Electronic Cigarettes on Twitter – Spreading the Appeal of Flavors

OBJECTIVES: Social media platforms are used by tobacco companies to promote products. This study examines message content on Twitter from e-cigarette brands and determines if messages about flavors are more likely than non-flavor messages to be passed along to other viewers. METHODS: We examined Twitter data from 2 e-cigarette brands and identified messages that contained terms related to e-cigarette flavors. RESULTS: Flavor-related posts were retweeted at a significantly higher rate by e-cigarette brands (p = .04) and other Twitter users (p < .01) than non-flavor posts. CONCLUSIONS: E-cigarette brands and other Twitter users pay attention to flavor-related posts and retweet them often. These findings suggest flavors continue to be an attractive characteristic and their marketing should be monitored closely.