Marketing a healthier choice: exploring young people’s perception of e-cigarettes (original) (raw)

Background: As a consequence of insufficient evidence on the safety and efficacy of e cigarettes, there has been much controversy surrounding its use in the tobacco control field. Objectives: We sought to examine smoking prevalence and salience of e-cigarettes marketing stimuli, and whether these affected attitude-relevant responses toward e-cigarettes and intention to vape. Methodology: A convenience sampling procedure was used to recruit 436 ever- and never-smokers aged 18 or older in the UK. Correlation analysis and structural equation modelling tested direct and indirect relationships between salience of e-cigarettes marketing messages, attitude relevant variables, and intention to vape. Results: Just over half of never-smokers were females compared to two-thirds of ever-smokers who were males. Majority of respondents comprising 56% of ever-smokers and 63% of never-smokers had seen e-cigarette promotion in stores or gas stations. Only a third or less of ever- and never-smokers h...