142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

302609
Exploring smokers' e-cigarette awareness, perceptions and use intentions

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Olivia Wackowski, PhD, MPH , Health Education & Behavioral Science Department, Rutgers School of Public Health, New Brunswick, NJ
Cristine Delnevo, PhD, MPH , Health Education & Behavioral Science Department, Rutgers School of Public Health, New Brunswick, NJ
M. Jane Lewis, DrPH, MA , Health Education & Behavioral Science Department, Rutgers School of Public Health, New Brunswick, NJ
Background:  Electronic cigarettes (i.e., “e-cigarettes”) are an innovation aimed at capitalizing on smokers’ desires for cigarette alternatives, and have the potential to significantly impact public health if they are widely adopted. Several general population survey studies have suggested that smokers’ awareness and trial of e-cigarettes have been growing rapidly. However, few of these have provided additional contextual information or described smokers’ future e-cigarette use intentions given that they were not designed to study e-cigarettes. This presentation will share data from one of the first e-cigarette focused surveys of smokers.

Methods:  Results will be based on a 2014 e-cigarette focused survey of 500 current smokers recruited from GfK’s Knowledge Networks research panel, which is designed to be nationally representative.

Results: This presentation will describe smokers’ exposure to e-cigarettes through various sources (e.g., friends/family, advertising, news); what e-cigarette risk information sources smokers would most likely go to and trust (e.g., doctor, Internet, package content); risk perceptions and reasons for these (e.g., heard it from friend, “common sense”), and intentions to use e-cigarettes in the future, including preferences for different style types (e.g., cigalikes, made by tobacco company). The context, experience, and reasons for ever users’ initial use of e-cigarettes (e.g., tried it from a friend out of curiosity, found it enjoyable) will also be described, as well as reasons motivating future interest in trying e-cigarettes.

Conclusions: Smokers’ e-cigarette use will likely continue to grow. Research should continue to monitor this trend and further study those factors influencing smokers’ e-cigarette perceptions and interest.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Describe the prevalence of and contextual factors associated with smokers’ e-cigarette awareness, trial, use, and future use intentions. Describe key informational sources influencing awareness and risk perceptions. Discuss smokers’ various reasons for e-cigarette interest and product preferences.

Keyword(s): Tobacco Control, Tobacco Use

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Olivia Wackowski, PhD, has worked in the area of tobacco control for ten years and is the Principal Investigator of a survey study about e-cigarettes.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.