Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Marketing and its Potential Targeting Towards Adolescents

Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), or electronic cigarettes, are portable devices that allow users to inhale aerosolized nicotine vapor that is generally associated with flavorings; the prevalence of electronic cigarettes has risen in recent years, especially so with adolescent populations as 3.6 million teenagers were reported to be using the devices in 2018 (Bhalerao et al., 2019). Given this increase in usage within a vulnerable population this rapid review sought to analyze current literature to determine whether or not ENDS manufacturing companies are explicitly marketing towards adolescent populations. Ten studies were reviewed in regards to potential behavioral and perceptual alterations adolescents may have on electronic cigarette marketing as well as locations with frequencies of where ENDS advertisements were encountered. Results included data regarding increased likelihood of ENDS usage correlated with increased exposure to electronic cigarette marketing as well as adolescent study populations denoting certain flavors of ENDS being advertised towards their age group. Given the extracted data ENDS marketing may be directly targeting adolescents and poses a serious threat to this population; efforts in policy change and further studies into how ENDS marketing affects adolescent subpopulations may be necessary to further understand the issue