What Does Having Your Pack in Your Pocket Say About You? Characteristics and Attitude Differences of Youth Carrying Tobacco at a Music Festival

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand differences in demographics, frequency of tobacco use, and tobacco-related attitudes between youth/young adults who carry tobacco products and those who do not. Carrying tobacco is hypothesized to affect individuals’ smoker identity and thereby their tobacco-related attitudes. Carriers are an influential peer group, often serving as social sources of tobacco for others, setting tobacco-related social norms, and advertising tobacco via the packs they carry. Thus, understanding their characteristics and attitudes can aid in the targeting and tailoring of cessation messaging. In this study, 3,927 attendees ages 13 to 24 years at the Vans Warped Tour were surveyed using iPads and asked to photograph any tobacco products they were currently carrying. Current tobacco users were classified as proven carriers (n = 363), unproven carriers (n = 182), or noncarriers (n = 1,426). Carriers (N = 545) were older, were more often White, and used tobacco over twice as often as noncarriers. Results indicated carriers and noncarriers differed significantly on most antitobacco attitudes, with carriers feeling less strongly antitobacco.