Investigation of Differences in Tobacco Use Language Between Groups: Corpus-Assisted Analysis.
Iona Fitzpatrick1, Xinmei Sun2
1Tobacco Control Research Group, Department of Health, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY, United Kingdom.
JMIR Infodemiology
|July 15, 2026
Summary
Language surrounding smoking differs significantly between health organizations, tobacco companies, and the general public. This linguistic variation impacts public understanding of tobacco risks and behaviors, highlighting potential information distortions.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Public Health
- Health Communication
Background:
- Language variation in tobacco discourse influences risk perception and behavior.
- Transnational tobacco companies exploit linguistic complexities to shape public understanding and acceptability of tobacco use.
- Analyzing language differences reveals tobacco use cultures and information imbalances.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare language used by tobacco companies, health organizations, and general English speakers regarding smoking.
- To identify differences in characterizing tobacco users and behaviors across these groups.
- To assess the public health implications of these linguistic variations.
Main Methods:
- Corpus-assisted analysis of 1355 documents (over 10 million words) from 2003-2023.
- Compared corpora from health organizations (WHO, NHS, NICE, CDC) and tobacco companies (BAT, PMI) with general English corpora.
- Utilized LancsBox software to analyze variations using "smoker*" and "smok*" stems.
Main Results:
- Significant differences found in how groups describe smokers and smoking, with minimal shared terminology.
- Health organizations used clinical/population terms; tobacco companies framed smokers as consumers/legal subjects.
- General English corpora exhibited the broadest range of labels for tobacco users.
Conclusions:
- Highly varied categorizations indicate divergent sense-making resources regarding tobacco use.
- Limited shared language between groups suggests vulnerability of information flow to distortion.
- Understanding these linguistic disparities is crucial for effective public health communication on tobacco.
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