{
  "abstract": "Background Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) young adults (YA) experience disparities in nicotine and tobacco use. Mass-reach health communications can prevent nicotine and tobacco initiation and progression, but LGBTQ+adults report low engagement. Although cultural targeting (CT) could reach LGBTQ+YA, we know little about the strategies that resonate with this population. We probed how LGBTQ+YA perceived CT content to inform tobacco public education campaigns on strategies to engage this population.Methods We conducted six focus groups with N=20 LGBTQ+YA (18–35) who had ever used vapes, cigarettes or both. We showed participants examples of CT tobacco public education campaigns, probed their opinions and perceptions and coded transcripts using a data-driven inductive approach.Results Participants were more inclined to view an ad as effective when they felt it was authentically created for the LGBTQ+community. Avoiding stereotyping, including diversity, using ‘subtle’ LGBTQ+iconography (ie, rainbows), and including personal experiences all contributed to the authenticity of the ad. Participants discussed the importance of visual appeal; bright colours made ads appear too corporate or like an ad for a tobacco product. Lastly, participants responded well to gain-framed messages rather than traditional risk messaging.Conclusion Tobacco public education ads featuring ‘every-day’ LGBTQ+people in candid or unposed shots, personal stories with gain-framed messaging, and subtle Pride iconography and colours may increase acceptability among LGBTQ+YA. Researchers should focus on cultivating authenticity in ads and avoid outdated trends by consulting with the community and moving with speed from development to implementation.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Health Behavior and Health Promotion, The Ohio State University College of Public Health, Columbus, Ohio, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Alysha C Ennis"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Epidemiology, The Ohio State University College of Public Health, Columbus, Ohio, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Ashley Meadows"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Epidemiology, The Ohio State University College of Public Health, Columbus, Ohio, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Emma Jankowski"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "The Ohio State University College of Public Health, Columbus, Ohio, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Caitlin Miller"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Center for Tobacco Research, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Hayley Curran"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Epidemiology, The Ohio State University College of Public Health, Columbus, Ohio, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Elle Elson"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "The Ohio State University College of Public Health, Columbus, Ohio, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Sydney Galusha"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "The Ohio State University College of Public Health, Columbus, Ohio, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Grace Turk"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Health Behavior and Health Promotion, The Ohio State University College of Public Health, Columbus, Ohio, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Monica Stanwick"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Health Behavior and Health Promotion, The Ohio State University College of Public Health, Columbus, Ohio, USA",
        "Center for Tobacco Research, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Joanne G Patterson"
    }
  ],
  "title": "‘Authentic’ or ‘corny’: LGBTQ+ young adults respond to visual, thematic and semantic elements of culturally targeted tobacco public education advertisements",
  "uid": "aff66d9f-737e-5193-96c2-2fab83ab6ac2"
}