ArticleBMJ open2023
Youth's exposure to and engagement with e-cigarette marketing on social media: a UK focus group study.
Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Systemic and Salivary Cytokine Levels among Adult E-Cigarette Users: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2025Pooled it
- US adolescents' response to nicotine warning labels in influencer e-cigarette marketing social media posts: a survey-based randomised between-subject experiment.Tobacco control · 2025Trial
- Patterns of ENDS-Related Content Exposure on Social Media Among US Adolescents and Young Adults.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2026Article
- The changing face of nicotine use in England: Age-specific annual trends, 2014 to 2024.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Article
- Factors Influencing Vaping Behaviors Based on Social Cognitive Theory: A Qualitative Study among Mexican-American College Students.Substance use & misuse · 2026Article
- #notforkids: alcohol, vaping, and cannabis marketing by social media influencers popular with children and adolescents on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok and policy implications.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Article
- Toxicity of humectants propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin in electronic nicotine delivery systems.Toxicology letters · 2025Review
- Demographic Trends in E-Cigarette Social Media Marketing: Perceiving Gender Presentation and Facial Age Via Computer Vision.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025Article
- Menthol flavour enhances vaping experiences: a randomised crossover clinical trial.Tobacco control · 2025Article
- Mobilizing for Health: A Case Study of Kazakhstan's Vaping Ban Advocacy Campaign.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Worldwide connections of influencers who promote e-cigarettes on Instagram and TikTok: a social network analysis.Computers in human behavior · 2025Article
- Co-production of a youth advocacy video on the harms of e-cigarette advertising in Scotland.Health promotion international · 2025Article
- Prevalence of e-cigarette users in the Medina region of Saudi Arabia.Tobacco induced diseases · 2025Article
- Bridging the regulatory gap: a call for a regional, evidence-informed approach to e-cigarette control in Latin America.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Sex-stratified analysis of marketing exposure and current e-cigarette use among Saudi adolescents.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- A thematic analysis of tobacco industry responses to the Scottish Government's consultation on e-cigarette regulation.Health promotion international · 2024Article
- "It's changing our lives, not for the better. It's important that we have a say". The role of young people in informing public health and policy decisions about gambling marketing.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Young people's views about the use of celebrities and social media influencers in gambling marketing.Health promotion international · 2024Article
- Knowledge, perceptions, and experiences of e-cigarettes among young adults in Cape Town, South Africa: Insights from focus groups to inform regulations and prevention strategies.Tobacco prevention & cessation · 2024Article
- Monitoring youth-appealing advertising on social media for the e-cigarette brand Lost Mary.Tobacco prevention & cessation · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveElectronic-cigarettes (e-cigarette) are promoted creatively through social media and considering the potential influence of social media marketing on young people, we explored young people's exposure to and engagement with social media marketing of e-cigarettes.
designSemistructured discussion groups. SUBJECTS: Twenty focus groups with 82 young people aged 11-16 living in the Central belt of Scotland.
methodsYouths were asked about smoking and vaping behaviours, social media use, vaping advertisement exposure and were shown illustrative examples of social media content (eg, images and videos) about different messages, presentations and contextual features. Transcripts were imported into NVivo V.12, coded thematically and analysed.
resultsYouths highlighted a variety of tactics e-cigarette companies use, including influencer or celebrity endorsement, attractive youth flavours, bright colours and emotional appeal to advertise and promote their products directly to young people. Social media influencers who advertise e-cigarettes were described as portraying e-cigarettes as 'cool' and 'fashionable' to entice viewers to try the products. Youths considered that there is a need for more restrictions on social media content to protect youths while also still allowing smokers to purchase them as a cessation device.
conclusionsOur study highlights that the e-cigarette industry is using previously employed tactics similar to the tobacco industry to advertise and promote its products on social media. These findings suggest the growing need for governments to work together to develop and implement policies to restrict the advertising and marketing of e-cigarettes on social media.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.