Abstract:

In this article, we analyze the discourse of electronic cigarette suppliers directed at convincing potential users (smokers, former smokers or never smokers) to acquire and use the new product. This is a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study on sellers’ discourse found in eight on-line sales websites which, between 2011 and 2013, had the highest search frequencies. The websites were identified through Google Trends based on the number of accesses and search frequencies related to electronic cigarettes. Our methodological reference was dialectical-hermeneutics. We categorized the empirical material within the “understanding/interpretation” scheme within four broad meanings: appropriation of the anti-smoking discourse; comparison between conventional and electronic cigarettes; appeal to the trustworthiness of science and projection of e-cigarettes’ image. The analysis of these meanings configured the argumentative elements of the marketing discourse used by electronic cigarette makers and suppliers.

Keywords:
Nicotine Dependence; Social Marketing; Electronic Cigarettes; Qualitative Research

Introduction

The marked advancements in electronics technology in the past decades have produced artifacts that are highly seductive to consumers. This seduction is that much greater the more the industry is capable to track consumer needs and translate them into accessible products that are sufficiently versatile to meet different groups’ demands. Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigs, as they are also known, are one of many such technological artifacts currently available for purchase in commercial establishments or through the Internet.

Electronic cigarettes were designed as a therapeutic innovation and have been presented in the market as an aid to smokers who are attempting to quit using tobacco products, whose nefarious health consequences have been exhaustively demonstrated by science. However, over the course of their dissemination, electronic cigarettes also came to be viewed by consumers as an alternative for those who wish to continue smoking.

The commercial strategy projected e-cigs as the main product in this market, accompanied by a series of accessories, such as batteries, atomizers and cartomizers, all in varying potencies, colors and shapes, car adapters and stylized cigarette holders, in addition to e-liquids with different flavors which allow for customization according to consumers’ needs and desires.

After the initial patent was filed by their creator, the Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik ¹1. Knorst MM, Benedetto IG, Hoffmeister MC, Gazzana MB. The electronic cigarette: the new cigarette of the 21st century? J Bras Pneumol 2014; 40:564-72.^,22. Cahn Z, Siegel M. Electronic cigarettes as a harm reduction strategy for tobacco control: a step forward or a repeat of past mistakes? J Public Health Policy 2011; 32:16-31., dozens of brands appeared in China, with a few modifications. Though several have since disappeared or changed their commercial names, new companies constantly enter the market. The market only entered a phase of grater stability after big tobacco companies bought the brands with the highest acceptance. Currently, hundreds of artisanal factories in China produce the devices’ electronic base and export them to the entire world, especially to Europe and North America, where they receive brand packaging.

