Focus Group Study of Youth Reactions to Creative Advertising Concepts Designed to Prevent Youth Tobacco Use among Multicultural Youth

Focus Group Study of Youth Reactions to Creative Advertising Concepts Designed to Prevent Youth Tobacco Use among Multicultural Youth

Moderator Guide

Reviewer Note: Moderator instructions are in brackets. Probes are italicized. The Moderator Guide consists of questions that researchers anticipate are relevant to ask. However, this does not mean that every question listed will definitely be asked. As per standard protocol for focus group research, researchers will allow the conversation to unfold naturally. Certain questions listed may no longer be asked because they may not be relevant to a particular discussion.

1. STUDY INTRODUCTION / CHECK-IN SURVEY (5 Min)

1. Check-In Survey (after participant checks in with researcher)

In the folder you were given, there is a survey called the Check-In Survey that you can fill out now.

Please do not write your name anywhere on the survey. Let me know if you have any questions. Otherwise, just let one of us know when you’re done.

[After each participant completes the Check-In Survey, research assistants should circulate and instruct participants to insert the completed survey on the opposite side of their Participant Folder.]

2. Rules of the Group

[Moderator introduces study to all participants at same time once everyone is checked in and seated.]

It looks like we are all here and ready to get started!

Welcome and thank you for coming. My name is [insert moderator name] and I am the moderator of the focus group today. We also have [insert names of research assistants] who will be helping out today. We are going to look some videos, talk about them, eat some snacks, and have fun. At the end, you will each receive a $25 [VISA/American Express] gift card. How does that sound?

We also want to remind you that no one outside of the group will know what you said during the discussions. It is completely up to you whether or not you take part today and you have the right to leave the group at any time.

We are in no way connected to your school. We are from a health communications and research company in California. Your school was just nice enough to let us come here. So whatever you say to us stays with us.

So now that you know what we are doing, we have a few ground rules for the group:

1. TALK! We want you to share what you are thinking. Your main job is to answer our questions and tell us what you think. If you have no opinion on something, that’s ok too. There are no right or wrong answers!

2. Make sure to let everyone get a chance to talk. We want to hear from each person. So if you are talking a lot, let others talk for a little while.

3. Be nice to each other. Don’t make fun of others for their answers. But we also want you to be honest when you disagree—we need to hear your opinions. Our goal is not to get everyone to agree or disagree. It is about hearing each person’s unique opinion.

4. Feel free to share openly and honestly, but please do not share any personal information, like your name. Please also respect the privacy of everyone here by not sharing what is said in this discussion.

5. Silence your cell phones, turn off your iPod, get headphones off your ears, etc. If your parents call, you can step out and quickly talk to them, but other than your parents, please don’t text or answer calls or texts from other people.

3. Verbal Agreement to Audio Record

Before we begin, I would like to ask your permission to audio record this focus group. As I mentioned all information from these focus groups will be kept private and protected, including the audio recording or any transcripts made from the audio recordings. So, is it ok with you if we audio record the focus group?

[If not everyone in the room agrees, then do not audio record group activities; research

assistants should take notes.]

If you have not had a chance to finish your Survey, please take a few mins now and then

we’ll get started with the discussion.

2. TOBACCO PRODUCTS DISCUSSION (10 Min)

[Photographs of tobacco products will be presented one at a time. Respondents will engage in discussion about a product before moving on to the next photograph.]

1. [Repeat for every tobacco product picture]

Ok, now we’re going to look at a few photographs, and talk about them briefly. Here is picture #[X].

1. What would you call this item?

   1. Have you heard any other names for it?

2. Who uses this product?

   1. Have you seen teens in this area use it? Adults?

3. Where do they use it?

   1. Are there certain locations or situations where people use it? Why?

   2. Are there certain events people use it during? Why?

   3. Are there certain times of year when people are more likely to use it? Why?

4. Do you think of this as a tobacco product?

   1. Why or why not?

5. Do you think there are any health risks associated with using this product?

   1. If so, what risks do you think of?

   2. If not, why not?

   3. Do you think this product is more or less risky for your health than cigarettes? Why?

   4. Do you think other people your age think this product is risky? Why or why not?

3. CREATIVE CONCEPT TESTING (65 Min)

[Ad concepts will be revealed one at a time. As ad concepts are exposed, respondents will be asked to rate their initial reaction to each item on the survey before the discussion for that ad concept starts.]

