Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Apr:3:10.
doi: 10.18332/tpc/69393. Epub 2017 Apr 7.

Clean, cheap, convenient: promotion of Electronic cigarettes on YouTube

Clara G Sears  1 , Kandi L Walker  1 , Joy L Hart  1 , Alexander S Lee  1 , Allison Siu  1 , Courteney Smith  1
Affiliations

Clean, cheap, convenient: promotion of Electronic cigarettes on YouTube

Clara G Sears et al. Tob Prev Cessat. 2017 Apr.

Abstract

Introduction: Videos promoting electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) can be easily accessed on YouTube. Marketing claims present in YouTube videos may help shape the public's opinion of e-cigarettes. Thus, it is important to understand the most frequent marketing claims and video sources.

Methods: The objectives of this study were to 1) identify marketing claims in YouTube videos that are commonly made on e-cigarette retail websites and 2) compare the frequency of marketing claims in user-generated and professional YouTube videos. Through content analysis, this study evaluated six marketing claims and descriptive information about YouTube videos (n = 50) related to "electronic cigarettes" and "vape".

Results: Overall, the most frequent marketing claim promoted e-cigarette use as better than traditional tobacco use (52%). Approximately 65% of videos appeared to be user-generated and 35% were professionally-produced. Compared to user-generated videos, significantly more professional videos made claims that e-cigarettes are cleaner (p < 0.001) and cheaper (p = 0.04) than traditional cigarettes. Additionally, more professional videos had claims promoting e-cigarettes as better than traditional cigarettes because of their convenience-the user can smoke anywhere (p < 0.0001) and the products do not produce secondhand smoke (p < 0.001). The most frequent claim in user-generated videos was related to recreation (53%).

Conclusions: Videos on YouTube promote e-cigarettes as safer than other tobacco products. Videos appearing to be user-generated contained different marketing claims compared to professional videos. Further research is necessary to assess how the perceived source of the video impacts the ways these marketing claims shape public perception and influence use.

Keywords: YouTube; e-cigarette; tobacco marketing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS The authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported.

References

    1. de Andrade M, Hastings G, Angus K. Promotion of electronic cigarettes: tobacco marketing reinvented? BMJ. 2013;347:f7473. doi: 10.1136/bmj.f7473. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yamin CK, Bitton A, Bates DW. E-cigarettes: a rapidly growing internet phenomenon. Ann Intern Med. 2010;153:607–9. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-153-9-201011020-00011. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Paek HJ, Kim S, Hove T, Huh JY. Reduced harm or another gateway to smoking? source, message, and information characteristics of e-cigarette videos on YouTube. J Health Commun. 2014;19(5):545–60. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2013.821560. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Noel JK, Rees VW, Connolly GN. Electronic cigarettes: a new ‘tobacco’ industry? Tob Control. 2010;20:81. doi: 10.1136/tc.20O.0138562. - DOI - PubMed
    1. McQueen A, Tower S, Sumner W. Interviews with «vapers»: implications for future research with electronic cigarettes. Nicotine Tob Res. 2011;13(9):860–7. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntr088. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources