Department of Health, Behavior & Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Institute for Global Tobacco Control, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Nicotine Tob Res. 2024 Jul 22;26(8):1108-1112. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntae022.
In recent years, hundreds of jurisdictions around the world have enacted policies that prohibit sales of flavored e-cigarettes. In most cases, these jurisdictions permit the sale of tobacco flavored e-cigarettes. We sought to understand how tobacco flavor in e-cigarette advertisements were presented.
Our sample included 2966 U.S. English-language e-cigarette ads compiled by a market research firm, Numerator, that ran from January 2018 to December 2020. We describe the prevalence of different tobacco flavor names in our sample and classified each name into one of the following thematic categories: Traditional Tobacco, Pipe/Cigar Tobacco, Sensory Expectancies, Color, Physical Attribute, Place, and non-characterizing Concept flavor.
In our sample, 28% (n = 832/2966) of ads promoted at least one tobacco flavored e-cigarette product (e-cigarette device or liquid). Across the 832 ads, we counted 1019 tobacco flavored products and identified 51 unique tobacco flavor names. The most common tobacco flavor names were Traditional Tobacco names like "Tobacco" (n = 393), "Classic tobacco" (n = 107) and 'Original' (n = 59). Some names were associated with Color (eg, 'Golden tobacco'; n = 153), Sensory Expectancy (eg, 'Rich tobacco'; n = 148), Place where tobacco cultivation takes place (eg, 'Carolina tobacco'; n = 83), Physical Attributes of tobacco (eg, 'Cut tobacco'; n = 17) and non-characterizing Concept flavor (eg, 'Freedom juice'; n = 14). Few tobacco flavors suggested a type of Pipe/Cigar Tobacco (eg, "Cavendish"; n = 4).
We identified 51 different tobacco flavor names, highlighting the practice describing the flavor beyond "tobacco." Future research can investigate whether these flavor names and descriptors influence consumers' perceptions, including perceived risks, of e-cigarette products.
Flavors are used to market e-cigarettes. Globally, many jurisdictions restrict flavored e-cigarette sales, but few restrict tobacco flavor. This study identified 51 unique ways tobacco flavored e-cigarettes have been named in a sample of U.S. English-language ads, suggesting diversified ways to market "tobacco." We identified several sub-categories of tobacco flavor names that rely on Color, Sensory Expectancies, and non-characterizing Concept flavor attributes. As e-cigarette flavor restrictions that exempt tobacco flavor are still prevalent, this study highlights the need for continued monitoring of naming conventions of tobacco flavored products and examination of how nuanced flavor names influence perceptions and expectations.
近年来，全球数百个司法管辖区颁布了禁止销售调味电子烟的政策。在大多数情况下，这些司法管辖区允许销售烟草味电子烟。我们试图了解电子烟广告中烟草味是如何呈现的。
我们的样本包括一家市场研究公司 Numerator 收集的 2966 份美国英语电子烟广告，这些广告的投放时间为 2018 年 1 月至 2020 年 12 月。我们描述了样本中不同烟草味名称的流行程度，并将每个名称归入以下主题类别之一：传统烟草、烟斗/雪茄烟草、感官期望、颜色、物理属性、地点和非特征概念风味。
在我们的样本中，28%（n=832/2966）的广告宣传至少一种烟草味电子烟产品（电子烟设备或液体）。在 832 个广告中，我们统计了 1019 个烟草味产品，并确定了 51 个独特的烟草味名称。最常见的烟草味名称是传统烟草名称，如“烟草”（n=393）、“经典烟草”（n=107）和“原味”（n=59）。一些名称与颜色（例如，“金烟草”；n=153）、感官期望（例如，“浓郁烟草”；n=148）、烟草种植地（例如，“卡罗莱纳烟草”；n=83）、烟草的物理属性（例如，“碎烟叶”；n=17）和非特征概念风味（例如，“自由果汁”；n=14）有关。少数烟草风味暗示了一种烟斗/雪茄烟草（例如，“卡文迪什”；n=4）。
我们确定了 51 种不同的烟草味名称，突出了超越“烟草”描述风味的做法。未来的研究可以调查这些风味名称和描述符是否会影响消费者对电子烟产品的看法，包括对电子烟产品风险的看法。
口味被用来推销电子烟。在全球范围内，许多司法管辖区限制调味电子烟的销售，但很少限制烟草味。本研究在美国英语广告样本中确定了 51 种不同的烟草味电子烟命名方式，这表明了“烟草”的营销方式多样化。我们确定了烟草味电子烟命名的几个子类别，这些子类别依赖于颜色、感官期望和非特征概念风味属性。由于仍普遍存在豁免烟草味的电子烟口味限制，本研究强调需要继续监测烟草味产品的命名惯例，并研究细微风味名称如何影响认知和期望。
