An Examination of Electronic Cigarette Content on Social Media: Analysis of E-Cigarette Flavor Content on Reddit

Lei Wang, Yongcheng Zhan, Qiudan Li, Daniel D. Zeng, Scott J. Leischow and Janet Okamoto
Additional contact information
Lei Wang: College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Yongcheng Zhan: Department of Management Information Systems, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Qiudan Li: The State Key Laboratory of Management and Control for Complex Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Daniel D. Zeng: Department of Management Information Systems, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Scott J. Leischow: Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ 85259, USA
Janet Okamoto: Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ 85259, USA

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-20

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.

Keywords: e-cigarette flavor; social media; Reddit; e-juice; e-liquid (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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