Evaluation & Research

The VTSF’s Y Campaign is based on the most extensive youth marketing research ever conducted in Virginia. Ongoing research and evaluation takes place to ensure the campaign remains on track and continues to resonate with the youth of Virginia.

An evaluation of the marketing campaign was conducted in October 2006 with the intention of providing an assessment of the awareness level of the VTSF youth tobacco-use prevention marketing campaign. After 6½ years, the awareness level of the VTSF’s ydouthink Campaign remains high at 76% among the target audience: kids in Virginia ages 10 to 17. The Campaign’s awareness level has been consistently strong (between 74% and 79%) for 60 consecutive months. Additional key findings from the study include:

The ydouthink campaign continues to appeal to youth overall – 90% cite its “ease of understanding,” 90% says it’s “saying something meaningful” to them, and 94% say it has “believability.”
70% of youth would consider ydouthink to be a “friend” or a “best friend” if the brand were a person
There remains a high association of nonsmokers being “cool” (68%), “popular” (65%), and “trustworthy” (87%) versus smokers.
87% of youths who were aware of ydouthink were also able to recall something specific from the campaign.

VTSF Campaign Awareness Across All Airwaves
Campaign awareness chart

Marketing Campaign Research

The Y Campaign is based on the most extensive youth marketing research ever conducted in Virginia. Ongoing research takes place to ensure that the campaign remains on track and resonates with the youth of Virginia. Following are documents of some of the research that has taken place:

Fall 2008 - Marketing Tracking Report (doc)

August 2008 - Functional Analysis For Cultural Interventions On Virginia Teen Smoking (doc)

May 2008 - Marketing Tracking Report (doc)

November 2007 - Marketing Tracking Report (doc)

Dec 06-Jan 07 Tween Smoking Prevention Brand Project (PDF)

November 2006 - Marketing Tracking Report (doc)

July 2004 - Youth Media Consumption Insights (Ages 9 - 12) (PPT)

June 2004 - Youth Media Consumption Insights (Ages 13 - 17) (PDF)

Sep 17, 2003 - Virginia Teen Insights (PDF)

Jul 23, 2003 - Research Overview Powerpoint (PPT)

May 30, 2003 - Youth Culture (PDF)

Nov 06, 2002 - Youth Culture (PDF)