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Objectives. We examined the marketing strategies for local vapor stores in a large metropolitan area in Oklahoma.
Methods. Vapor store owners or managers (n = 33) participated in individual interviews regarding marketing practices in 2014. We asked owners about their marketing strategies and the groups they targeted. We transcribed the interviews and analyzed them for themes.
Results. Store owners used a variety of marketing strategies to bring new customers to their stores and keep current customers coming back. These marketing strategies showed many parallels to tobacco industry strategies. Most owners engaged in some form of traditional marketing practices (e.g., print media), but only a few used radio or television advertising because of budget constraints. Owners used social media and other forms of electronic communication, pricing discounts and specials, and loyalty programs. Owners also had booths at local events, sponsored community events, and hosted them in their stores. Owners attempted to target different groups of users, such as college students and long-term smokers.
Conclusions. Local vapor storemarketing practices closely resemble current and former tobacco industry marketing strategies. Surveillance of marketing practices should include local and Web-based strategies. (Am J Public Health. 2015;105: e16-e21. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2015.302610)
Electronic cigarettes and vaporizers are battery-powered nicotine delivery systems. "Vaping" is gaining public attention and popularity ahead of product regulation and information on long-term health outcomes.1-4 Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes or "cigalikes" resembling cigarettes in appearance) and vaporizers (vapors or mechanical "tank" units)5 are most often used by current and former adult smokers to help them reduce or quit smoking, but they have also been increasingly used by college students, adolescents, smokeless users, and nonsmokers.6-10 Whether vaping is a harm reduction or health-risk behavior has yet to be determined.1,7,11-13 Vaping may extend nicotine addiction in smokers trying to quit or provide a mechanism for nonsmokers to develop a nicotine addiction, thus re-establishing a social norm of smoking. 4,13,14 It is also not known if vaping promotes cigarette use, particularly in adolescents and young adults.7,15
Awareness and use of e-cigarettes and vaporizers have increased dramatically since 2010,16-19 likely because of increased marketing and the introduction of new products.20 Awareness of e-cigarettes among US adults is more than 80%, but current smokers were more aware of where e-cigarettes were advertised than those who never...