Return of cartoon to market e-cigarette-related products

IntroductionThe tobacco industry’s use of cartoons to market products has been shown to be effective at increasing awareness and appeal of combustible cigarettes among youth. While the Master Settlement Agreement placed restrictions on the use of cartoons for major cigarette and smokeless (chew) tobacco brands in the USA, no such restrictions exist for electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). Research has shown that e-cigarette manufacturers are using cartoons to market products, but limited data exist on the extent of these practices. This study examined the extent of the use of cartoons to market e-liquids on Instagram.MethodsInstagram posts with the hashtag #ejuice or #eliquid were collected from 3 November 2017 to 17 November 2017. Rules were established to identify Cartoon (the post contained a cartoon), Logo (the post was labelled a cartoon due to the logo) and Promo (the image of the post or accompanying text indicated it was a promotion) in the data (n=3481).ResultsAmong all posts, 723 (20.77%) contained a Cartoon, and 479 (13.76%) were coded as a cartoon because of the Logo. In other words, 479/723 or (66.25%) of Cartoon were coded as cartoons due to the vendor’s or manufacture’s logo. Among all posts, 2360 (67.80%) were Promo.ConclusionFindings indicate that e-cigarette companies are using cartoons to market their products and many of these companies’ logos are cartoons. Empirical data are needed to determine whether cartoon marketing strategies impact perceived risk and benefits, product appeal, the intention to use and actual use of e-cigarettes.

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Mobile banking adoption and usage among Generation Y Malaysians

F1000Research ◽

10.12688/f1000research.73459.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

pp. 1170

Author(s):

Momen Tarawneh ◽

Lan Thi Phuong Nguyen ◽

Yong Fie

Keyword(s):

Perceived Risk ◽

Interface Design ◽

Credit Card ◽

Internet Banking ◽

Intention To Use ◽

Mobile Banking ◽

Design Quality ◽

Banking Services ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Actual Use

Background: By 2018, Malaysian mobile banking services made the third-largest amount of banking transactions, following credit card and Internet banking. In addition, it significantly contributes to the banking industry by providing easier transactions to banking consumers. This study examined factors affecting the intention to use, and the actual use of mobile banking services in Malaysia. Methods: Two main theories of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (extended version, UTAUT2), and the model of perceived risk, were used to propose a modified framework. Based on the non-probability sampling method, the data were collected from 504 respondents. The data vas analyzed using SPSS and PLS-SEM to derive the findings. Results: The study's findings revealed that the independent variables could explain 55.3% of the variance in mobile banking use and 60.3% of variance in intention to use variables. Moreover, it demonstrated that common factors that have significantly affected the actual use and intention to use mobile banking were habit, facilitating condition, and interface design quality. In contrast, perceived risk and intention to use were found to only have significant impacts on the use of mobile banking, while effort expectancy was found to only have a significant impact on the intention to use. Conclusions: The findings of this study provide significant new knowledge on mobile banking, from which mobile banking providers and interface designers can develop potential solutions to increase the usage of mobile banking services in Malaysia. However, using a qualitative method, the proposed model could only explain 55% of actual use and 60% of intentional use. Thus, additional variables and qualitative techniques may help increase the understanding on the actual use and intention to use.

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The Impact of Force Factors on the Benefits of Digital Transformation in Romania

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11052365 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 2365

Author(s):

Sorinel Căpușneanu ◽

Dorel Mateș ◽

Mirela Cătălina Tűrkeș ◽

Cristian-Marian Barbu ◽

Adela-Ioana Staraș ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Perceived Risk ◽

Industry 4.0 ◽

Business Models ◽

Structural Model ◽

Digital Transformation ◽

Sample Survey ◽

Intention To Use ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Use Of Technology ◽

