Advertisement of electronic cigarettes in Italy: characteristics of online videos and the most popular promotional messages

Given the increasing popularity of electronic cigarettes (ECs) and a lack of regulation of EC advertising, this study aimed to analyse online videos promoting ECs to assess the main marketing messages that could influence consumers’ perceptions of associated risks and benefits. A web search of EC ad...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health education research 2018-12, Vol.33 (6), p.473-480
Main Authors: Scaioli, G., Bert, F., Martorana, M., Gili, R., Thomas, R., Gualano, M. R., Siliquini, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
Advertising
Foreign Countries
Health Behavior
Health technology assessment
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Smoking
Social Media
Video Technology
Web Sites
Young Adults
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Summary:Given the increasing popularity of electronic cigarettes (ECs) and a lack of regulation of EC advertising, this study aimed to analyse online videos promoting ECs to assess the main marketing messages that could influence consumers’ perceptions of associated risks and benefits. A web search of EC advertising videos was performed on YouTube by using keywords related to EC promotion. An evaluation grid was used to analyse promotional messages contained in each video. The most frequent promotional messages were related to health benefits (67.7%) and to the possibility of quitting smoking (57.4%). Messages that could also be appealing to adolescents and young adults, such as those promoting the multiple flavors available and the technological improvement of ECs, were present in 41.2% and 42.7% of the videos respectively. ECs similar to traditional cigarettes in appearance were included in 52.9% of the videos. EC promotional videos address messages not only to smokers who want to quit or decrease tobacco consumption but also to non-smokers, especially young people. The use of ECs similar to traditional cigarettes may be a gateway to tobacco cigarette use. Since EC use may represent an important public health concern, regulatory policies on EC advertising should be established.
ISSN:0268-1153
1465-3648
DOI:10.1093/her/cyy030