Abstract
In recent years, the emerging electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) marketplace has shown great development prospects all over the world. Reddit, one of the most popular forums in the world, has a very large user group and thus great influence. This study aims to gain a systematic understanding of e-cigarette flavors based on data collected from Reddit. Flavor popularity, mixing, characteristics, trends, and brands are analyzed. Fruit flavors were mentioned the most (n = 15,720) among all the posts and were among the most popular flavors (n = 2902) used in mixed blends. Strawberry and vanilla flavors were the most popular for e-juice mixing. The number of posts discussing e-cigarette flavors has increased sharply since 2014. Mt. Baker Vapor and Hangen were the most popular brands discussed among users. Information posted on Reddit about e-cigarette flavors reflected consumers’ interest in a variety of flavors. Our findings suggest that Reddit could be used for data mining and analysis of e-cigarette-related content. Understanding how e-cigarette consumers’ view and utilize flavors within their vaping experience and how producers and marketers use social media to promote flavors and sell products could provide valuable information for regulatory decision-makers.
Highlights
In recent years, the emerging e-cigarette marketplace shows great development prospects all over the world
Given the potential that Reddit has to promote e-cigarette use through user-generated content or covert advertising, this study aims to gain a systematic understanding of the characteristics of a variety of flavors, popular flavors, and the reasons why they are popular by analyzing e-cigarette flavor-related posts and user information on Reddit
Further research could be conducted to analyze the matching and effect of flavors and nicotine solutions. This is the first study showing that Reddit is heavily used by the e-cigarette and vaping community to share information about flavors and other aspects of e-cigarette use, and that Reddit social media data can be mined for valuable information on self-reported e-cigarette flavor use
Summary
The emerging e-cigarette marketplace shows great development prospects all over the world. According to data from Euromonitor International, the global sales of vaping devices will hit £6 billion in 2015, as business in its largest market, the US, will more than double to £1.7 billion [1]. With tremendous growth in the e-cigarette marketplace, there have been heated discussions as to regulatory approaches to e-cigarettes, prompting significant research interest and regulatory concern. The consumer experience of e-cigarettes depends on various factors, such as the structure of the cartridge or tank, the material of the mouthpiece, and the liquid of the solution. The solution, which is called e-liquid, or e-juice, is differentiated by concentration of nicotine, price, safety, and flavor. A better and smoother taste may increase enjoyment of the vaping experience
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