Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and associated goods are commonly purchased at vape shops. The items sold by vape shops, their marketing strategies, and the amount to which they give information or encouragement to smokers to stop smoking, as well as their clients’ patterns of tobacco and e-cigarette usage, are not well studied.
Currently, the bulk of clients (84%) use e-cigarettes. Current vapers included 19% who were dual users and 78% who had stopped smoking. More than half of vapers reported using less nicotine in their current e-liquid than when they first started using e-cigarettes. The stores offered a wide range of items and pricing points. Customers (90% of employees) ask for information about stopping smoking. Although less than half of employees reported offering smoking cessation counseling, 76% indicated feeling competent in providing it to clients who request it.Just under half of consumers and shop employees agreed that formal in-store smoking cessation help was suitable.
The vast majority of vape market clients are ex-smokers. Shop employees play an important role in delivering product information to clients, and many offer smoking cessation counselling. More study is needed to evaluate the possibilities for smoking cessation programs in vape stores, especially how appealing these might be to non-vapers.
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) provide smokers a less dangerous alternative to smoked tobacco and can assist in smoking cessation. E-cigarettes are becoming more popular, with 20% of smokers and recent ex-smokers in England using them in the first quarter of 2017, up from 3% in 2011. E-cigarettes are now the most commonly used cessation aid in England; an estimated 34% of adults who quit or attempted to quit in the previous year used e-cigarettes in their most recent quit attempt, compared to 21% who used over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy and less than 3% who received behavioral support. The number of e-cigarette specialty stores has also grown, with current estimates estimating that is 1700 ‘vape shops.’
Smokers who visit vape shops are likely to be interested in temporary abstinence, smoking reduction, or stopping. Because vape shop employees have the potential to play a significant role in capitalizing on opportunities to promote smoking cessation through customer engagement, it is critical to understand the products they sell, the marketing techniques they employ, and the extent to which they provide information or encouragement to smokers to quit all tobacco use. All stores carried starting kits (usually consisting of a device and a bottle of e-liquid), e-liquids, atomizers, batteries, and accessories.
