Cannabis ads may shape viewers’ expectations about cannabis and sex

PULLMAN, Wash. - Alcohol advertisers have long faced industry guidelines discouraging them from linking drinking with sexual success. Cannabis marketers have no comparable industrywide guidelines and may promote cannabis in connection with sex and intimacy. A new Washington State University study suggests such messages may influence young adults' intentions to use cannabis before sex, with potential implications for sexual decision making and consent.

Published in Communication Research, the study found that college students who interpreted advertisements as suggesting cannabis use resulted in better sex - whether the ads featured sexual themes or not - were more likely to expect those benefits and to say they might use cannabis before sex.

The findings come from an online experiment involving 747 Washington college students who viewed real cannabis ads posted on Instagram. The results could ultimately help shape public health messages and inform advertising policies in a largely unregulated area.

"We know from alcohol advertising that sexualized appeals can make a difference in how people understand the information presented," said Jessica Fitts Willoughby, a professor in WSU's Edward R. Murrow College of Communication and the study's lead author. "Cannabis is a little different because there really aren't rules saying you can't tie it to sex."

Willoughby and study co-author Stacey J.T. Hust, a professor in the Murrow College, designed their experiment differently from previous cannabis marketing studies.

Rather than asking people to remember cannabis ads and other social media content they had encountered in the past, the researchers showed participants specific ads that had appeared on Instagram. This allowed the researchers to examine how different people interpreted the same messages and whether those interpretations were connected to their expectations and intentions.

Participants viewed ads featuring sexual, romantic or recreational imagery, such as people using cannabis in bed, couples in intimate settings and friends gathered around a bonfire. Researchers then asked what messages participants took from the ads, what they expected from using cannabis before sex and whether they intended to do so.

Simply seeing a sexual or romantic ad did not consistently predict viewers' answers. What mattered more was how they interpreted it. Those who believed an ad was promising better sex were more likely to expect cannabis to improve their own sexual experiences or reduce nervousness. They were also more likely to say they might use cannabis before sex.

"It wasn't as simple as seeing a message and automatically being influenced by it," Willoughby said. "The stronger connection appeared when someone interpreted the ad as saying cannabis makes sex better and then they thought it might do the same for them."

The study also found differences between men and women. Men who wanted to be like the men shown in sexual or romantic ads - who were typically physically fit, attractive and masculine - were more likely to say they intended to use cannabis before sex. Women who thought the ads raised concerns about sexual consent were less likely to say they would use it before sex.

That finding could help public health officials develop messages directly addressing how cannabis may affect judgment and consent.

"If health communicators want to address cannabis use before sex, they could create messages that clearly explain how it may affect decision making or consent," Hust said. "Our findings suggest that those messages could make people, particularly women, less likely to intend to use cannabis before sex."

The findings could also help guide public policy and industry standards around cannabis advertising and sex. Washington prohibits ads aimed at people younger than 21, but it does not specifically bar companies from suggesting cannabis can improve sex or romantic experiences. Unlike the alcohol industry, the cannabis industry has no nationwide guidelines discouraging those claims.

The distilled spirits industry has had voluntary advertising guidelines since shortly after prohibition ended in 1934, and its code has prohibited claims linking alcohol to sexual success since at least the mid-1990s.

"The larger question is whether cannabis advertisements should be regulated more like those for other adult-use products, such as alcohol," Hust said. "Our findings show that when people interpret these ads as promising positive sexual experiences, that can shape what they expect from cannabis and whether they intend to use it."

Media Contacts

• Jessica Willoughby, WSU Murrow College of Communication, 509-335-7926, [email protected]
• Stacey Hust, WSU Murrow College of Communication, 509-335-3696, [email protected]
• Will Ferguson, WSU News & Media Relations, 509-335-8798, [email protected]