E-Cigarette Marketing on Social Media: A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Social Media Marketing
• Tobacco Control

Background:

• E-cigarette marketing tactics on social media are rapidly evolving.
• There is a need for updated reviews to inform tobacco regulatory policies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify recent e-cigarette promotional strategies and themes on social media.
• To inform tobacco regulatory policies regarding e-cigarette marketing.

Main Methods:

• Scoping review of studies published between 2017 and 2021.
• Analysis of 29 studies examining e-cigarette marketing on social media.

Main Results:

• Common strategies include price promotion (44.8%), featuring flavors (44.8%), and product characteristics (34.5%).
• Youth-appealing themes (27.6%), influencer marketing (17.2%), and community building (17.2%) were also prevalent.
• Promotional themes emphasized concepts like "safe," "healthy," "young," and "cool."

Conclusions:

• Novel methods are increasingly used in e-cigarette marketing on social media.
• This review provides the most current understanding of these practices.