The tobacco industry has significantly bet on this new segment. In 2012, Lorillard Tobacco Company ³3. Reynolds American Inc. RAI acquires Lorillard, 2014. http://www.lorillard.com/ (acessado em 20/Fev/2014).
http://www.lorillard.com/... acquired Blu (Fontem US, Inc., Charlotte, USA) electronic cigarettes for USD 135 million. In 2013, Imperial Tobacco Inc. bought the patent for e-cigs for EUR 75 million. Since then, the market has expanded exponentially due to these companies’ distribution chains and due to aggressive marketing campaigns ³3. Reynolds American Inc. RAI acquires Lorillard, 2014. http://www.lorillard.com/ (acessado em 20/Fev/2014).
http://www.lorillard.com/... ^,44. Vape ranks: e-cigarette reviews and rankings. Tobacco Giant Altria acquires green smoke e-cigarettes for $110 Million. http://vaperanks.com/tobacco-giant-altria-acquires-green-smoke-e-cigarettes-for-110-million/ (acessado em 20/Fev/2014).
http://vaperanks.com/tobacco-giant-altri... . In order to test the market, RJ Reynolds (RJ Reynolds Vapor, Winston-Salem, USA) launched its e-cig VUSE in 2013. Its results exceeded expectations. A few months later, the VUSE brand established a 55.6% market quota in Colorado, leaving Blu with 25.6% and NJOY (Scottsdale, USA) with 7.3%, which led the company to announce its distribution in the entire country in 2014 ⁴4. Vape ranks: e-cigarette reviews and rankings. Tobacco Giant Altria acquires green smoke e-cigarettes for $110 Million. http://vaperanks.com/tobacco-giant-altria-acquires-green-smoke-e-cigarettes-for-110-million/ (acessado em 20/Fev/2014).
http://vaperanks.com/tobacco-giant-altri... . Despite having its own brand, NuMark, the Altria Group (Richmond, EUA) decided to buy a popular e-cigs brand, Green Smoke, for USD 110 million ⁵5. Bond S, Robinson D. Grandes fabricantes investem no cigarro eletrônico. http://www.abrasnet.com.br/clipping.php?area=18&clipping=37983 (acessado em 20/Fev/2014).
http://www.abrasnet.com.br/clipping.php?... ^,66. Imperial Tobacco lançará cigarros eletrônicos para conter queda nas vendas. UOL Economia 2013; 5 nov. http://economia.uol.com.br/noticias/reuters/2013/11/05/imperial-tobacco-lancara-cigarros-eletronicos-para-conter-queda-nas-vendas.htm (acessado em 20/Fev/2014).
http://economia.uol.com.br/noticias/reut... . Green Smoke mainly acted through on-line sales of rechargeable and disposable electronic cigarettes. It was scarcely present in stores, but this changed once it had access to Altria’s distribution chains ⁴4. Vape ranks: e-cigarette reviews and rankings. Tobacco Giant Altria acquires green smoke e-cigarettes for $110 Million. http://vaperanks.com/tobacco-giant-altria-acquires-green-smoke-e-cigarettes-for-110-million/ (acessado em 20/Fev/2014).
http://vaperanks.com/tobacco-giant-altri... . Big Tobacco controls more than half of the sector with the brands Blu, VUSE and Green Smoke. The Lorillard Tobacco Company (Greensboro, USA) also announced it was acquiring SKYCIG, a sales champion in the United Kingdom, demarcating its space in the British market ⁴4. Vape ranks: e-cigarette reviews and rankings. Tobacco Giant Altria acquires green smoke e-cigarettes for $110 Million. http://vaperanks.com/tobacco-giant-altria-acquires-green-smoke-e-cigarettes-for-110-million/ (acessado em 20/Fev/2014).
http://vaperanks.com/tobacco-giant-altri... .

These facts indicate a strategic change in the tobacco industry’s position. It had closely monitored the business’s evolution over the past ten years and now seem to realize that this new industry is easier and more profitable and may, in the future, guarantee its profit margins.

Little is known regarding electronic cigarettes’ impact on health. There are case-control studies under way, but more consistent results will only be available over the next decades, after we overcome current difficulties related to the profusion of e-cigs models currently available in the market and the lack of knowledge regarding their composition. These obstacles may restrict the generalizability of study results.

However, e-cigs makers have seized upon the lack of scientific knowledge on the product’s action, safety and efficacy and mobilized to position e-cigs as a saving antithesis, a beneficial counterpart to conventional cigarettes, which are widely known to be harmful.

Market positioning refers to the image products obtain in consumers’ minds as a result of three elements: the type of offer by the supplier; the target audience and the competition ⁷7. Rocha A, Christensen C. Marketing: teoria e prática no Brasil. São Paulo: Editora Atlas; 1999.. Positioning encompasses a set of activities which seek to induce the target audience to identify an offer in relation to others, in addition to emphasizing its greater value in comparison to values offered by the competition ⁸8. Mühlbacher H, Dreher A, Gabriel-Ritter A. MIPS - managing industrial positioning strategies. Industrial Marketing Management 1994; 23:287-97.^,99. Oliveira B, Campomar MC. Revisitando o posicionamento em marketing. REGE Revista de Gestão 2007; 14:41-52..

In Brazil, in 2009, the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa, in Portuguese) ¹⁰10. Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária. Resolução RDC nº 46, de 28 de agosto de 2009. Proíbe a comercialização, importação e propaganda de quaisquer dispositivos eletrônicos para fumar, conhecidos como cigarro eletrônico. Diário Oficial da União 2009; 31 ago. ruled against the commercialization of e-cigs, due to the lack of scientific evidence regarding their efficacy and safety. However, consumers have bought them through the Internet, in the illegal market and in other countries where sales of e-cigs are legal.

