Table 3.
Promotions offered and claims made by Internet tobacco vendors selling e-cigarettes: 2013 and 2014
| Promotion or claim | 2013 n=281 |
2014 n=283 |
|---|---|---|
| IEV sites n (%) |
IEV sites n (%) |
|
| Features health warning | 201 (71.5) | 217 (76.7) |
| Vendor promotions**† | 251 (89.3) | 232 (82.0) |
| Vendor offers free shipping*,‡ | 175 (62.3) | 154 (54.4) |
| Celebrity endorsements (W1: n=68, W2: n=46)* § | 31 (11.0) | 17 (6.0) |
| Actor/actress endorsement§ | 41 (60.3) | 32 (66.7) |
| Katherine Heigl*§ | 12 (17.6) | 3 (6.3) |
| Leonardo DiCaprio§ | 7 (10.3) | 3 (6.3) |
| Johnny Depp§ | 6 (8.8) | 2 (4.2) |
| Recording artist endorsement§ | 12 (17.6) | 5 (10.4) |
| Other celebrity endorsement§ | 15 (22.1) | 9 (18.8) |
| Branded celebrity endorsement | 13 (4.6) | 6 (2.1) |
| Unbranded celebrity endorsement | 18 (6.4) | 10 (3.5) |
| Multiple TV news programme endorsements | 1 (0.4)†† | 0 (0.0) |
| Doctor/health professional endorsement** | 41 (14.6) | 21 (7.4) |
| Other promotion** | 78 (27.8) | 22 (7.8) |
| Loyalty/referral programme** | 36 (12.8) | 5 (1.8) |
| Discounts** | 21 (7.5) | 4 (1.4) |
| Free tobacco products** | 21 (7.5) | 7 (2.5) |
| Incentives for engaging with social media** | 11 (3.9) | 1 (0.4) |
| Free other items | 10 (3.6) | 4 (1.4) |
| Military discount* | 7 (2.5) | 1 (0.4) |
| Links to social media sites** | 196 (69.8) | 222 (78.5) |
| Vendor claims comparing e-cigarettes with cigarettes† | 241 (85.8) | 198 (70.5) |
| Any health-related claim**, ¶ | 215 (76.5) | 165 (43.1) |
| Health advantages** | 195 (69.4) | 148 (52.3) |
| Price advantages** | 150 (53.4) | 103 (36.4) |
| Smoke anywhere/circumvent smoke-free laws** | 167 (59.4) | 115 (40.6) |
| Product helps to quit smoking* | 92 (32.7) | 74 (26.2) |
| Product does not help to quit smoking** | 141 (50.2) | 104 (36.8) |
| Safer for other people (than secondhand smoke)** | 134 (47.7) | 87 (30.7) |
| Modern/revolutionary** | 128 (45.6) | 72 (25.4) |
| Fire safety** | 117 (41.6) | 28 (9.9) |
| Social advantages** | 132 (47.0) | 88 (31.1) |
p<0.05 (data reflecting statistically significant differences between 2013 and 2014 are boldfaced).
p<0.01 (data reflecting statistically significant differences between 2013 and 2014 are boldfaced).
Listed promotions/claims are not mutually exclusive and thus, results will sum to more than 100%.
Some vendors offer free shipping for all purchases, whereas others offer free shipping at a minimum purchase level.
Celebrity endorsements (2013: n=68, 2014: n=46) reflect the total number of celebrity endorsements featured, rather than the total number of sites featuring those endorsements. In 2013, 31 websites (11.0%), and in 2014 17 websites (6.0%), featured celebrity endorsements with a range of one to five celebrity endorsements per site. The percentages for all marked subcategories are out of the (2013: n=68, 2014: n=46) celebrity endorsements.
Any health-related claim includes health advantages, helps quit smoking, safer for other people and fire safety.
One vendor featured graphics indicating they were endorsed by four TV news programmes.