Focus Group Study of Youth Reactions to Creative Advertising Concepts Designed to Reduce Tobacco Use

EXPERIMENTER PHASE 1 RESEARCH– Discussion Guide OMB #0910-0674

DISCUSSION GUIDE: EXPERIMENTER GROUP

Reviewer note: Probes are italicized

1. INTRODUCTION AND WARM UP (Approximately 10 minutes)

1. Rules of the group

[Moderator to introduce and review ground rules with the group]

Thank you for coming here today. Your participation is very important. My name is __________ and I’m from TRU, a research organization. One of the Federal Agencies is sponsoring this research. The purpose of this discussion is to learn about what you know about tobacco products. Since we are focusing on tobacco, when I use the word “smoking” I am referring to smoking cigarettes only. Your thoughts are very important to us and your time today is appreciated. We will have about 90 minutes for our discussion.

As we begin, I want to review a few ground rules for our discussion.

• Your participation is voluntary and you have the right to withdraw from the study at any time.

• You have probably noticed the microphones and/or tape recorder in the room. They are here because we are audio-taping our discussion. I want to give you my full attention and not have to take a lot of notes. The audio files will be transcribed. At the end of our discussion, I have to write a report and will refer to the audio-tapes when writing the report. Additional project staff may hear the tapes at a later date.

• Behind me is a one-way mirror. Some of the people working on this project are observing this discussion so that they can hear your opinions directly from you and take notes so that your opinions are accurately captured. However, your identity and anything you personally say here will remain private to the extent allowable by law. Your name, address, and phone number will not be given to anyone and no one will contact you regarding this study after this discussion is over.

• Please turn your cell phone off or to vibrate or silent mode. Please also refrain from texting or checking your phone (e.g., email, social media, etc.) during the discussion. The discussion will last no more than 90 minutes.

• If you need to go the restroom during the discussion, please feel free to do so.

• Most importantly, there are no right or wrong answers. We want to know your opinions and what you think about the issues we will be discussing. Just a reminder, we are not selling anything and I do not work for the people who are sponsoring this research, so don’t hold back from giving me your honest opinions. Everything shared in this discussion should be treated as private. Please do not discuss what other participants say or opinions that are shared outside of this room..

• Do you have any questions before we begin?

2. First name

3. Let’s start off by talking about TV shows … what are some of your favorite TV shows? Why?

4. What about ads on TV … do you have any favorites?

5. When it comes to ads what gets your attention?

1. What “sticks” with you?

2. If you really like an ad would you talk about it with your friends? Would you send someone a link? Or post to social media? How else would you share it?

6. Have you ever seen an ad telling you about the dangers of smoking cigarettes? If so tell me about it.

2. TOBACCO: PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND ASSOCIATIONS (Approximately 5 minutes)

1. We’re going to talk for a bit about smoking cigarettes. Do any of you currently smoke cigarettes?

2. How many of you don’t smoke cigarettes but have tried it at least once?

[Those that do not confirm smoking or trying a cigarette should be further probed to see if they should be in the group]

3. Think about a time when you’ve smoked cigarettes, why did you do it?

   1. When do you do it?

   2. What brands do you smoke?

4. When you smoke cigarettes alone, how do you feel?

5. When you smoke cigarettes with your friends, how do you feel?

   1. What do you think other people think about you?

6. Is there a difference between smoking cigarettes once in awhile and being a cigarette smoker?

   1. What do people your age think of cigarette smokers?

   2. When you see people your age smoke cigarettes, what do you think of them?

3. CREATIVE CAMPAIGNS EVALUATION (Approximately 50 minutes)

[Campaigns will be presented through video storyboards. Concepts will be revealed one at a time, in varying order. Up to five executions (out of 11) will be shown per group. Concepts will be rotated throughout the sessions. Respondents will be given notecards and pencils to use during the evaluation. As concepts are exposed, respondents will be asked to “commit to an opinion” by recording their initial reaction to each idea on a notecard before the discussion for that concept starts. The moderator will collect reactions individually then move to in-depth reactions to each concept.]

1. Now I’m going to show you five ideas for ads that could appear on TV to get youth to not smoke. These are video storyboards that show key images of the ad with the audio voiceover for each scene. Eventually these will be filmed with real people but at this point they are in illustration form only. These videos are simply to communicate the idea behind each ad and they are still in development; try not to get too caught up in the small details. We are going to cover five different ideas and we want to know what you think about each of them. We will talk about each of them individually and then compare them to each other at the end. After I show you a concept, I want you to write down on a notecard your initial reaction, either “it’s great,” “it’s okay,” or you “hate it” before we start discussing as a group. Once you write down your reaction, turn it over and pass it to me.