This study seeks to describe and analyze the discourse used by on-line e-cigss sellers in order to convince potential consumers (smokers, former smokers or never smokers) to acquire and use the product.

Methods

This was an Internet-based research. We used Google Trends (https://www.google.com/trends/explore) and the search terms “electronic cigarettes” and “buy electronic cigarettes” to identify on-line electronic cigarettes stores from 2011 to 2013. These websites formed the discursive corpus for our interpretive analysis. Using Google Trends was important because it shows search volume and patterns (search terms) of Internet users in Google Brazil over time. We followed the following steps: (1) we carried out an initial search with the term “electronic cigarette”, identifying the most commonly used search terms connected to the initial term - “electronic cigarette” - through the option “related searches”; (2) based on the “related searches” option, we identified the term “buy electronic cigarette” as the most commonly used search term in the research period; (3) based on the “buy electronic cigarette” term, we identified 52 electronic cigarette sales websites on Google Brazil; (4) we selected the websites for analysis through a convenience sample among the 52 identified websites. The inclusion criteria were: Brazilian sales websites with technical information and additional use recommendations regarding the products. The exclusion criteria were: foreign Portuguese-language websites, websites with no technical information or additional use recommendations regarding the products and mirror websites, that is, duplicates and/or copies of other sites already identified in the search; (5) we obtained a list of 8 sales websites, namely: Vapor On-line (http://www.vaporonline.com.br); Meu Vapor (http://meuvapor.com); Saúde e Vapor (https://ecigs.lojaintegrada.com.br); Cigarro Eletrônico (http://cigarroeletronicocomprar.com); Vapor Elétrico (http://vaporeletrico.simplesite.com.br); Farmácia Brasil (https://www.farmaciabrasil.com.br); Qismoke (https://qismoke.wordpress.com); EcigFacil (https://www.ecigfacil.com). The information available on these websites regarding product definition, product function, product benefits, use in closed environments, risks of nicotine use and product safety were then stored and constituted the corpus for the analysis.

We carried out an analysis of this empirical material within the “understanding/interpretation” perspective, which presupposes hermeneutic (extraction of empirical categories and attributed senses) and dialectic (confronting empirical categories and theoretical categories, text and context and discourse and social practice) exercises. The methodological conjugation between hermeneutic and dialectics enabled us to carry out an analysis that was at once understanding and critical ¹¹11. Minayo MCS. O desafio do conhecimento: pesquisa qualitativa em saúde. 8ª Ed. São Paulo: Editora Hucitec; 2002. of the marketing positioning ⁸8. Mühlbacher H, Dreher A, Gabriel-Ritter A. MIPS - managing industrial positioning strategies. Industrial Marketing Management 1994; 23:287-97.^,99. Oliveira B, Campomar MC. Revisitando o posicionamento em marketing. REGE Revista de Gestão 2007; 14:41-52. discourse, intended by electronic cigarette sellers in the social context of health and the tobacco market. The analysis is based on the National Tobacco Control Policy (PNCT, in Portuguese), expressed in the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) ¹²12. United Nations. Who framework Convention on Tobacco Control. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/MTDSG/Volume%20I/Chapter%20IX/IX-4.en.pdf (acessado em 22/Abr/2016).
https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/... , specifically the aspects which deal with regulating advertisements for tobacco products (Article 13) ¹1. Knorst MM, Benedetto IG, Hoffmeister MC, Gazzana MB. The electronic cigarette: the new cigarette of the 21st century? J Bras Pneumol 2014; 40:564-72.^,22. Cahn Z, Siegel M. Electronic cigarettes as a harm reduction strategy for tobacco control: a step forward or a repeat of past mistakes? J Public Health Policy 2011; 32:16-31.^,1212. United Nations. Who framework Convention on Tobacco Control. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/MTDSG/Volume%20I/Chapter%20IX/IX-4.en.pdf (acessado em 22/Abr/2016).
https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/... ^,1313. Silva ST, Martins MC, Faria FR, Cotta RMM. Combate ao tabagismo no Brasil: a importância estratégica das ações governamentais. Ciênc Saúde Coletiva 2014; 19:539-52.. In summary, we chose Dialectic Hermeneutics as our methodological reference and the PNCT as our theoretical reference.

Results

We identified four broad empirical categories, namely: appropriation of the anti-smoking discourse; comparison between conventional and electronic cigarettes; appeal to the trustworthiness of science and projection of e-cigs’ image. Within each, discursive excerpts were regrouped within empirical subcategories, based on convergences of meaning.

The empirical category appropriation of anti-smoking discourse, which contains two subcategories, consists of excerpts which strategically appropriate the anti-smoking discourse for electronic cigarettes’ marketing positioning (Table 1).

The empirical category comparison between conventional and electronic cigarettes, which contains ten subcategories, consists of excerpts which strategically compare advantages and disadvantages of conventional and electronic cigarettes for the latter’s marketing positioning (Table 2).

The empirical category appeal to the trustworthiness of science, which contains two subcategories, consists of excerpts which strategically appeal to the social belief in the trustworthiness of science for electronic cigarettes’ marketing positioning (Table 3).

The empirical category projection of e-cigs’ image, which contains two subcategories, consists of excerpts which strategically seek to consolidate a commercial image of electronic cigarettes for their marketing positioning (Table 4).

Discussion

A more attentive observation of e-cigs sales websites allows us to identify how sellers seek to stimulate electronic cigarette use ¹1. Knorst MM, Benedetto IG, Hoffmeister MC, Gazzana MB. The electronic cigarette: the new cigarette of the 21st century? J Bras Pneumol 2014; 40:564-72.^,22. Cahn Z, Siegel M. Electronic cigarettes as a harm reduction strategy for tobacco control: a step forward or a repeat of past mistakes? J Public Health Policy 2011; 32:16-31.^,1414. Foulds J, Veldheer S, Berg A. Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs): views of aficionados and clinical/public health perspectives. Int J Clin Pract 2011; 65:1037-42.. Structured around apparently acceptable, socially justifiable arguments, the marketing positioning’s discursive strategy largely obeys a sequence of four argumentative blocks: the first block points out and highlights the harms of smoking and the benefits of not smoking; the second block compares conventional and electronic cigarettes, emphasizing the latter’s supposed advantages over the former; the third block concentrates exclusively on electronic cigarettes as a technological application, appealing to the social belief in the trustworthiness of science as an argument; lastly, the fourth block is dedicated to consolidating a supposedly positive image of electronic cigarettes as a commercial product.

Marketing positioning through substitution of the original object of the anti-smoking discourse with another for which there is no established objective discourse

In the first argumentative block, the appropriation of the anti-smoking discourse by e-cig sellers is made evident by a discursive set which is strategically transgressive insofar as it appropriates a historically established and scientifically consolidated discourse and subtly substitutes its original object (conventional tobacco products) with an object for which there is no historically and scientifically constituted objective discourse.

The subverted use of the anti-smoking discourse in order to stimulate the adoption of e-cigs instead of conventional tobacco products basically conjugates the emphasis on the benefits of not smoking with the emphasis on the harms of smoking, as can be viewed in the slogans below: “Electronic cigarettes are an excellent, tobacco-free alternative for smoking” (Farmácia Brasil).

“Cigarettes may cause up to 50 different diseases, especially problems related to the heart and circulation, several types of cancer and respiratory diseases” (Qismoke).

E-cigarettes are presented as unconnected to negative aspects associated with conventional tobacco products. This is a strategy that fallaciously appropriates both the discourse on the benefits of not using tobacco and the harms of its obstinate use, both arguments that are strongly based on the epidemiological discourse of tobacco prevention and control ¹⁵15. Wunsch Filho V, Mirra AP, Lopez RVM, Antunes LF. Tabagismo e câncer no Brasil: evidências e perspectivas. Rev Bras Epidemiol 2010; 13:175-87.^,1616. Almeida LM. So it is, if it seems... Cad Saúde Pública 2015; 31:226-8..

