For what it's worth - response paper I did last year for Communications Theory class on diffusion of innovation of e-cigs.
Electronic cigarettes
[1] (e-cigarettes)
are an
innovation that has resulted
in rapid diffusion.
[2] Many
smokers think the products “are less harmful than regular cigarettes,”
[3] while
the lack of secondhand smoke and odors purportedly makes users compatible
with non-smokers.
[4] E-cigarettes
are easy to use
[5] and
widely available online and in stores. Free samples
[6]
and coupons
[7] encourage
people to try them. E-cigarettes are increasingly observed, particularly among
celebrities
[8] and
in news reports about the health and policy debates.
[9],[10]
Communication channels include mass
media and direct engagement. Print ads run in widely circulated magazines and a
television commercial aired during this year’s Super Bowl.
[11] Direct
engagement consists of specialty shops
[12], event
sponsorships,
[13] infomercials,
[14] and
even designated spots in amusement parks.
[15]
Companies also have a strong
presence online and in social media.
As to
time, modern
e-cigarettes arrived in the U.S. in 2007.
[16]
By 2010, online queries outpaced those for other tobacco products.
[17] Also that year, a
federal court ruling made it easier to manufacture, market, and sell the
product.
[18] In
2011, 58% of surveyed adults were aware of e-cigarettes, up nearly 45% from
2010. Use among
current
smokers more than doubled.[19] Among students in grades 6-12 usage
doubled from 2011 to 2012,[20] although this figure may be
undercounted.[21]
Sales figures and projections indicate adoption has not yet peaked,[22] although
unfavorable government action[23],[24] and additional studies
linking e-cigarettes to health problems[25],[26] could slow or stop the
ascension.
E-cigarette diffusion flows across
social systems. To smokers, they are
held out as cessation tools
[27]
and alternatives where smoking is prohibited.
[28]
Despite their denials, children are a target given the industry’s emulation of advertising
and marketing practices used by cigarette makers.
[29],[30],[31], [32] Opinion
leaders include celebrities and some health experts.
[33],[34] Industry executives act as change agents
promoting the products and fighting government regulation. To achieve these
goals, they have fostered the creation and growth of a new social system
[35],[36]
of e-cigarette users known as “vapers”
[37] after
the vapor e-cigarettes emit. (Vape is the verb.)
For
the industry, the status quo of booming sales and minimal regulation is
desired. Conclusive proof that vaping acts as a gateway to youth smoking,
[38]
prompts former smokers to relapse, or causes illness, is not. Direct
consequences are seen in the rapid growth in e-cigarette sales. Finally,
government regulation, particularly at the federal level, is anticipated. An
unanticipated consequence could be that e-cigarettes prove to be effective cessation
tools which could shift the industry into the Food and Drug Administration’s
(FDA) more established medical device regulatory framework as opposed to the blank
slate they enjoy now under FDA’s tobacco authority.
[2] They resemble traditional cigarettes making them a reinvention as well.
[19] King, Brian, et. al. “Awareness and Ever Use of
Electronic Cigarettes Among U.S. Adults, 2010–2011.” Nicotine and Tobacco Research. February 13, 2013.
[24] Wilson, Reid. “Awaiting FDA, States Pursue Their Own
E-cigarette Rules.” GovBeat Blog. The
Washington Post. October 29, 2013.