[Tiny Bully – Moderator to play the video storyboard for the group and collect all notecards before proceeding with the following questions.]

1. What is the message this ad is trying to convey?

[If “loss of control” comes up, probe further on what loss of control means for them, impact, relevance. If loss of control doesn’t come up specifically, ask about loss of control and if that message comes through, impact, relevance.]

1. Is this message interesting? Why/why not?

2. What did you think of the ad?

1. How did this ad make you feel?

3. What reaction rating did you give this ad? Why?

1. What do you think works with this idea?

2. What do you think doesn’t work with this idea?

3. What would make it better?

4. Did you learn anything from this concept? If yes, what did you learn?

1. Is this idea relevant to you today?

2. What do you think about the setting or situation in this idea?

3. Did this catch your attention? If yes, what about it? If not, why not?

4. What did you think about the tone or feeling of the ad? What should it be like?

5. Do you think this ad is directed to you? To people your age? Why/why not?

5. Was there anything that was confusing or didn’t make sense?

6. How does this ad make you feel about smoking cigarettes? Is that different than how you felt before?

7. What do you think of the bully? How would you describe him?

1. Funny?

2. Scary?

3. Intimidating?

8. What does the statement “Be Bigger Than a Cigarette” mean to you?

[Crap – Moderator to play the video storyboard for the group and collect all notecards before proceeding with the following questions.]

1. What is the message this ad is trying to convey?

1. Is this message interesting? Why/why not?

2. What did you think of the ad?

1. How did this ad make you feel?

3. What reaction rating did you give this ad? Why?

1. What do you think works with this idea?

2. What do you think doesn’t work with this idea?

3. What would make it better?

4. Did you learn anything from this concept?

1. Is this idea relevant to you today?

2. What do you think about the setting or situation in this idea?

3. Did this catch your attention? If yes, what about it? If not, why not?

4. What did you think about the tone or feeling of the ad? What should it be like?

5. Do you think this ad is directed to you? To people your age? Why/why not?

5. Was there anything that was confusing or didn’t make sense?

6. How does this ad make you feel about smoking cigarettes? Is that different than how you felt before?

7. What other issues do you guys face? What other situations could you see being made into an ad?

8. What does the statement “Don’t Add Crap to the Crap” mean to you? How else would you say this?

[What’s It Cost – Moderator to play the video storyboard for the group and collect all notecards before proceeding with the following questions.]

1. What is the message this ad is trying to convey?

1. Is this message interesting? Why/why not?

2. What did you think of the ad?

1. How did this ad make you feel?

2. What do you think of these “costs”? Are they significant? Meaningful? Surprising?

3. What do you think of the idea of the “cost” of smoking cigarettes being shown this way?

4. What other “costs” of smoking cigarettes would work? Be more impactful?

3. What rating did you give this ad? Why?

1. What do you think works with this idea?

2. What do you think doesn’t work with this idea?

3. What would make it better?

4. Did you learn anything from this concept?

1. Is this idea relevant to you today?

2. What do you think about the setting or situation in this idea?

3. Did this catch your attention? If yes, what about it? If not, why not?

4. What did you think about the tone or feeling of the ad? What should it be like?

5. Do you think this ad is directed to you? To people your age? Why/why not?

5. Was there anything that was confusing or didn’t make sense?

6. How does this ad make you feel about smoking cigarettes? Is that different than how you felt before?

7. What does the statement “Before You Smoke One, Find Out What’s In One” mean to you?

[Don’t need to probe this if previously discussed as part of another concept.]

[Apocalypse – Moderator to play the video storyboard for the group and collect all notecards before proceeding with the following questions.]

1. What is the message this ad is trying to convey?

[If it doesn’t come up, ask if the message might be that when you smoke cigarettes you are inhaling chemicals]

1. Is this message interesting? Why/why not?

2. What did you think of the ad?

1. How did this ad make you feel?

3. What reaction rating did you give this ad? Why?

1. What do you think works with this idea?

2. What do you think doesn’t work with this idea?

3. What would make it better?

4. Did you learn anything from this concept?

1. Is this idea relevant to you today?

2. What do you think about the setting or situation in this idea?

3. Did this catch your attention? If yes, what about it? If not, why not?

4. Do you think about what you’re actually smoking when you smoke cigarettes? Why/why not?

5. How does it make you feel to think about smoking dangerous chemicals?

6. What did you think about the tone or feeling of the ad? What should it be like?

7. Do you think this ad is directed to you? To people your age? Why/why not?

5. Was there anything that was confusing or didn’t make sense?

6. How does this ad make you feel about smoking cigarettes? Is that different than how you felt before?

7. Do you think there are ways to avoid dangerous chemicals while smoking cigarettes? [Listen for anything about a “safer” alternative; if roll-your-own or American Spirits are mentioned as not containing chemicals, probe around this topic.]

