Sex, Romance, or Recreation? An Experiment Testing the Effects of Cannabis Brand-generated Social Media Ads on College Students’ Expectancies and Intentions to Use Cannabis Prior to Sex
2026-08-31
Sexual and romantic scripts are used to market cannabis products, now legal for adult-use in several U.S. states. We conducted an online experiment ( N = 747) examining the impact of viewing brand-generated social media posts promoting cannabis that included sexual, romantic, and non-sexual non-romantic recreational scripts among college students in Washington state. Increased perceptions that ads suggested cannabis enhances sex were associated with higher sex-related cannabis expectancies. Among men, wishful identification was associated with lower sexual risk expectancies among those who viewed sexual scripts and a greater likelihood of intending to use cannabis before sex among those who viewed sexual or romantic scripts. Among women, perceiving that ads suggested cannabis enhances sex was associated with a greater likelihood of intending to use cannabis before sex, whereas perceiving that ads suggested cannabis impacts sexual consent was associated with a lower likelihood of intending to use cannabis before sex. Additionally, wishful identification among women was associated with a greater likelihood of intending to use cannabis before sex. Findings highlight associations between perceptions of brand-generated social media posts, expectancies, and intentions to use cannabis before sex among college students and identify mechanisms through which effects may occur.