Marketing positioning through the pseudo-scientific discourse that presents e-cigs as a safe, practical, functional and socially adequate alternative

The second argumentative block strategically compares advantages and disadvantages of conventional and electronic cigarettes. The comparison, exhaustively presented by producers and sellers, counters conventional cigarettes’ already-consolidated negative image with the supposed innovation of e-cigs, presented as a definitive, problem-solving alternative for smokers’ and bystanders’ health, in addition to having the potential to win over new, eager consumers who desire novelty, flavors and style.

The historic battle between the network of tobacco industry stakeholders and the network led by the WHO, the fact that e-cigs were invented by a pharmacist and patented by the pharmaceutical industry ¹1. Knorst MM, Benedetto IG, Hoffmeister MC, Gazzana MB. The electronic cigarette: the new cigarette of the 21st century? J Bras Pneumol 2014; 40:564-72.^,22. Cahn Z, Siegel M. Electronic cigarettes as a harm reduction strategy for tobacco control: a step forward or a repeat of past mistakes? J Public Health Policy 2011; 32:16-31., in addition to a mixture of research and marketing surrounding them, suggest that the actors involved are, on the one hand, the pharmaceutical industry, which wants to commercialize e-cigs as a smoking cessation aid, and, on the other, e-cigarette manufacturers who wish to see the product being sold everywhere as harmless to humans. The truth is that most of the arguments presented in favor of e-cigs in this block are unlikely, amassed as convenient, according to marketing and commercialization interests, resulting in a fallacious discourse that only appears valid, true and justifiable.

In order to attribute argumentative consistency to the marketing positioning discourse, e-cig producers and sellers emphasize different aspects and dimensions of consumers’ relationship to the product. When they project e-cigs as safe, healthy products, emphasizing the health-disease relationship, this discourse takes on a fallacious sense of health prevention: “A substitute for (analogical) cigarettes, making it possible to satisfy the desire for nicotine in a healthier, safer way that is as similar as possible to the act of smoking a cigarette” (Vapor On-line).

In the same way, by projecting e-cigs as artifacts that are adaptable to users’ vaping habits and emphasizing the amount-time relationship, this discourse presents a fallacious sense of reduction of both consumption and of the time dedicated to “vaping”:

“With an electronic cigarette, after smoking for a certain amount of time, you can store it to smoke again later. And with this you will naturally smoke less than with a normal cigarette” (Qismoke).

At the same time, it also emphasizes the economic cost-benefit relationship and financial advantages of e-cigs:

“According to the expert the study shows that electronic cigarettes have the potential to increase the percentages of people who quit smoking and to reduce costs overall. This includes former smokers, health care services, since electronic cigarettes are cheaper than conventional cigarettes” (Vapor Elétrico).

By emphasizing the active smoker-passive smoker relationship and projecting the idea of non-harming those in proximity to the smoker, the fallacious sense intended is the pacification of the intolerance between smokers and non-smokers: “No more worrying about bothering people around you when you smoke. Electronic cigarettes emits something that looks like smoke, but in reality is just water vapor that disappears after a few seconds, without releasing any carbon monoxide and other harmful toxins” (Qismoke).

The same occurs with the emphasis on the smoker-environment relationship through a fallacious pacification of the contradictions between individual interests and environmental conscience. In this case, the discourse claims that smokers’ responsibility to the quality of the environment is satisfied due to the assumption that e-cigarettes are not pollutants: “We present the ‘green’ alternative to traditional cigarettes” (Qismoke).

Conventional cigarettes began to lose the glamor once projected through Hollywood myths after they came to be associated with their observable health effects. In emphasizing the smoker-social image relationship, this discourse attempts to regain the lost glamor, incorporating technological seduction into its strategy: “Some e-liquids have strong aromatic additives, which can create a delicate perfume floating in the mist. It is generally not perceived by people around a vaper as uncomfortable, but rather as something curious” (Meu Vapor).

Chemical dependence, understood as an individual need, is pitted against collective interests, since non-smokers are significantly more numerous than smokers. By emphasizing the smoker-collectivity relationship, the marketing positioning presents a fallacious definitive pacification of the difficult confrontation between individual and collective interests and rights: “It isn’t harmful to people around you - there is no passive smoker and it can be safely used in designated “non-smoking” areas” (Meu Vapor).

