Analysis of Presumed IQOS Influencer Marketing on Instagram in the Czech Republic in 2018–2019

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Heated tobacco products (HTP) are novel electronic devices that produce an aerosol by heating modified tobacco. In July 2017, Philip Morris launched a heated tobacco product, IQOS, on the Czech market. The release of IQOS was promoted by a massive marketing campaign using various marketing channels. AIM: This paper presents an analysis of the influencers’ posts promoting a heated tobacco product (HTP), IQOS, produced by Philip Morris, in the Czech Republic. METHODS: Critical discourse analysis (CDA) was used to uncover the hidden power relationships in both textual and visual representations of IQOS in Instagram posts. We analysed the posts of 22 Czech influencers identified with the hashtags #IQOSambassador, #IQOSambasabor, #IQOSlounge, #IQOSveVarech, and #mujIQOS, together with associated pictures and videos on Instagram. RESULTS: The hashtag #iqosambassador was used internationally in 940 posts (as of May 16, 2019). Our findings show subtle forms of persuasion that associate the IQOS product with an aspirational, exclusive lifestyle, healthy living, and a relaxed atmosphere within a community of friends. Preliminary results also show that influencers promoted IQOS to any and all Instagram users (including children and non-smokers). Covert advertising was indicated indirectly by the use of hashtags (#notriskfree, #onlyforadults, and #iqosambassador), which might be evidence that the influencers were paid indirectly by a digital marketing or PR agency. CONCLUSIONS: Czech celebrities and influencers have been actively presenting IQOS in their posts and videos since 2018 on Instagram. They present IQOS as a gateway to an aspirational, healthy, attractive and celebrity lifestyle. The preliminary results are being published as a part of a larger interdisciplinary research project by Charles University, Prague.

An Investigation of Influential Users in the Promotion and Marketing of Heated Tobacco Products on Instagram: A Social Network Analysis

“…Our findings further refine the social media marketing presence of IQOS, which aligns with prior research that has documented and characterized emerging tobacco products across different social media platforms [15][16][17][18][19][20][23][24][25]33]. We found that promotional IQOS posts were largely driven by stakeholders along the IQOS business chain.…”

“…A study found that on Instagram, the promotion of IQOS was overwhelmingly from online retailers and fan communities, featuring IQOS with terms of fashion, health, flavor, and cessation [23]. Another study in Czech found celebrities and influencers actively presented IQOS as a gateway to an aspirational, healthy, attractive, and celebrity lifestyle in their posts and videos since 2018 on Instagram [24].…”

“…Investigating different stakeholders who play an influential role in the promotion of HTPs and other ANDS is important to help understand how the tobacco industry is trying to normalize the use of ANDS and inform regulations of tobacco marketing on social media. While most existing studies on the exposures to tobacco products on social media have focused on the presentation, characterization, or description of tobacco content [19,20,[23][24][25], little attention has been paid to various stakeholders who are involved in the production of pro-tobacco content on social media. This study aimed to contribute to this field by applying social network analysis to identify and characterize the network among Instagram accounts who were involved in publishing posts related to IQOS, a leading HTP brand on Instagram.…”

PMI’s IQOS and cigarette ads in Israeli media: a content analysis across regulatory periods and target population subgroups

“…PMI has been accused of advertising IQOS to youth and young adults, especially through social media 38. In Israel, recent repeated cross-sectional studies have shown a rise in IQOS experimentation among Jewish youth 39.…”

Are Perceived Benefits of Heated Tobacco Products Consumption Aiding Smoking Cessation?

“…There are still some misperceptions of the risks of these products, mainly because of inaccurate information and sensational media headlines (O'Leary & Polosa, 2020). In addition, even some celebrities and influencers have been dynamically presenting IQOS in their posts and videos (Hejlová et al, 2019). The perceptions regarding IQOS were assessed through Twitter and included some positive feelings such as "IQOS is safer than cigarettes", or "IQOS helps quit smoking", with tweets expressing negative feelings.…”