Overview
I am responsible for creating a survey for my final group project in consumer behavior. I will give you the current situation and behavioral context for reference, and I have also provided the survey data and results to help with my part of the final paper and presentation. If possible, please provide sources as well. I have attached the pdf of the results of the test survey and If you have any questions or concerns, let me know. Thank you!
Current Situation and Behavioral Context:
Among all tobacco products available in the United States, e-cigarettes have claimed a troubling distinction: they are the most used nicotine product among young people. According to the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), approximately 1.63 million middle and high school students, representing 5.9% of that population, reported current e-cigarette use within the past 30 days (Park-Lee). While this figure reflects a nominal decline from 2.13 million in 2023, public health experts caution that this statistical improvement is deeply misleading. The total number of youth vapers may be shrinking, but the depth of addiction among those who remain is intensifying at an alarming rate. The most significant behavioral shift between 2020 and 2024 is not a decline in vaping prevalence but a sharp escalation in vaping frequency and dependence severity. Research published in JAMA Network Open by the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California found that the share of current youth users who vaped every day rose from 15.4% to 28.8% over that four-year period (Masonbrink). Equally alarming, the proportion of daily users who attempted to quit but were unable to do so nearly doubled, from 28.2% to 53%, over the same span. This pattern suggests a population becoming progressively more addicted even as overall initiation rates decline. The NYTS itself corroborates this: 38.4% of current youth users report vaping on at least 20 of the last 30 days, and 26.3% report daily use, pointing to entrenched nicotine dependence rather than casual or experimental behavior (Park-Lee). The problem is not uniformly distributed across communities. Among youth in rural areas, the crisis has taken an especially acute form. Daily vaping rates in rural communities skyrocketed from 16.4% in 2020 to 41.8% by 2024, a near tripling in four years (Masonbrink). This disparity likely reflects reduced access to cessation resources, less robust public health infrastructure, and the concentrated social influence networks characteristic of smaller communities, where a single peer group's behavior can shape norms more powerfully than in urban environments. The geographic dimension of this crisis demands that any behavioral intervention strategy account for both digital and in-person delivery channels. Product design has played a central role in driving adoption and sustaining addiction. Disposable e-cigarettes, the most concealable, affordable, and easily accessible format, account for 55.6% of current youth vaping product preferences (Park-Lee). These devices are engineered with youth consumption in mind: in 2024, 87.6% of current youth e-cigarette users vaped flavored products, with fruit, candy, and mint flavors dominating (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). The availability of these flavors is not incidental. As pulmonologist Dr. Stephanie Stepp of National Jewish Health explains, unflavored nicotine in high concentrations is "miserable to breathe in," and flavoring is therefore "necessary to make these products palatable", and a primary mechanism through which youth are first exposed to nicotine addiction (Stepp, qtd. in "Gen Z Is Hooked on Vaping"). Nicotine salts, which allow devices to deliver high nicotine concentrations without the harshness of freebase nicotine, compound this problem by enabling heavier consumption with less discomfort (CDC, "Why Youth Vape"). The decision to target Gen Z—specifically college-aged individuals born between 1997 and 2012, is grounded in neuroscience, not merely demographics. The human brain continues developing until approximately the mid-twenties, and the prefrontal cortex—the region governing attention, impulse control, decision-making, and executive function. is among the last structures to fully mature (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Nicotine exploits this developmental window by binding to receptors that regulate dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine, producing powerful reinforcement signals that accelerate the formation of physical dependence. Research shows that young people can exhibit signs of nicotine addiction within as few as 48 to 72 hours of initial use (CDC, "Why Youth Vape"). Critically, nicotine exposure during adolescence does not merely create temporary dependency—it can permanently alter the brain's architecture, impairing memory formation through hippocampal disruption, weakening impulse regulation, and elevating long-term susceptibility to mood disorders including anxiety and depression (Public Health Insider). By intervening with this cohort now, any behavioral change program addresses the problem at the precise biological moment when the consequences of continued use are most irreversible. Within the Gen Z population, college students represent a particularly high-risk subgroup. According to the CDC's National Health Interview Survey, more than 1 in 6 adults aged 21–24 used e-cigarettes in 2023, a rate that has been rising steadily since 2020 (National Center for Health Statistics). The college environment amplifies the social and psychological drivers of vaping documented in younger populations. Stress is endemic: the transition to independent living, academic pressure, and identity formation create conditions in which nicotine use can rapidly shift from social experimentation to a coping mechanism. The NYTS found that while the most common reason students give for trying an e-cigarette is peer use, the most common reason they give for currently using one is feeling anxious, stressed, or depressed (CDC, "Why Youth Vape"). This progression from social initiation to emotional dependency is precisely the behavioral trajectory that a well-designed intervention must disrupt. Critically, the problem is not one of the differences. A Truth Initiative survey released in December 2025 found that 67% of nicotine users aged 18–24 expressed an intention to quit in the coming year (Truth Initiative). The NYTS similarly found that more than half of middle and high school students who currently vape want to quit and have actively tried to do so (Park-Lee et al.). Yet desire alone has proven insufficient. Most young people who attempt to quit do so without formal support, and the FDA has not approved cessation medications—such as varenicline or bupropion—for individuals under 18, leaving a substantial treatment gap precisely for the population most at risk ("Gen Z Is Hooked on Vaping"). This combination of high-still motivation and low-stilled success rates is exactly the opening that a behaviorally informed intervention strategy is designed to exploit.
MY PART : Testing Reactions via Survey: Design a survey or interview protocol to gather feedback from 15–20 people in your target population. Statistical analysis is not required—use descriptive statistics like percentages, means, or medians to show that your solution may outperform the current status quo. For example, report the proportion of respondents who indicate they would likely change their behavior based on your proposed solution. Do not reveal your intentions upfront; instead, ask participants to imagine or evaluate scenarios or ads you design to influence behavior. Creativity here is encouraged.
Refinement and Final Recommendations: Use the feedback data to adjust your solution. Present your final recommendations, and if necessary, collect additional data to support your refinements. While cost is not the focus, consider solutions that are cost-effective given limited resources. Discuss limitations of your project, including areas where you could have improved your research and potential biases influencing your conclusions.