Given the value attributed to the practicality of technological artifacts, this marketing positioning also emphasizes the technology-practicality relationship as one of the product’s features, which presents a fallacious sense of technological innovation and practicality: “This series of electronic cigarettes (Ego) are some of the most famous and highest-selling in the world. The reasons are many and simple: good construction material, sturdiness, long-life batteries and excellent design. Fluids are all nicotine-free, except when stated otherwise. All liquids have a balanced combination for getting a good amount of vapor and flavor” (Cigarro Eletrônico).

Along with e-cigs’ practicality, this discourse argues from the standpoint of users’ health and physical integrity, emphasizing the exposure-safety relationship and fallaciously claiming e-cigarettes eliminate risks: “E-cigs produce a nearly sterile vapor. Their “smoke” have practically no harmful particles. Even an Dood and Drug Administration study on the presence of nitrosamines has been considered erroneous” (EcigFácil).

In this discursive block, we may further highlight a final aspect which is, perhaps, of greatest interest to consumers, which is satiety when compared with the satisfaction of smoking conventional cigarettes. E-cigarettes’ marketing positioning strategy emphasizes the consumption-satiety relationship as rewarding, fallaciously claiming an equivalent pleasure and satisfaction as what is attributed to conventional cigarettes: “It enables you to get the same feeling of relaxation as a conventional cigarette” (Qismoke).

In this context, Anvisa may be pressured to authorize e-cigarettes’ commercialization in Brazil, as was the case in Great Britain, where campaigns and pro-electronic cigarette studies have suggested they benefit health and help smoking cessation ¹⁷17. Tobacco Tactics. E-cigarettes: at the pharmacy - imperial at boots, BAT at Lloyds Pharmacy. http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index.php/E-cigarettes (acessado em 20/Fev/2014).
http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index.php/... ^,1818. Tobacco Tactics. E-cigarettes: mixing research and marketing. http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index.php/E-cigarettes:_Mixing_Research_and_Marketing (acessado em 20/Fev/2014).
http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index.php/... . This was suggested in an article in the O Dia newspaper, on 20/Aug/2015: “Ignoring Anvisa’s omission regarding electronic cigarettes, an informal import and sales market of vaporizers and accessories has spread over the Internet (…) The large offer suggests a lucrative business. If it fails to prevent buyers from accessing electronic cigarettes, the lack of regulation has two obvious consequences: one the one hand, it does not generate taxes which could fund treatment of smoking-related diseases; on the other, it does not allow doctors to openly recommend the device as an alternative to those who wish to quit smoking” ¹⁹19. Mattos G. Pesquisa revela que cigarro eletrônico é 95% menos prejudicial à saúde. O Dia 2015; 19 ago. http://odia.ig.com.br/noticia/mundoeciencia/2015-08-19/pesquisa-revela-que-cigarro-eletronico-e-95-menos-prejudicial-a-saude.html (acessado em 25/Abr/2016).
http://odia.ig.com.br/noticia/mundoecien... .

If electronic cigarettes are allowed to be commercialized as a product not classified as toxic and harmful, they could be sold anywhere. However, if their nicotine is proved to be obtained from tobacco, they will be subjected to current legislation which restricts advertising, use in closed public spaces and sales to minors, in addition to being heavily taxed ¹⁷17. Tobacco Tactics. E-cigarettes: at the pharmacy - imperial at boots, BAT at Lloyds Pharmacy. http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index.php/E-cigarettes (acessado em 20/Fev/2014).
http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index.php/... .

Marketing positioning through the pseudo-scientific discourse which attempts to corroborate e-cigs as a pro-health technological device

The third argumentative block is based on exploiting the social belief in the trustworthiness of science ¹⁴14. Foulds J, Veldheer S, Berg A. Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs): views of aficionados and clinical/public health perspectives. Int J Clin Pract 2011; 65:1037-42.^,1818. Tobacco Tactics. E-cigarettes: mixing research and marketing. http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index.php/E-cigarettes:_Mixing_Research_and_Marketing (acessado em 20/Fev/2014).
http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index.php/... . From this, two complementary senses emerge: the pseudo-scientific defense of electronic cigarettes and, through this pseudo-scientific discourse, their ratification as a technological innovation.

