Scholars from Boston University recently published a new study, which found that the majority of promotional posts for 25 e-cigarette brands on Instagram violate FDA guidelines. These guidelines require a health risk warning to be placed above the post, with the warning taking up at least 20% of the entire promotional material.
One of the co-authors of the study, Professor Traci Hong from Boston University, stated that...
Social media is an open marketplace where many brands promote their products without informing consumers of the potential risks.
Hong and her colleagues analyzed over 2,000 e-cigarette brand posts on Instagram and used a computer vision artificial intelligence model to check if these posts contained the required warning information and if the size of the warnings met legal requirements. The study found that only 13% of the posts met both criteria.
According to this study, posts on Instagram that follow FDA guidelines receive lower levels of engagement compared to posts that do not follow the guidelines.
People are less likely to like or comment on these posts that follow the rules, as they are contemplating if these products are suitable for them - and this is the essence of a healthy caution.
Regarding the proposed solutions, Hong made it clear that...
I believe social media companies should implement policies requiring e-cigarette product promotions to inform users of the dangers of tobacco.
At the time this report was published, Meta, the parent company of Instagram, had not yet responded to a comment request from Fast Company. However, Hong did not only criticize social media. She pointed out that the design of e-cigarettes is also intended to attract young users.
You actually have a product that looks like technology, and we usually don't see technology as harmful to us, because we embrace technology. But we need to let people know that these seemingly harmless things actually have real risks.
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