8. What does the statement “Before You Smoke One, Find Out What’s In One” mean to you? [Don’t need to probe this if previously discussed as part of another concept.]

[Menthol – Moderator to play the video storyboard for the group and collect all notecards before proceeding with the following questions.]

1. What is the message this ad is trying to convey?

1. How is this message interesting? Why/why not?

2. What did you think of the ad?

1. How did this ad make you feel?

3. What reaction rating did you give this ad? Why?

1. What do you think works with this idea?

2. What do you think doesn’t work with this idea?

3. What would make it better?

4. Did you learn anything from this concept?

1. Is this idea relevant to you today?

2. What do you think about the setting or situation in this idea?

3. Do you think menthol cigarettes are different than regular cigarettes? How so? [Listen for “healthier” or “less harmful” and probe further on these areas.] Did this concept influence how you think about menthol cigarettes and regular cigarettes?

4. Did this catch your attention? If yes, what about it? If not, why not?

5. What did you think about the tone or feeling of the ad? What should it be like?

6. Do you think this ad is directed to you? To people your age? Why/why not?

5. Was there anything that was confusing or didn’t make sense?

6. How does this ad make you feel about smoking cigarettes? Is that different than how you felt before? How does this ad make you feel about smoking menthol cigarettes? Is that different than how you felt before?

7. What do you think about the line “Doesn’t Make Harmful Harmless”? What about “Doesn’t Make Harmful Less Harmful”?

1. Let’s talk about harmful … is that meaningful to you? Why/why not? Are there other words that would be better?

4. CREATIVE CAMPAIGNS COMPARISONS (Approximately 5 minutes)

[After all concepts have been discussed individually, all concepts will be discussed together.]

A. Now that you’ve seen all of these concepts…

1. Please write down which ad is most memorable/stands out most in your mind. Let’s talk about why.

2. Which idea is the most relevant to you personally, and why?

3. Which one makes you the most likely to “stop and think” about the dangers of smoking cigarettes?

4. Which one would you possibly talk about or share with your friends or family members? Why?

[Moderator to collect responses on a flipchart, then open up group discussion.]

[Moderator to collect notecard responses.]

5. BRAND CONCEPTS (Approximately 15 minutes)

[Four campaign brand ideas will be presented as written concepts and collections of images. Concepts revealed one at a time, in varying order. Concepts will be rotated throughout the sessions. Concepts will be compared after exposure to all four.]

A. Now we want to move on to something else. I want to show you some ideas for a bigger, broader message about getting youth to not use tobacco. What you’re going to see is a written statement explaining the idea and some visuals to help bring it to life. I want to see what you think of these ideas.

[Repeat the following questions for each concept]

B. Tell me about this idea. What is the message this idea is trying to convey?

1. What did you think of it? [Gather top-of-mind reactions.]

2. What do you think of the images? How do they help to bring the idea to life?

3. What about this idea do you think works?

4. What about this idea do you think doesn’t work?

5. Did you learn anything from this idea?

6. What do you think of the headline?

7. Do you think this idea is directed to you? To people your age? Why/why not?

8. Does this idea change the way you think about cigarettes? Why/why not?

C. Comparison

1. Which one do you think works best for a campaign to reduce tobacco use among youth? Which is the most compelling?

2. Which idea is the most relevant to you personally, and why?

3. Which one makes you the most likely to “stop and think” about the dangers of tobacco use?

4. Which one would you possibly talk about with your friends or family members? Why? Share?

6. CONCLUSION/WRAP-UP (Approximately 5 minutes)

A. Think back on the ads we discussed today.

1. Do they seem to only apply to cigarettes or to tobacco use in general?

2. Imagine that one of the ads we discussed today was created. Who do you think would make this ad?

[Probe: the government, FDA/Food and Drug Administration, HHS/Health and Human

Services.]

B. All of this information is great, thank you for sharing it with me. I need to leave you for a brief moment to check with my colleagues observing to see if there are any additional questions they would like for me to ask you. Please excuse me for a moment.

C. Final questions asked, as necessary

Thank you for your time today. We appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us. None of the information that you provided will be shared with your friends or family, but it will be used to help us create advertising to prevent tobacco use. Also remember that you are to respect the privacy of the other members that participated in the group. Do not discuss what was said during this conversation with anyone once you leave. Make sure that you collect all of your belongings and [NAME] will walk you back to where you signed in. Enjoy the rest of your summer!

OMB No: 0910-0674 Expiration Date: 03/31/2016

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