Peer Group Segmentation to Reach High Risk Youth: A Case Study of African-American Teen Segmentation in Virginia, USA

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis: This study examines the relationship between peer group identification and tobacco use among African American teens (AATs) in Virginia. The tobacco control literature has identified social influences as a tobacco use risk factor. In this paper we explore the social influence of peer groups as important others through direct or indirect interactions. The goals of this study are to: 1) identify and describe the characteristics, values, and beliefs of distinct African American Teen (AAT) peer groups, 2) assess tobacco use prevalence within each of these peer groups 3) assess if tobacco use varies between AAT peer groups.

Methods: Data collection: anonymous online survey measuring youth tobacco use and peer group affiliations in two Designated Market Areas (DMAs) in Virginia during October - December 2009. Recruitment: advertisements on local radio stations that were identified during preliminary research as popular amongst AATs.  Respondents aged 13-17 from the two geographic areas (Norfolk and Richmond ) completed the online questionnaire (N=682). Measures: self-report tobacco use and attitude survey items. During preliminary research five peer groups were identified: “preppy,” “alternative,” “mainstream,” “country,” and “hip hop.” Peer group affiliation was innovatively measured in survey items using images found to be associated with each peer group in preliminary testing. These data were collected in accordance with a protocol approved by the IRC IRB.  

Results: Of the respondents, 13.6% had smoked a cigarette on at least one of the past 30 days. More AAT respondents (18.9%) reported smoking Black & Mild-brand cigarillos than cigarettes. The peer group affiliation distribution for AAT was 16.81% preppy, 30.44% mainstream, 42.83%  hip hop, and  4.50% country or alternative. Focusing on the three largest groups, significantly more AATs who identified with the hip hop peer group used tobacco (27.69%) compared to AATs in the preppy (16.84%) or mainstream (16.76%) peer groups. (p<.01). These teens also had more positive attitudes about tobacco and the tobacco industry, and higher perceived tobacco use amongst peers (55.8%) than preppy (40.7%) or mainstream AATs (42.4%) (p<.0001). Identifying with hip hop significantly increased the odds of having smoked in the past 30 days by 97% compared with being mainstream (p<.05).  

Conclusions: The hip hop peer group had more positive attitudes related to tobacco use and was more likely to use tobacco than the preppy or mainstream peer groups. Consequently, we conclude that peer group identification is a meaningful factor to consider in the design, implementation, and evaluation of youth tobacco control programs.

Implications for research and/or practice: Peer group analysis can provide meaningful data to inform youth tobacco prevention efforts. Since peer groups have different cultural values, taste preferences, socialization patterns and communication styles, it is important that prevention programs tailor their strategies to targeted peer groups when developing interventions. Prevention efforts could potentially have a stronger impact by using segmentation methods to effectively target high risk subgroups in the population to further reduce youth tobacco use rates.