Revisiting the Rise of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Using Search Query Surveillance

Abstract

Introduction Public perceptions of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) remain poorly understood because surveys are too costly to regularly implement and when implemented there are large delays between data collection and dissemination. Search query surveillance has bridged some of these gaps. Herein, ENDS’ popularity in the U.S. is reassessed using Google searches. Methods ENDS searches originating in the U.S. from January 2009 through January 2015 were disaggregated by terms focused on e-cigarette (e.g., e-cig) versus vaping (e.g., vapers), their geolocation (e.g., state), the aggregate tobacco control measures corresponding to their geolocation (e.g., clean indoor air laws), and by terms that indicated the searcher’s potential interest (e.g., buy e-cigs likely indicates shopping); all analyzed in 2015. Results ENDS searches are increasing across the entire U.S., with 8,498,180 searches during 2014. At the same time, searches shifted from e-cigarette- to vaping-focused terms, especially in coastal states and states with more anti-smoking norms. For example, nationally, e-cigarette searches declined 9% (95% CI=1%, 16%) during 2014 compared with 2013, whereas vaping searches increased 136% (95% CI=97%, 186%), surpassing e-cigarette searches. More ENDS searches were related to shopping (e.g., vape shop) than health concerns (e.g., vaping risks) or cessation (e.g., quit smoking with e-cigs), with shopping searches nearly doubling during 2014. Conclusions ENDS popularity is rapidly growing and evolving, and monitoring searches has provided these timely insights. These findings may inform survey questionnaire development for follow-up investigation and immediately guide policy debates about how the public perceives ENDS’ health risks or cessation benefits.

How US Smokers Refer to E-cigarettes: An Examination of User-Generated Posts From a Web-Based Smoking Cessation Intervention, 2008–2015

“…Similar to recent research of Google search terms in the United States, 5 we found that derivations of "vape" increased in popularity between 2013-2015, suggesting that this is also an emerging native term for ENDS among US adult current and former smokers. BecomeAnEX users seldom employed ENDS brand names or researcher-generated Category combines multiple keywords, as specified below: ecig: e-cig*, e cig*, ecig*, electronic cig* vape: vape*, vapour*, vapor* blu: blu, blucig, blu cig* e-liquid: e-liquid*, eliquid*, e liquid* e-juice: e-juice*, ejuice*, e juice* e-pipe: e-pipe*, epipe*, e pipe* e-nicotine: e-nicotine*, enicotine*, e nicotine*, electronic nicotine e-cigar: e-cigar, ecigar, e cigar cigalike: cig-alike*, cig-a-like*, cigalike* e-hookah: e-hookah*, ehookah*, e hookah* e-sisha: e-sisha*, esisha*, e sisha* e-vape: e-vape*, evape*, e vape* terms such as "electronic nicotine device."…”

“…Indeed, recent research in the United States using Google Trends suggests that ENDS terms vary by location, with derivations of "vape" more common in coastal regions than in the rest of the United States. 5 The variety of terms for the diverse ENDS product class has motivated discussion of a need for measures development, [6][7][8] but there is little published methods development work.…”

Vaping on Instagram: cloud chasing, hand checks and product placement

“…These findings support related research regarding the terms people use when searching for e-cigarettes online. 6 …”

“…These findings support related research regarding the terms people use when searching for e-cigarettes online. 6 Social media research on e-cigarettes has focused on using data from Twitter, with recent studies examining perception, 9 awareness 30 31 and advertising. 10 14 While sites such as Twitter were created before the ubiquitous use of smartphones, Instagram originated as a smartphone app, with features that rely on mobile devices that can take high-quality photos and have fast internet connections; when combined with vaping activities (eg, cloud chasing) that are best suited for real-time capture and sharing, it makes Instagram an ideal platform for ecigarette users and provides ample data for researchers to explore.…”

“…Data streams harnessed from the internet have been employed to help fill gaps in tobacco-related research, such as identifying trends in e-cigarettes, 67 informing tobacco control campaigns, 8 and tobacco regulatory science. 910 However, Instagram—a social networking site focused on picture-based content—has been underused for these purposes.…”