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Home / American Journal of Health Behavior, Volume 39, Number 6

A Snapshot of the Depiction of Electronic Cigarettes in YouTube Videos

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Objective: To assess the depiction of e-cigarettes in YouTube videos. Methods: The sample (N = 63) was selected from the top 20 search results for “electronic cigarette,” and “e-cig” with each term searched twice by the filters “Relevance” and “View Count.” Data collected included title, length, number of views, “likes,” “dislikes,” comments, and inferred demographics of individuals appearing in the videos. Results: Seventy-six percent of videos included at least one man, 62% included a Caucasian, and 50% included at least one young individual. Video content connotation was coded as positive (76%), neutral (18%), or negative (6%). Videos were categorized as advertisement (33%), instructional (17%), news clip (19%), product review (13%), entertainment (11%), public health (3%), and personal testimonial (3%). Conclusion: Most e-cigarette YouTube videos are non-traditional or covert advertisements featuring young Caucasian men.

Keywords: ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES; SOCIAL MEDIA; TOBACCO; YOUTUBE

Document Type: Research Article

Affiliations: 1: Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical and Applied Sciences, Indiana University School of Dentistry, Indianapolis, IN;, Email: [email protected] 2: Pre-doctoral student, Indiana University School of Dentistry, Indianapolis, IN 3: Department of Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN

Publication date: 01 November 2015

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  • The American Journal of Health Behavior seeks to improve the quality of life through multidisciplinary health efforts in fostering a better understanding of the multidimensional nature of both individuals and social systems as they relate to health behaviors.

    The Journal aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of personal attributes, personality characteristics, behavior patterns, social structure, and processes on health maintenance, health restoration, and health improvement; to disseminate knowledge of holistic, multidisciplinary approaches to designing and implementing effective health programs; and to showcase health behavior analysis skills that have been proven to affect health improvement and recovery.

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