Document Type
Article
Abstract
Objectives. To evaluate the prevalence of exposure to Internet communications on and advertising of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and their association with perceptions of the social acceptability of e-cigarettes in Mexico.
Methods. Data were analyzed from eight surveys (2018–2021) of an online sample of Mexican adult (> 18 years) smokers and dual users (of combustible and electronic cigarettes). Self-reported exposure to e-cigarette advertising across various marketing channels was assessed, as well as visits to e-cigarette websites. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between perceptions of the social acceptability of e-cigarette use and level of advertising exposure and visits to e-cigarette websites.
Results. The Internet and outside e-cigarette stores were where exposure to advertising most occurred, as reported by 47.4% and 46.8% of respondents, respectively. Respondents who noticed e-cigarette advertisements on the Internet (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.43, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.25, 1.63), outside e-cigarette stores (adjusted OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.14, 1.50), and in temporary outlets (adjusted OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.01, 1.34), and those who visited e-cigarette websites (adjusted OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.25, 1.76) were more likely to perceive e-cigarettes as socially acceptable. Noticing advertisements across more channels was also associated with higher perceived social acceptability of e-cigarette use.
Conclusions. Being exposed to e-cigarette marketing, either online or through traditional marketing channels, is associated with perceived social acceptability of e-cigarette use, as is contact with provaping sites. Regulatory options to avoid the proliferation of promotional websites disguised as opinion or user sites need to be considered.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Publication Info
2022.
Rights
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. No modifications or commercial use of this article are permitted. In any reproduction of this article there should not be any suggestion that PAHO or this article endorse any specific organization or products. The use of the PAHO logo is not permitted. This notice should be preserved along with the article’s original URL. Open access logo and text by PLoS, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
APA Citation
Barrientos-Gutierrez I, Gallegos-Carrillo K, Cruz-Jimenez L, Rodriguez-Bolaños R, Arillo-Santillán E, Thrasher JF.(2022). Exposure to e-cigarette advertising and provaping websites, and the social acceptability of their use among nicotine users. Rev Panam Salud Publica, 46:e87. https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2022.87