E-Cigarette Advertising in the UK: A Content Analysis of Traditional and Social Media Advertising to Observe Compliance with Current Regulations

Introduction: The advertising of e-cigarettes in the UK is regulated through the revised EUTobacco Products Directive and the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations, with further rules set out in the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) Committees of Advertising (CAP) Code. Focusing on the ASA CAP Code Rules, we examined e-cigarette advertising regulation compliance in traditional advertising channels and on social media. Methods: We conducted a content analysis of UK e-cigarette and related product advertising using a randomly selected sample (n= 130) of advertising in traditional channels and on lnstagram which appeared between January and December 2019. All ads were independently double-coded to assess compliance with each CAP Code Rule. Results: In traditional channels, our sample of advertising had largely good compliance. Only very small numbers of these ads appeared to be clearly in breach of any of the ASA rules (5% were in breach of Rule 22.7; 2% of Rule 22.9; and 1% of Rule 22.10). In contrast, we judged that all of the Instagram sample (n = 30) was in breach of Rule 22.12. For some rules, it was not possible to make definitive judgments about compliance, given uncertainty regarding how a rule should be interpreted and applied. Conclusions: We found overall good compliance for advertising in traditional channels, but assessed all of our social media advertising samples was in breach of regulations. Current guidance on e-cigarette advertising could be improved to facilitate e-cigarette advertising assessment and regulation. It would be beneficial to bring consumer perspectives into the assessment of regulation compliance.

Automated summary

The study found that most traditional channels of e-cigarette advertising in the UK complied with regulations, but all social media advertising samples were found to be in breach of rules. Current guidance on e-cigarette advertising could be improved to facilitate advertising assessment and regulation, and it would be beneficial to involve consumer perspectives in compliance assessments.