Association of Tobacco Advertising, Promotion, and Sponsorship (TAPS) exposure on smoking intention and current smoking behavior among youth in Indonesia

Background: This study aimed to assess the association of Tobacco Advertising Promotion and Sponsorship (TAPS) exposure on smoking intensity and smoking behavior among youth in Indonesia. Method: This study used secondary data from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) 2019. The participants were secondary students from grades 7 to 12. We used multiple logistic regression to assess the association of TAPS exposure with smoking intention among smokers and current smoking status. Results: More than half of participants (64,54%) reported being exposed by TAPS in television, followed by outdoor media (60,82%) and point of sales (55,45%). About 2.27% of 7,679 nonsmoking participants had the intention to smoke cigarettes. Furthermore, TAPS exposure in sports events, music concerts, community gatherings, or social events, being offered free tobacco products, owning the tobacco industry’s merchandise, and receiving vouchers of cigarettes discounts was associated with the smoking intention of nonsmokers and current smoking status. In addition, a significant association was found between TAPS exposure in television, the internet, and print media with current smoking status among youth in Indonesia. Conclusions: TAPS exposure was significantly associated with smoking intention and smoking behavior among youth in Indonesia. Therefore, we recommended that the government ban TAPS in any form.