This pseudo-scientific discourse in favor of electronic cigarettes is socially constructed within the vacuum of scientific knowledge regarding e-cigs’ safety and efficacy ¹⁴14. Foulds J, Veldheer S, Berg A. Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs): views of aficionados and clinical/public health perspectives. Int J Clin Pract 2011; 65:1037-42.^,1818. Tobacco Tactics. E-cigarettes: mixing research and marketing. http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index.php/E-cigarettes:_Mixing_Research_and_Marketing (acessado em 20/Fev/2014).
http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index.php/... . E-cig producers and sellers’ strategy resorts to a king of technological efficacy logic, in which the reasons of science and the virtues of technology endorse the purchase and use of e-cigarettes based on “qualities” and “scientific discourses” ¹⁴14. Foulds J, Veldheer S, Berg A. Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs): views of aficionados and clinical/public health perspectives. Int J Clin Pract 2011; 65:1037-42.^,1818. Tobacco Tactics. E-cigarettes: mixing research and marketing. http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index.php/E-cigarettes:_Mixing_Research_and_Marketing (acessado em 20/Fev/2014).
http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index.php/... ^,2020. Bazzo WA. Ciência, Tecnologia e Sociedade e o contexto da educação tecnológica. 2ª Ed. Florianópolis: Editora UFSC; 2010.^,2121. Pinheiro NAM, Silveira RMC, Bazzo WA. O contexto científico-tecnológico e social acerca de uma abordagem crítico-reflexiva: perspectiva e enfoque. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación 2009; 49:1-14..

We must note that this marketing positioning strategy is geared towards common sense views, despite being clothed in an apparent scientificity which proclaims e-cigarettes’ supposed qualities: “The amount of nicotine effectively inhaled through electronic cigarettes is much smaller than that inhaled through classic cigarettes according to a study by an important American laboratory” (Farmácia Brasil).

Just as it also exalts e-cigs’ technological novelty as a pro-health application: “By using an electronic cigarette, the only thing you’ll inhale is water vapor with a little nicotine until you no longer need nicotine, and then you can choose the ZERO nicotine level” (Farmácia Brasil).

It is clear that the struggle against the tobacco epidemic faces new challenges, especially those dressed in new, subtle clothing, as is the case with e-cigs. E-cigs may reach all social segments even more intensely, but will likely be concentrated among those with lower income and lower educational levels, who are historically more vulnerable to the tobacco industry’s advertisements ¹⁵15. Wunsch Filho V, Mirra AP, Lopez RVM, Antunes LF. Tabagismo e câncer no Brasil: evidências e perspectivas. Rev Bras Epidemiol 2010; 13:175-87..

Marketing positioning through the projection of a commercial image of e-cigs as an innovative, therapeutic technological application

Finally, the fourth discursive block attempts an argumentative “check-mate”. It is dedicated to consolidating the projection of e-cigs’ definitive and supposedly positive image as an innovative, therapeutic commercial product which surpasses conventional cigarettes.

E-cigs are at once presented as an innovative technological device and an artifice of their technological application, since they are projected to be the product of the most advanced science applied to surpassing conventional cigarettes: “The electronic cigarette of Hollywood stars. The new revolution in the smoking markets” (Qismoke).

In other words, e-cigs are instruments for ingesting chemical substances ¹1. Knorst MM, Benedetto IG, Hoffmeister MC, Gazzana MB. The electronic cigarette: the new cigarette of the 21st century? J Bras Pneumol 2014; 40:564-72.^,22. Cahn Z, Siegel M. Electronic cigarettes as a harm reduction strategy for tobacco control: a step forward or a repeat of past mistakes? J Public Health Policy 2011; 32:16-31.^,2222. Associação Médica Brasileira; Conselho Federal de Medicina. Posição das entidades médicas sobre o cigarro eletrônico. http://www.hospitaldopulmao.com.br/site/public/upload/image/pdf/parecer_tecnico_cigarroeletronico_cfm_amb_sbpt_2014.pdf (acessado em 25/Abr/2016).
http://www.hospitaldopulmao.com.br/site/... . However, the advertisement does not provide consistent data on any scientific research which informs of the consequences of inhaling these substances. However, the fact that it is an innovative technology does not guarantee that its application is harmless to human health. In this case, it lacks the methodological rigor and adherence to legislation required of applied science.