1. Great. Thanks for your feedback. Next, we’re going to watch some videos and ask you to give your opinions. In your folder, you should each have a Creative Concept Survey [hold up Creative Concept Survey for participants to see]. We’re going to fill this out together, so please don’t move ahead without receiving the OK.

2. Now, one at a time, I’m going to show you concepts for new TV ads to convince young people to not smoke. These are not actual commercials, though, they are just ideas of what future commercials could look like. After our research, we plan to create the commercials that you tell us are the best. So try not to get too caught up in the small details and focus on the overall idea. We are going to look at [insert #] different concepts and we want to know what you think about each of them. After I show you each concept, I will instruct you to fill out that section of the survey and once everyone is finished, we will discuss as a group. We will talk about each of them individually and then compare them to each other at the end. Please pay close attention because I can only play these concepts once.

1. [Repeat for every ad concept]

We’re going to watch the first ad concept. [Research assistant should play video.]

Ok, you may now fill out the questions for Ad #[X]. Please read the instructions and only fill out Ad #[X]. [Research assistants should circulate and make sure that all youth have completed the items before moving forward.]

Great. So, let’s talk about your thoughts about the ad concept you just saw. As a reminder, ad concepts are just ideas of what future commercials could look like.

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

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

2. Is this message realistic or believable? Why/why not?

2. How did this ad concept make you feel?

3. What do you like about this concept?

4. What don’t you like about this concept?

1. What would make it better?

5. Did you learn anything from this concept?

1. If yes, what did you learn?

6. Is this concept relevant to you?

7. What do you think about the setting or situation in this concept?

8. Did this concept catch your attention?

1. If yes, what about it?

2. If not, why not?

9. What did you think about the tone or feeling of the ad concept?

1. Why/why not?

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

11. How does this ad make you feel about smoking cigarettes?

1. Is that different than how you felt before viewing the ad?

12. Do you think this ad would convince people your age to live tobacco free?

13. Do you think you would talk about this ad with friends?

1. Would you share this ad with your friends if it was available online?

1. Do you think this ad is directed to you and your friends?

1. Why/why not?

2. All Videos

   1. Great, now that we have seen all of the videos, which did you like the most? Why?

   2. Which videos did you like the least? Why?

4. FACT DISCUSSION (10 Min)

2. After seeing some of our concepts for commercials that highlight facts about tobacco, we want to ask you about some other tobacco facts to see what you think about them. The facts that you like the best could be included in more commercials or ads. So, we are going to show you a fact, read it out loud together and I would like for you to tell me if it is important and believable to you, personally. [Show first fact, read out loud; repeat questions for up to 10 facts]

   1. What do you think about this fact?

      1. Do you like it? Dislike it?

      2. What do you like/dislike about it?

   2. Have you heard this fact before?

      1. If yes, where?

   3. Does it mention something that you care about?

      1. Why/why not?

         1. If yes, what part specifically?

   4. Why do you or don’t you care about this? Is this fact believable?

      1. Why/why not?

      2. Is there a specific part of the fact that is not believable?

   5. If you saw this fact in an ad or on social media, would it make you think twice about using tobacco?

      1. Why or why not?

      2. Do you think it would make other people your age think twice about using tobacco? Why or why not?

   6. If you saw this fact in a commercial like the ones you saw, would you like it?

      1. Would you talk about it with friends? Why or why not?

   7. If you saw this posted on Facebook or Twitter, would you like it? Would you share or retweet it?

      1. Why or why not?

5. CHECK OUT

Thank you for your time today. We appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us.

Make sure that you collect all of your belongings and turn in your folder containing all of your completed worksheets from today. You can walk back to where you signed in to check out and collect your gift card. Thanks again!

[Have each participant check out by turning in their folder; make sure that all necessary documents are in the folder. Participant will initial the Check Out Form indicating that they have received their $25 gift card incentive. For each focus group, there should only be one Check Out Form for administrative purposes. Upon completion of focus group, organize all completed documents. The team should have a complete folder for each participant.]

Moderator Guide Page 7 of 7