Premium
Vaping Viewpoints: A Multi‐Segment Understanding of E‐Cigarette Risk Perceptions
Author(s) -
Farrell Justine Rapp,
Hamby Anne M.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of consumer affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.582
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1745-6606
pISSN - 0022-0078
DOI - 10.1111/joca.12203
Subject(s) - harm , viewpoints , electronic cigarette , perception , risk perception , product (mathematics) , advertising , safer , marketing , business , health risk , psychology , smoking cessation , medicine , social psychology , environmental health , computer security , computer science , art , geometry , mathematics , pathology , neuroscience , visual arts
Electronic cigarettes (e‐cigarettes) are battery‐operated devices used to deliver nicotine by vapor and are positioned as a safer alternative to traditional tobacco cigarettes. As a recent entrant to the market, little is known about how consumers perceive the health risks of these devices, raising the question of whether consumers are making informed product adoption and use choices. Study 1 evaluates different consumer usage segments (vapers, smokers, dual users, and nonusers) in terms of their level of perceived risk. Study 2 examines how different groups of consumers' risk perceptions are influenced by on‐ad warning labels. Results show that vapers operate as a distinct consumer segment with lower perceptions of harm than other segments, although illustrate greater likelihood to respond to health messaging and on‐ad warning information.