The impact of e-cigarette product characteristics on attitudes and use susceptibility: an experimental study

Product-based marketing is likely to be a major contributor to the rapid and substantial increase in youth e-cigarette use, yet work exploring the impact of such marketing is limited. We explored the extent to which marketing in the form of product flavour, device type, and device colour influences product attitudes and susceptibility to use (product curiosity, willingness to use, and intentions to use) among young people who had never smoked. A sample of 1879 Australians aged 12-29 years (of whom 23% currently or previously vaped) completed an online survey with three embedded experiments assessing the impact of product flavours, device type, and device colour respectively. Results indicated that attitudes towards sweet-flavoured e-cigarettes were significantly more favourable than attitudes towards tobacco-flavoured and unflavoured e-cigarettes among participants who had never vaped. Among those who currently or previously vaped, product curiosity was greater among those presented with a menthol/mint-flavoured e-cigarette compared to those presented with a tobacco-flavoured e-cigarette. For device type, use intentions were greater among those presented with a box mod or disposable device compared to those presented with a pen-like device. Willingness to use was also greater among those presented with a disposable device compared to those presented with a pen-like device. Results suggest product-based e-cigarette marketing may influence attitudes towards e-cigarettes and increase susceptibility to use among young people who have never smoked. Findings support the implementation of comprehensive flavour bans that include menthol and mint, the introduction of standardized devices, and bans on disposable e-cigarettes.