28
TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
JULY/AUGUST 2014
CATEGORY MANAGER
VAPOR MARKET
for businesses to get involved and to show that they are
involved.”
Wells Fargo tobacco analyst Bonnie Herzog’s estimate
of the number of vapor shops is more conservative than
McLaren’s at 5,000 to 10,000 locations, and she still sees
c-stores as dominating (see C-Store Corner, p. 74). Herzog
remains optimistic about the vapor industry opportunities,
although she recently expressed concern that the category’s
growth is decelerating.
At Vapor World Expo, which took place in Chicago this
past May, Herzog suggested that growth of the tank-style/
mod vapor products may marginalize the cig-alike version of
vapor tobacco products as more consumers shift to the more
cost-efficient vaping alternative. This, in turn, could drive
more market share to the new “vape shop” retail channel,
which tends to cater to the tank-style customers. Herzog also
asserted that the category will need to innovate in order to
continue to thrive—a sentiment many in the industry share,
particularly now that the FDA has announced its intent to
regulate the category.
TBI
D
espite themuch-touted concern that electronic
cigarettes will serve as a gateway to tobacco
use, the majority of “vapers,” or users of electronic
tobacco devices, are former smokers, according
to findings from a recent survey of 19,000 vapers
by Vapers International Research Group. In fact,
81 percent of respondents reported that they have
quit smoking completely by substituting vaping
for traditional cigarette use. Many have not quit
entirely, but do smoke less frequently now; 5.8
percent of vapers report “occasional” smoking,
while 13 percent report “daily” smoking, with a
decline in cigarette consumption from a median of
20 cigarettes a day at onset of vaping to just four
per day at the time of survey.
Other survey findings include:
• Survey participants reduced levels of nicotine consumed by 33 percent from a median of 18 mg/ml
at onset of vaping to a median of 12 mg/ml at the time of survey.
• 21.5 percent of respondents used vapor products containing more than 20 mg/ml of nicotine.
• 3.5 percent used vapor products containing NO nicotine.
• 99.5 percent were cigarette smokers at onset of vaping.
• None of the 0.5 percent who were nonsmokers at onset of vaping became smokers afterward.
• Participants’ average age was 39, 74.7 percent were from Europe, and 20.7 percent were from America.
Source: Vapers International Research Group
Who Vapes—and Why?
