Elsevier

Addictive Behaviors

Volume 91, April 2019, Pages 119-127
Addictive Behaviors

From Apple to Werewolf: A content analysis of marketing for e-liquids on Instagram

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.09.008Get rights and content

Highlights

  • E-liquid marketing on Instagram emphasizes positive experiences and personalization

  • Marketing posts made the most of Instagram as a visual platform

  • Fruit and dessert/sweet flavors of e-liquid are commonly promoted

  • Individual social media users are serving as brand ambassadors

  • Posts were most commonly made by users based in the United States, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom

Abstract

Introduction

With the growing popularity of refillable e-cigarettes and recent FDA regulatory action on e-liquid warning labels, e-liquids are an increasingly important area of study. At present, however, little is known about how e-liquids are marketed. This study examined e-liquid marketing on the visual social media platform Instagram, on which users have created significant amounts of e-cigarette related content.

Methods

A systematic, random sample of Instagram posts with either #eliquid or #ejuice was collected from the Instagram API during one week in May 2017 and in October 2017 using the Netlytic application. A final sample of 1000 posts was analyzed using qualitative content analysis to discern e-liquid themes, claims, promotions, and products promoted.

Results

Of the 1000 posts, 61.1% promoted e-liquid. These posts were most frequently made by vape shops and ambassadors/representatives. Almost 80% of promotional posts featured a flavored e-liquid. Posts focused largely on e-liquids tasting good (35.4%) or being cool/edgy (19.0%). Many posts made use of Instagram's visual nature to share creative label designs. Just over a third of posts made some claim about e-liquid benefits or quality, with smokeless tobacco claims being most common. Although posts most commonly originated from the United States, posts made from Indonesia and the United Kingdom were also common.

Conclusions

E-liquid marketing on Instagram emphasizes positive experiences, personalization, and aspirational identities rather than explicit health and cessation claims. Appeal to youth is a significant concern based both on marketing strategies and the demographics of Instagram users.

Introduction

Since their introduction to the U.S. in 2007, electronic cigarettes (“e-cigarettes”) have seen significant technological innovation. Advanced personal vaporizers (“APVs”) are now more popular among adolescents and young adults than first-generation disposable/cigalike e-cigarettes (Barrington-Trimis et al., 2018). APVs, also known as mods, are distinct from cigalikes in part because they have refillable tanks where nicotine e-liquid (or “e-juice”) can be added by users. This offers vapers the opportunity for customization of nicotine strengths and flavors (Barrington-Trimis et al., 2018). One early estimate suggested that there were over 7000 flavors available for vapers to choose from online (Zhu et al., 2014). Although flavors appeal to all age groups, adolescents have been shown to favor flavored tobacco and have reported flavors as a motivation for e-cigarette use (Ambrose et al., 2015; Pepper, Ribisl, & Brewer, 2016).

To date, however, few studies have focused specifically on e-liquid marketing (Jackler & Ramamurthi, 2017; Zhu et al., 2014). E-liquids are purchased on a more regular basis than e-cigarette devices, have a lower price-point, and come in more varieties. Since e-liquids are the source of the aerosol that users inhale from APVs, they are a key site for locating claims about health benefits. E-liquids with nicotine are also key to addiction risks. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 2016 Deeming Rule allows the FDA to take enforcement action against e-liquid advertisers who make false, misleading, or unauthorized modified risk claims. Starting in August 2018, the FDA also requires warning statements about nicotine on e-liquid labels and visual advertising for e-liquids. The FDA has indicated that social media platforms are subject to the provisions and plans to develop guidance for compliance on “unique types of media” (Deeming Tobacco Products, 2016).

The present study examines e-liquid marketing on the social media platform Instagram. This platform was chosen in light of the large number of vape shops and small e-liquid brands that market there (Chu, Allem, Cruz, & Unger, 2017; Laestadius, Wahl, & Cho, 2016; Lee et al., 2017), initial evidence of e-liquid ads featuring youth friendly visuals such as unicorns (Jackler & Ramamurthi, 2017), and growing evidence that exposure to e-cigarette marketing on social media is associated with adolescent and young adult e-cigarette use (Pokhrel et al., 2018; Sawdey, Hancock, Messner, & Prom-Wormley, 2017). Instagram is used by 76% of adolescents and 64% of young adults (AP-NORC Center, 2017; Pew Research Center, 2018), making youth exposure a particular concern. Findings from this study will help identify the e-liquid themes, claims, promotions, and products that youth and young adults are exposed to on Instagram.

Section snippets

Data collection

Systematic random sampling was used to collect Instagram posts related to e-liquid. Using Netlytic (Gruzd, 2018), an online software application that has authorized third-party access to the Instagram API, links to the most recent 100 public posts tagged with #eliquid were collected every hour for a one-week period. Data were simultaneously collected for #ejuice, which prior literature has shown to be more popular among Instagram users (Laestadius et al., 2016). Netlytic allows users to

Characteristics of posters

Of the sample of 1000 posts with e-liquid related hashtags, 82.5% (n = 825) were made by users with some tie to the vaping industry and 61.1% (n = 611) promoted e-liquid use or specific brands of e-liquid. The remainder of posts were either not promotional or focused on promotion of e-cigarette devices more generally. These posts were not coded on further measures. E-liquid promotion posts most commonly originated from vape shops (40.9%), followed by ambassadors/representatives (27.0%), and

Discussion

This content analysis of e-liquid marketing on Instagram found that posts have a strong emphasis on flavors and design rather than more explicit marketing strategies such as discounts or contests. Use of high production-value images and well-designed graphics made the most of Instagram as a visual platform. Paired with an emphasis on taste, pleasurable physical and emotional effects, and edgy/cool themes, e-liquid marketing appears to focus on offering consumers a positive experience and

Conclusions

E-liquid marketing emphasizes positive experiences, personalization, and aspirational identities, with an emphasis on fruit and dessert/sweet flavors, visually pleasing designs, and immersive branding. Appeal to youth is a significant concern based both on marketing strategies and the demographics of Instagram users. Strategies to reduce youth exposure to tobacco product marketing on social media remain critical.

Declarations of interest

None.

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by NCI and FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) under Award Number R03CA216528. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or the Food and Drug Administration.

Role of funding source

Research reported in this publication was supported by NCI and FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) under Award Number R03CA216528. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or the Food and Drug Administration. The NIH and FDA had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.

Contributors

LL designed the study and took

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