The Role of Media and Retailer Message Recall on Malaysian Male Perceptions of E-Cigarette Use: The 2016 National Study of E-Cigarettes Prevalence

Abstract

This study examined the perceptions of current smokers on electronic cigarette (EC) use, after exposure to information on EC use and its potential harms from various media and retail outlets. This cross-sectional study is a sub-analysis of the National Study of Electronic Cigarettes Prevalence (N = 4289) using the multi-stage stratified sampling method. Respondents were interviewed face-to-face by a trained data collector using a structured questionnaire printed in both Bahasa Malaysia and English. The analysis included 376 males who smoked conventional cigarettes and/or used ECs and reported ever seeing messages on ECs/vape in various platforms were analyzed using weighted simple and multiple logistic regression. Our findings showed different media types resulted in differing perceptions among smokers towards EC use especially between social media and conventional media. Those exposed to messages promoting EC in social media had higher odds of believing that ECs help people quit smoking (OR: 2.28), the urge to smoke is reduced by ECs (OR: 1.86), ECs are more effective than medication for quitting smoking (OR: 1.96), breathing is improved after using ECs (OR: 2.85), the smell of EC is better than a tobacco cigarette (OR: 2.73), and ECs should be regulated rather than banned completely (OR: 3.08). Vape shops, social, and conventional media provided very different perceptions among smokers towards EC use. Beyond using traditional communication channels, EC promoters have successfully utilized social media to promote ECs among smokers.

Vaping in a heavily regulated setting: cross-sectional survey of e-cigarette use, perceptions and social media exposure

“…Interestingly, we found no significant differences in perception when we examined only health-related perceptions. This contrasts with studies from the United States,13 Hong Kong,20 and Malaysia,21 which used data from 2014 to 2018, in which exposure to online e-cigarette adverts was associated with reduced risk perceptions in young people. In our study, more positive perceptions associated with exposure to vaping-related social media content were in relation to the perceived ubiquity, trendiness and enjoyability of vaping, and its effectiveness as a smoking cessation aid.…”

Media Search Frequency, Source Credibility About e-Cigarette Health Information, and Motivation to Quit EC Among University Students in Chengdu, China

“…Source of EC health information and credibility of media sources: 20 The EC information-seeking and source credibility questionnaire measured EC information-seeking frequency from seven sources (newspaper or magazine, radio, TV, online news portal, social media, video platform, and medical health applications; 7 items) and source credibility of seven aforementioned media containing EC health information (7 items). Participants answered 14 items on a five-point Likert scale.…”

“…Trustworthiness of online health information on EC use. 20 This questionnaire was originally used to measure trustworthiness of online health information on HIV/AIDs, and was adapted to measure trustworthiness of online health information on EC use. The questionnaire consists of 10 items, where participants answered on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “Strongly disagree” (score 1) to “Strongly agree” (score 5).…”

“… 21 All the questionnaires used in this study has been validated by the original authors in Chinese, except for the motivation to quit EC and positive perception of EC use, which were translated by the authors of this study. 20 …”