms in captions, hashtags or image text (see online supplemental table 2).
The search yielded 636 Instagram posts. Based on prior content analyses using manual coding,9 we selected a random sample of 400 posts for analysis and completed coding in May 2023. The study was exempted from Institutional Review Board approval.
Codebook development and analysis
We developed a content analysis codebook based on study aims, pilot coding of 15 posts and a consideration of prior content analyses of social media tobacco promotion.1 10 11 Posts were coded for user, sponsor and product information (see online supplemental table 3). Posts without mentions or depictions of tobacco/nicotine product(s) were excluded from further analysis. Locations were determined using geotags on posts, locations mentioned in posts, profile information and linked URLs. Followers and likes were gathered from CrowdTangle exports and manually recorded when missing.
To ensure coding reliability, two trained and independent coders coded a random sample of 50 posts, resulting in a Cohen’s kappa average of 0.97 and all scores above 0.87, indicating strong reliability.12 One coder coded the remaining 350 posts, with ambiguous posts discussed with the other coder as needed. Of the 400 post links, 47 were no longer active at the time of coding and 136 did not mention or depict tobacco/nicotine products in the context of promotion of use, sales or cessation (eg, posts promoting smoked meats, hot foods, or perfumes; posts promoting only cannabis vapes). Among the 217 remaining posts, 43 were recorded as having 0 likes because the user had turned on the hide likes feature. All of the remaining posts contained the information (eg, geotag, location mention, etc) needed for the coders to determine the country in which the user was based. For the sponsors mentioned in those posts, country was identifiable for all but nine accounts.
Results
Of the 217 active relevant branded Instagram posts, 84.3% (n=183) were classified as promoting tobacco/nicotine product use or sales and 15.7% (n=34) as counter-marketing or cessation (table 1).
Tobacco, nicotine and counter-marketing posts made with the Instagram branded content tool
Tobacco and nicotine promotion posts
Among the 183 branded posts that promoted tobacco/nicotine product use or sales, 42.6% were made from US accounts. After the USA, posts from Indonesia (n=35), Pakistan (n=18) and India (n=15) were most frequent. Of all promotional posts, 74.9% were fully in English. Number of followers for promotional posts ranged from 157 to 10 133 637. The median number of followers per post was 54 158. For promotional posts with likes visible (n=144), likes ranged from 1 to 49 237 per post, with a median of 33. Posts originated with 117 unique account usernames, 59 of which were based in the USA (50.4%).
Posts most often originated from individual Instagram users who did not regularly post about tobacco/nicotine products (43.7%), other account types without explicit ties to the tobacco/nicotine product industry (23.5%) and tobacco/nicotine product retailers (21.3%). Posts most frequently mentioned or depicted include hookah (39.34%), followed by ENDS accessories (17.5%), ENDS devices and e-liquids (16.9%), or cigars/small cigars/cigarillos (15.3%). Almost a third of posts (30.6%) promoted upcoming (as of the time of posting) events where tobacco/nicotine product use was featured or explicitly permitted (online supplemental figure 1), and an additional 14.2% promoted non-event-specific locations where tobacco or nicotine is used. Non-event-specific posts often took the form of individuals posting from a location that had sponsored the post (eg, hookah lounge, cigar bar) and reporting that they had enjoyed themselves. Of US posts, 71.8% promoted tobacco/nicotine products in the context of an event or use location, such as a nightclub with hookahs (see online supplemental figure 1). Posts that did not emphasise tobacco/nicotine product use locations or events most often focused on specific products (online supplemental figure 2).
With regard to the sponsor listed, 24.0% of posts were sponsored by tobacco/nicotine product retailers, 21.9% of posts by manufacturers, distributors or brands; 21.9% by other account types without explicit ties to the tobacco/nicotine product industry; and 21.9% by entertainment and dining venues. While named sponsors were often small vape brands or retailers, larger entities such as Velo, Vuse, FLVR Cigars and Casa Cuevas cigars were also present. Velo sponsored 20 posts, the majority through its Velo Pakistan campaign (see online supplemental figure 2). Nearly half (40.4%) of posts had US-based sponsors.
Counter-marketing and cessation posts
Among the 34 sponsored posts that engaged in counter-marketing or cessation promotion, 73.5% were made by US posters, with posts from India (n=5) being the next most frequent. Posts were almost entirely fully in English (91.2%). Number of followers for counter-marketing posts ranged from 2029 to 1 256 613. The median number of followers per post was 56 218. For counter-marketing posts with likes visible (n=30), likes ranged from 12 to 17 955 per post, with a median of 254. Posts originated with 33 unique accounts, 25 of which were US based (75.8%).