The Impact

The digital transformation has produced changes in all existing areas of activity worldwide. There are many factors that can influence the intention to use Industry 4.0 processes and solutions and change the behavior of organizations and their business models. The aim of this study is to validate the econometric model on assessing the significant impact of distinct factors on the intention to use Industry 4.0 processes and solutions, the benefits of digital transformation perceived by organizational management and the differences between distinct groups analyzed. The research method used within the quantitative study was the sample survey, using the online questionnaire as a data collection tool. Three hundred forty-seven valid questionnaires were collected and the response rate of the respondents was 64.25%. A new structural model was generated based on the elements of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). The results of the study indicated that Perceived competitiveness and Perceived risk have a significant impact on Intention to Use Industry 4.0 processes while Perceived vertical networking solutions and Perceived integrated engineering solutions have a significant influence on the Intention to Use Industry 4.0 solutions. In conclusion, there is a positive and significant association between Intention to Use Industry 4.0 solutions and Benefits of Digital Transformation.

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Sexting among singles in the USA: prevalence of sending, receiving, and sharing sexual messages and images

Sexual Health ◽

10.1071/sh15240 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 428 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Justin R. Garcia ◽

Amanda N. Gesselman ◽

Shadia A. Siliman ◽

Brea L. Perry ◽

Kathryn Coe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Text Messages ◽

Future Research ◽

Limited Data ◽

Single Adults ◽

Social Lives ◽

Psychosocial Wellbeing ◽

Sexually Explicit ◽

The Usa ◽

Sexual Messages ◽

The Impact

Background: The transmission of sexual images and messages via mobile phone or other electronic media (sexting) has been associated with a variety of mostly negative social and behavioural consequences. Research on sexting has focussed on youth, with limited data across demographics and with little known about the sharing of private sexual images and messages with third parties. Methods: The present study examines sexting attitudes and behaviours, including sending, receiving, and sharing of sexual messages and images, across gender, age, and sexual orientation. A total of 5805 single adults were included in the study (2830 women; 2975 men), ranging in age from 21 to 75+ years. Results: Overall, 21% of participants reported sending and 28% reported receiving sexually explicit text messages; both sending and receiving ‘sexts’ was most common among younger respondents. Although 73.2% of participants reported discomfort with unauthorised sharing of sexts beyond the intended recipient, of those who had received sext images, 22.9% reported sharing them with others (on average with 3.17 friends). Participants also reported concern about the potential consequences of sexting on their social lives, careers, and psychosocial wellbeing. Conclusion: Views on the impact of sexting on reputation suggest a contemporary struggle to reconcile digital eroticism with real-world consequences. These findings suggest a need for future research into negotiations of sexting motivations, risks, and rewards.

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USA Mid-Atlantic Consumer Preferences for Front Label Attributes for Local Wine

Beverages ◽

10.3390/beverages7020022 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 22

Author(s):

Marielle J. Todd ◽

Kathleen M. Kelley ◽

Helene Hopfer

Keyword(s):

Consumer Preferences ◽

White Wine ◽

Marketing Strategies ◽

Variety Seeking ◽

Atlantic Region ◽

Consumer Awareness ◽

Specific Location ◽

Seeking Behavior ◽

The Usa ◽

Conjoint Experiment

The purpose of this research was to investigate Mid-Atlantic USA wine consumers’ preferences for front wine label attributes for a lesser-known/unknown local wine variety. The wine consumer base in this part of the USA exceeds that of California. Although the mid-Atlantic is experiencing an increase in the number of wineries, there is a lack of region-specific consumer research that could be the basis for marketing strategies that may differ from those in more established wine regions, such as CA. We recruited 1011 mid-Atlantic consumers who drank wine (at least 1×/month) to view variations of a wine label, differing in wine tag, location description, font types, and images in a choice-based conjoint experiment. A greater percentage of consumers selected the “White Wine” tag and scripted fonts than the other options, with a generalized county text (“Proudly produced in Lehigh County, PA”) being selected by more participants than the American Viticultural Area (AVA) (“Lehigh Valley AVA”) or state (“Pennsylvania”) texts; however, the location text had a lower importance than the wine tag variable. This study implies that a generalized county text that describes a more specific location where the grapes were grown may be more favorable to mid-Atlantic consumers in comparison to AVA or state texts, and that traditional images and generic wine labels are more preferable than wine labels they have not seen before and more contemporary label styles. Wineries in the mid-Atlantic region may want to add generalized county texts to their labels to appeal to the regional audience. As AVAs are used to promote specific wine regions in the USA, and only some consumers choose wines based on these designations, governments and marketing organizations may want to increase education on local AVAs to increase consumer awareness and interest. In addition, consumer differences in variety-seeking behavior and subjective as well as objective wine knowledge, but not attitudes toward locally produced foods, affected wine label choice: Consumers scoring higher in variety-seeking and wine knowledge preferred the specific wine varietal over the generic wine tag; similarly, consumers that indicated familiarity with the wine varietal also preferred the specific wine tag over the generic label. Differences in consumer psychographics appear to modulate front wine label preferences.

