Cape Town -
Displaying e-cigarettes at checkout counters in small stores and supermarkets may influence the smoking behaviour of young people, including those who have never smoked before, a new study suggests.
Research by the University of Sterling and the University of St Andrews among teenagers in Scotland found that young people who had smoked before were more likely to try e-cigarettes than their counterparts who had never smoked. It is the first time researchers linked self reported memory of e-cigarette point-of-sale displays and the use of the product or intention to use it.
The findings were published in the BioMed Central journal. Researchers noted that an association of such magnitude was so significant it was comparable to the link between tobacco point of sales recall and intention to use cigarettes.
In the study, adolescents who recalled seeing e-cigarettes in small shops or supermarkets were more likely to have tried one or intended to in the next six months. Of the sample of almost 4 000 teenagers, about 20 percent of respondents reported having smoked before compared to the 8.6 percent of those who had never smoked.
Having never smoked tobacco was a significant prohibitive factor against trying e-cigarettes.
This study found the memory of e-cigarette advertising from other sources such as print media, billboards and television was not a significant factor in influencing the uptake of e-cigarettes by young people.
Writing in the journal, lead researcher Catherine Best said researchers could, however, not ascertain whether young people smoked or planned to smoke e-cigarettes because they had seen displays in shops or on the internet, or whether they noticed simply because they were favourably disposed towards trying these cigarettes.
“However even if e-cigarettes experimentation makes users more likely to notice displays, seeing displays in the local environment may further reinforce that inclination. Further research is required on how to balance the promotion of e-cigarettes as a cessation aid while preventing the initiation of its use among young people who never smoked.”
Cape Argus