The Real Cost Smokeless: Wave 2 Focus Group Study of Reactions to Creative Advertising Concepts Designed to Prevent Rural Youth Tobacco Use

Focus Group Discussion Guide – Page 6

The Real Cost Smokeless: Wave 2 Focus Group Study of Reactions to Creative Advertising Concepts Designed to Prevent Rural Youth Tobacco Use

DISCUSSION GUIDE

Research Objective: Conduct focus groups with rural youth aged 12–17 to understand their reactions to several creative concepts to support the development of a youth smokeless tobacco prevention campaign.

NOTE TO REVIEWER: Question probes are italicized below each main question and may change. These are suggestions for the moderator to follow, and will be used as deemed relevant and necessary in the natural flow of discussion. The discussion guide is developed for a 90 minute session. Moderator instructions are highlighted in yellow. Materials are _{highlighted in blue.}

INTRODUCTION TO FOCUS GROUP/ICEBREAKER (5 min.)

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. My name is [Moderator name], and I’ll be leading this focus group. Focus groups are a type of research used to gather opinions on a specific topic. We are going to show you several ads and we want to know what you think about them.

Before we get started, I want to say a few things:

• I did not create any of the ads you are going to see today. If you like them or if you don’t like them, be honest. Your responses won’t affect me either way.

• There are no right or wrong answers. Our whole purpose for being here is to hear what you think, so please speak up, especially if what you have to say is different than what someone else is saying. You may represent what a lot of other teens think.

• You don’t have to answer every question, but I do want to hear from everyone, so I might call on you at some point.

• Everything we talk about here is private to the extent allowable by law. That means your individual responses will not be reported and your name will not be associated with anything you say in our reports. Most importantly, we will not share any information you provide on tobacco – including your beliefs, attitudes, or past experiences – with your parents, teachers, or anyone else.

• I understand that you all go to school together and your classmates who aren’t here may be curious what happened – it is okay to talk about what we did, but it is not okay to talk about what was said. Everything said in this room stays in this room.

• You’ve probably noticed there are a few extra people in the room. They are here to observe and take notes—that way I don’t have to worry about writing everything down. Also we would like to audio record the focus group discussion, but that’s just so we can go back and make sure we captured all of your thoughts correctly. Is it OK if we start the audio recorder?

Does anyone have any questions before we begin?

Icebreaker

Okay, great. First, I’m going to have everyone go around and tell me your name. You all might know each other already, but I want to get to know you too. Just say your first name and then tell us your favorite 2-3 accounts you follow on social media outside of your family and friends—such as celebrities, athletes, musicians, meme accounts. [IF NEEDED: if participant indicates not using social media, ask who they would follow or who they generally follow/pay attention to outside of social media]

[Moderator introduces self and then has each participant introduce himself and respond to icebreaker]

CREATIVE CONCEPTS (75 min.)

_{[MATERIALS: Concept Rating Worksheets, Creative Concept Stimuli]}

[A total of five ads will be tested, with each group randomly assigned to view four]. Each ad will be tested by at least one group at each school district; ads will be randomly assigned to groups to minimize bias associated with presentation order (see Study Protocol). Within each group, the ads will also be presented in random order to help minimize order effects.]

Now we’re going to shift the conversation a little bit and talk about ads. I’m going to share a couple of ads for a dip health education campaign. Please keep in mind that the ads I show you today have not been fully developed – they still need a lot of work before you’d actually see them anywhere. It costs a lot of money to produce an advertisement, and your feedback will help determine which ads we should move forward with – so try not to get caught up in small details since these aren’t final. They are a long way from becoming a final product.

I’m going to show you the first ad and I want you to take a few minutes to complete the Concept Rating Worksheet [Moderator holds up worksheet] before we discuss this ad. We’ll do the same again with some other ads. Later, we will take a few minutes to compare the groups of ads together.