When they are presented as therapeutic devices, e-cigs may also be viewed as another artifice of their technological application to health, since the market positioning intends to incorporate into their image the idea of a modern, therapeutic product, when there are as of yet no significant conclusions on their supposed ability to promote smoking cessation: “As to electronic [cigarettes], despite the fact that their health impacts are not totally known to science, several studies have shown that this device has enormous advantages when compared with tobacco cigarettes, precisely because, since it has no tobacco or combustion, containing only nicotine, it has a series of benefits” (Saúde Vapor).

Note that, under the pretext of offering a therapeutic product, this discourse highlights a specific e-cig brand, seeking to affix the positive image to the brand. This argument is presented despite the fact that little is known regarding e-cigs’ impact on smoking cessation. This impact will only be recognized through continuous monitoring and, in the long run, through study replication, so as to guarantee finding consistency ¹⁶16. Almeida LM. So it is, if it seems... Cad Saúde Pública 2015; 31:226-8..

An important phenomenon is that e-cig sales websites in Brazil are not permanent (at least in part because they are illegal) and are constantly disappearing or undergoing modifications to their names, presentations and addresses. Exemplifying this trend, some of the websites analyzed in this article later migrated to Facebook.

Final considerations

For over 100 years, the tobacco industry’s economic survival was guarantee by the commercialization of a non-essential product that is harmful to human life. With the worldwide organized mobilization against tobacco consumption, the industry realized its profit margins were at risk. Currently, the invention of electronic cigarettes, which did not happen by chance, provides indications that this same industry is watching the entry of possible, seductive products into the market, as an opportunity to eternalize its profits. These are products for which very little is known regarding their possible health impacts and which must be more rigorously evaluated.

In this scenario, it is suspected that a very large risk is on the horizon and threatens to undermine the global effort of the past 20 years to inform the public of the harms associated with smoking. This effort concerns not only the inherent risks of smoking itself, but also the changes in attitude in terms of making smoking in closed spaces socially unacceptable, something that may be lost with the re-introduction of new products in these environments.

The social conscience regarding the risks of smoking may be clouded by the fragrant, flavorized fogs, mists and vapors of e-cigs, since the return to the (already surpassed) behavior of smoking in social environments and the reassuring belief in their harmlessness may lead an old evil to reappear. In the medium and long term, they may even reintroduce smokers of conventional tobacco products into collective closed environments. But, unfortunately, this risk cannot yet be measured, only felt.

This study sought to describe and analyze the marketing positioning discourse used by electronic cigarette sellers to convince potential users to buy and use them. This analysis reveals interconnected meanings that extrapolate the mere act of presenting and projecting a new product. In fact, it even suggests a sort of social rescue of the tobacco industry’s image, which, in a subtle transgression, has substituted an object charged with a negative, harmful image (cigarettes and other tobacco products) for another, supposedly clean, modern, healthy, glamorous and acceptable product. All of this under the auspices of a pseudo-scientific, technologically seductive speech. It is not just a positive projection of e-cigs’ image in the tobacco market, but, above all, an attempt to remake the tobacco industry’s historically negative image.

In the case of e-cigs, this discourse corroborates that strategy by moving towards a commercial and marketing scenario which fuses itself to the conventional tobacco products market, since it presents them not so much as a means to quitting smoking, but rather as an alternative to keep/use nicotine with no risks and greater social acceptance. In this scenario, the product may come to feed and maintain a huge legion of individuals dependent on tobacco and its derivatives.

It is up to government health agencies, health workers and researchers to carry out studies, both quantitative and qualitative, which not only prove or disprove e-cigs’ efficacy and safety, but also probe the meanings and cultural processes underlying the tobacco industry’s new languages and commercial strategies.

Acknowledgments

Brazilian National Institute of Science and Technolohy for Cancer Control (INCT/CNPq - n. 573806/2008-0).

References

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