Demarketing teen tobacco and alcohol use: Negative peer influence and longitudinal roles of parenting and self-esteem

Abstract

Tobacco and alcohol companies face increasing pressure to prevent smoking and drinking among underage consumers, reinforcing public policy initiatives designed to reduce youth substance use. One approach targets parents to influence their child's behavior. However, the extant literature remains unclear about whether childhood parenting strategies affect children's behavior beyond early adolescence. To fill this void, this research develops an integrative model of parental influence, specifying parenting strategies as antecedents, self-esteem as mediator, and susceptibility to negative peer influence (SPI) and substance use (smoking, and drinking) as socialization outcomes. The findings indicate that childhood parenting strategies impact smoking and drinking in the late teens, by reducing susceptibility to negative peer influence, with self-esteem playing a critical mediating role. These findings not only offer guidelines to social marketers and public policy makers, but also provide new avenues for tobacco and alcohol marketers to be responsive to recent federal laws and regulations, and enhance their corporate social responsibility.