Large-Scale Survey Suggests Most Smokers Prefer to Quit Using Electronic Cigarettes
According to a recent consumer behavior survey conducted by Kantar Media, more than 50% of US smokers prefer to use electronic cigarettes when trying to quit.
E-cigarette companies are not allowed to advertise their products as smoking cessation aids, but the abundance of scientific and anecdotal evidence that they are indeed one of the most effective ways to quit smoking seems to have been more convincing than any expensive marketing campaign. Kantar Media, the second largest market research company in the world, conducted a large-scale consumer behavior survey and reported that electronic cigarettes have become the most popular smoking cessation option in America.
Kantar recently mailed a questionnaire regarding health-related behavior to a sample of around 50,000 US households. The ample survey contained questions regarding smoking and the means people use to try and quit. Out of the 20,000 responses they received, 57% of respondents who had used a product as a cessation aid in the last 12 months preferred electronic cigarettes, compared to the 39% who had opted for a prescription drug like Chantix, and the 39% who had used regular common nicotine replacement therapy products like patches or gum. Kantar analysts reported there was some overlap in product use.
Another interesting find of this survey is that e-cigarette users were 35% more likely than all adults -even those who chose to quit smoking by other means – to say that they were much or somewhat healthier than they were a year ago. Cigarette smokers, on the other hand, were less likely to say that. This goes to show that despite all the fear-mongering and e-cigarette slander campaigns in the media, people are giving electronic cigarettes a shot and reporting very encouraging results.
The Kantar Media research doesn’t say whether electronic cigarettes help people quit smoking, just that they prefer them to other smoking cessation options. But that alone says a lot about their efficacy. Since they can’t be advertised as quit-aids, why would so many people be using them as such if they didn’t work? I’m just asking…
Like any respectable advertising company survey, the Kantar Media survey also included some interesting demographic data. It turns out e-cigarette users are more likely to be young, male, with lower household incomes than the national average. It also found that most electronic cigarette users live in the south, which relates to smoking demographics. However, in regions including Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee the ration of electronic cigarette users to tobacco cigarette smokers was almost two to one. Can you believe it?
It is believable. The south seems to have taken to e-cigs at a higher rate than other parts of the country. Many in the north have been brainwashed to think if it looks like smoking it must be bad.
I live in Alabama. Totally believable. If you smoke you’re just plain ignorant.