Content analysis reveals widespread youth-appealing marketing and weak age verification on UK nicotine pouch websites, highlighting risks of nicotine initiation among non-smokers.
Key Points
Analyze the promotional strategies, pricing, product features, and age verification practices used across UK-based online nicotine pouch retailer websites.
Identified 16 UK-based nicotine pouch retailer websites in November 2024 through structured Google and manual searches of popular domestic brands.
Performed a content analysis coding for pricing, product attributes, flavour profiles, age verification prompts, social media links, and six predefined health and product themes.
Entry-level pricing was observed as low as £1 per can, accompanied by promotions such as student discounts and marketing highlighting affordability and ease of use.
Sweet and fruit flavour profiles dominated inventory descriptions, and while approximately half of the websites linked products to smoking cessation, only half implemented age verification prompts.
Addiction warnings appeared on the majority of retail sites, though they varied substantially in visual clarity, prominence, and placement.