• For #1, jot down what you think the main message is – that is, what is the most important thing they are trying to tell you?

• For #2, grade the ad. Just like in school, “A” means great job, you really like the ad and “F” means it failed, you didn’t like the ad at all.

• For #3, answer a few questions to tell us about your reactions to the ad. Just check the box that answers how much you agree or disagree with each statement.

• For #4 tell us what you think made the ad compelling.

• And, for #5, tell us what you would change about the ad to make it better.

[The moderator will introduce the first ad and allow time for participants to complete the Concept Rating Worksheet, at least a couple of minutes. The moderator will then lead a group discussion about the ad.

Initial Reactions	What are your initial thoughts about this ad? What did you like about this? What did you dislike about this? What, if anything, was unclear or confusing?
Main Message	What do you think is the main message of this ad? Does that message speak to you? Is there anything confusing or unclear about the message?
Believable/Compelling	Do you believe what this ad is trying to say? Why/why not? What, if anything, would you change or add to make it more believable? Is this ad compelling? Why/why not? What, if anything, would you change or add to make this ad more compelling?

Great. Sometimes you see ads running for the same company that are similar in look and feel to one another as part of a broader advertising campaign. I have other ad(s) in this same campaign to show you. These ads are all part of the same advertising campaign.

Execution Specific Probes	Placeholder for any specific language/etc. questions specific to each execution
Health Consequences [If applicable]	[If concept does not depict health consequences]: Do you think that there is any harm in using dip? If so, what are the harmful effects? [If concept depicts health consequences]: Are you familiar with what this ad says about the effects of dipping? Were these health effects something you’ve heard/seen before in relation to using dip? Where did you hear/see that? What did you hear/see about them? Do you think that could happen to you? Why/why not? What about someone that uses dip? Do these have any impact on whether or not you would use dip?
Relatable	Do you feel that these ads was created for someone like you or people your age? Why/why not?
Grab Attention/Memorable	If you saw these ads somewhere, would this: Grab your attention? How so? How easy would it be for you to not pay attention to this message? Be remembered later? What would stick with you?
Intentions	Did these ads make you want to learn more about the dangers of dip? Did it make you interested in obtaining more information? Where would you go to look for more information? Did these ads make you stop and think twice about trying or using dip? Would you share these ads with friends? How would you share it?

[The moderator will then move into the second and third concept following the same procedure. Moderator will budget approximately 20-22 minutes to focus on each concept.]

CREATIVE CONCEPT COMPARISON (5 min.)

[MATERIALS: Comparison Concept Boards, Concept Ranking Worksheet]

[Moderator will obtain participants reactions to overall creative concepts.]

Now think about all the ads I shared with you. I’d like to get your thoughts about all the ads that you saw today. [Show comparison board(s) of three concepts]

[Walk through rankings sheet; allow time for participants to fill out sheet]

[Time permitting, probe on worksheet responses]

Thinking about everything you’ve seen today and the discussions we’ve had…

• Which ad is going to stick with you tomorrow?

• Do you feel any differently about dip?

CLOSING (5 min.)

[TIME PERMITTING AND IF APPLICABLE – ASK ANY FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS FROM IDIs]

I have a couple last questions for you….

[PLACEHOLDER FOR IDI SPECIFIC PROBES OR OTHER TOBACCO PRODUCT PROBES]

[FALSE CLOSE – TIME PERMITTING – Moderator will address observers and ask if there are any clarifying questions, observers will respond to moderator who, if there are follow-up questions, will continue conversation with participants.]

Those are all the questions I have for you – is there anything you would like to share that you have not had the chance to before we wrap up?

Thank you very much for participating in this focus group. I have enjoyed getting to know you, and appreciate your time. Your feedback has been extremely helpful.

If you have any questions or want any additional information please don’t hesitate to come see me or one of the study staff before you leave. And, feel free to pick up one of the pamphlets on the back table if you are interested in more information on tobacco prevention.