Posts most often originated with individual Instagram users who did not regularly post about tobacco/nicotine (70.6%) and other account types without explicit ties to the industry (26.5%). Among these accounts, media and news accounts were most prevalent. Posts most frequently mentioned or depicted ENDS devices and e-liquids (50.0%), smoking in general (44.1%) or cigarettes (11.8%). Nicotine replacement therapy was more rarely mentioned (17.7%), with posts instead including broad recommendations to ‘stop smoking’ or campaigns focused on prevention among youth.
With regard to the sponsor, 47.1% of counter-marketing posts had a partnership with a non-governmental organisation (such as Tobacco Free New York State and the Ad Council) and 29.4% with other account types without explicit ties to the tobacco/nicotine product industry. This included health food stores and supplement companies, in addition to Nicorette. More than two-thirds (73.5%) of posts had a US-based sponsor.
Discussion
Despite Meta’s 2019 prohibition of tobacco promotion in branded posts on Instagram, such content remained present in 2022–2023. This raises questions about the sufficiency of current approaches to this content. Although it can be challenging to fully remove tobacco online as retailers and users adapt phrasing to bypass algorithmically enforced prohibitions,13 the presence of posts where a tobacco/nicotine product brand was explicitly in the paid partnership field suggests insufficient enforcement.
Existing regulations for tobacco/nicotine product promotion can rapidly become outdated as new promotional strategies and products arise.14 For example, Meta’s policy on branded tobacco content is significantly more limited than its policy on paid advertising; the branded content policy does not explicitly prohibit promotion of nicotine products or tobacco use venues. Thus, it is unclear if the posts promoting hookah at bars, or the posts sponsored by nicotine pouch brand Velo, are prohibited. It is also notable that individual social media users represented less than half of the promotional posts. Retailers, entertainment venues and media organisations must also be considered as sources of exposure. Further, the cross-national nature of the content highlights the ways in which online promotions can ‘leak across digital borders’ and expose those in other nations.14
Finally, posts promoting tobacco/nicotine products significantly outnumbered counter-marketing and cessation posts. Previous studies have also shown that pro-vaping posts are significantly more prevalent on Instagram than anti-vaping posts.15 Limited use of counter-marketing partnerships signals a missed opportunity to reach teens and young adults on Instagram. This discrepancy was even greater for posts made outside the USA, lending further support to arguments for greater counter-marketing efforts in low-income and middle-income countries.16
Limitations
Some posts were deleted between the time of posting and data collection. Findings should not be interpreted as a measure of the volume of tobacco/nicotine product-related posts on Instagram. Additionally, we note that post engagement metrics can be unreliable due to bots and purchased likes and followers.17 Many accounts also had likes hidden, making numbers inaccessible both to CrowdTangle and manual review. Therefore, maximum and median like counts are likely underestimates. Future research is needed to more explicitly assess adolescent and young adult exposure to promotional posts with official paid partnership disclosures, as well as the impact of such disclosures. Data were also limited to what CrowdTangle indexed as public posts with branded content that used the English language. CrowdTangle does not offer complete coverage of Instagram accounts with fewer than 50 000 followers, so smaller accounts may be under-represented.18 Finally, we examined a single platform and future work is needed to discern the broader branded content and disclosure environment across social media platforms.
Conclusion
Our findings indicate that despite platform policies to restrict branded promotions of tobacco products, paid partnerships for tobacco/nicotine continue to be shared on Instagram. While self-regulatory approaches can be pragmatic, both social media platforms and the tobacco industry have shown themselves to be at high risk of non-compliance.19–21 Ongoing surveillance of tobacco/nicotine product marketing practices is needed to inform marketing restrictions, monitor compliance and protect people from predatory advertising.
Ethics statements
Patient consent for publication
Ethics approval
Not applicable.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Dr Catherine Kemp for her valuable input during internal review.
Supplementary materials
Supplementary Data
This web only file has been produced by the BMJ Publishing Group from an electronic file supplied by the author(s) and has not been edited for content.
Footnotes
Twitter @LinneaLaestad, @JVassey
Contributors LL, JV, KVH, JO, CS, DL, EH and DR planned the study and co-developed the codebook. KVH and LL performed content analysis of posts. KVH prepared data tables. LL prepared the full draft, with JV, KVH, JO, CS, DL, EH and DR assisting with edits. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
Funding This work is a cross-institution collaborative project from the Marketing Influences Special Interest Group supported, in part, by U54-DA046060-01 from the Center for Coordination of Analytics, Science, Enhancement and Logistics (CASEL) in Tobacco Regulatory Science (National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (FDA CTP)). Research reported in this publication was supported in part by the National Cancer Institute (P01CA200512), National Cancer Institute and the Food and Drug Administration Centre for Tobacco Products (CTP) (U54 CA180905, U54CA228110) and National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (U54 HL147127-06). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funders or affiliated institutions.
Competing interests Done declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.