An observational study of the marketing practice of e-cigarette specialty stores in two large cities in China: Is there potential to normalize the use of e-cigarettes?

Autor:	Deng H; Department of Preventive Medicine and Health Education, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.; Health Communication Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.; Key Lab of Public Health Safety of Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China., Fang L; Department of Preventive Medicine and Health Education, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.; Health Communication Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.; Key Lab of Public Health Safety of Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China., Zhang L; Department of Preventive Medicine and Health Education, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.; Health Communication Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.; Key Lab of Public Health Safety of Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China., Wen S; Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund Beijing Representative Office, Beijing, People's Republic of China., Zhang S; The Research Center for Food and Drug Law, School of Law-based Government, China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, People's Republic of China., Wang F; Health Communication Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.; Fudan Development Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China., Zheng P; Department of Preventive Medicine and Health Education, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.; Health Communication Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.; Key Lab of Public Health Safety of Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Tobacco induced diseases [Tob Induc Dis] 2024 Sep 14; Vol. 22. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Sep 14 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI:	10.18332/tid/191840
Abstrakt:	Introduction: Supervision measures in China have designated offline retail as the only legal channel for the sale and advertising of e-cigarettes. Specialty stores, exclusively selling vaping devices and e-liquids, are professionally designed to showcase company images and provide the best examples of e-cigarette marketing strategies. The goal was to analyze the retail marketing practice of e-cigarette specialty stores and provide a scientific reference for future e-cigarette point-of-sale regulation. Methods: On-site observations were conducted in specialty stores among the popular business districts of Chengdu and Shanghai, China, from January to May 2021. 'Dianping', known as 'Chinese Yelp', was used to identify 8 business districts in Shanghai and 5 in Chengdu as observation sites. Two trained observers visited each store in the identified business districts. The data were collected with a checklist, which consisted of 5 sections with 37 items, including basic information, marketing practice, age restriction and health warnings. Results: In total, 161 e-cigarette specialty stores, including 82 specialty stores in Shanghai and 79 in Chengdu, were identified. Of these stores, 156 were single-brand retailers and 5 were multi-brand retailers. Each store displayed e-cigarette products, which were visible from outside the store. The most common e-cigarette products were rechargeable kits and nicotine-containing e-liquids, which were available at all specialty stores. Frequent forms of promotion were free e-liquid samples (100%) and slogans (57.8%). Signage stating prohibition of minor use and purchase was presented at 141 (87.6%) specialty stores. Relatively few specialty stores (31.7%) displayed health warnings. Conclusions: E-cigarette specialty stores featured highly visible product displays, varied product selections, abundant marketing materials, free trial services, absent entry restrictions for minors, and a lack of health warnings. Policymakers should move to reduce youth exposure to e-cigarette products and marketing in the retail environment by strengthening regulations on product display and marketing. Competing Interests: The authors have each completed and submitted an ICMJE form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. The authors declare that they have no competing interests, financial or otherwise, related to the current work. All the authors report that since the initial planning of the work, this study was supported by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use (CHINA-26-12), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (#82173635), and Shanghai Municipal Health Commission ‘Shanghai Three-year Action Plan to Strengthen the Construction of Public Health System (2023-2025)’ (GW VI-6). (© 2024 Deng H. et al.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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