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Predictors of physicians’ intentions to use clinical practice guidelines on antimicrobial in tertiary general hospitals of China: a structural equation modeling approach

Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control ◽

10.1186/s13756-021-00966-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Qingwen Deng ◽

Zhichao Zeng ◽

Yuhang Zheng ◽

Junhong Lu ◽

Wenbin Liu

Keyword(s):

Perceived Risk ◽

Subjective Norms ◽

Ease Of Use ◽

Relative Advantage ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Top Management ◽

Intention To Use ◽

Management Support ◽

General Hospitals ◽

Top Management Support

Abstract Background With inappropriate use of antimicrobials becoming a great public health concern globally, the issue of applying clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) to regulate the rational use of antimicrobials has attracted increasing attention. Taking tertiary general hospitals in China for example, this study aimed to identify factors to investigate the comprehensive influencing mechanism for physicians’ intention to use CPGs on antimicrobials. Methods Based on the integration of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and Technology-Organization-Environment framework (TOE), a questionnaire survey was conducted covering potential determinants of affecting physicians’ intentions to use CPGs on antimicrobials at the individual level (attitude, subjective norms and perceived risk), technical level (relative advantage and ease of use), and organizational level (top management support and organizational implementation). Data were collected from 644 physicians in tertiary general hospitals in eastern, central and western China, which were obtained by multi-stage random sampling. The structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to link three-level factors with physicians’ behavioral intentions. Results The majority of the participants (94.57%) showed a positive tendency toward intention to use CPGs on antimicrobials. The reliability and validity analysis showed the questionnaire developed from the theoretical model was acceptable. SEM results revealed physicians’ intentions to use CPGs on antimicrobials was associated with attitude (β = 0.166, p < 0.05), subjective norms (β = 0.244, p < 0.05), perceived risk (β = − 0.113, p < 0.05), relative advantage (β = 0.307, p < 0.01), top management support (β = 0.200, p < 0.05) and organizational implementation (β = 0.176, p < 0.05). Besides, subjective norms, perceived risk, relative advantage, ease of use, and top management support showed their mediating effects from large to small on the intentions, which were 0.215, 0.140, 0.103, 0.088, − 0.020, respectively. Conclusions This study revealed the significance of multifaceted factors to enhance the intention to use CPGs on antimicrobials. These findings will not only contribute to the development of targeted intervention strategies on promoting the use of CPGs on antimicrobials, but also provide insights for future studies about physicians’ adoption behaviors on certain health services or products.

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The EVALI outbreak and tobacco sales in the USA, 2014–2020

Tobacco Control ◽

10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-056807 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. tobaccocontrol-2021-056807

Author(s):

Alex C Liber ◽

Zachary Cahn ◽

Megan C Diaz ◽

Emily Donovan ◽

Donna Vallone ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Electronic Cigarettes ◽

State Level ◽

Product Distribution ◽

Us States ◽

Regulatory Policies ◽

Tobacco Sales ◽

Panel Regressions ◽

The Usa ◽

The Impact ◽

Total Sales

BackgroundThe E-cigarette, or Vaping Product-Use Associated Lung Injury (EVALI) Outbreak of 2019 hospitalised thousands and killed dozens of people in the USA and raised perceptions of the dangers posed to health by electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). These illnesses along with continued increases in youth vaping rates lead to the passage of many state and federal laws intended to curtail the sale of flavoured e-cigarettes. Little is known about the impact of these events on US e-cigarette and cigarette retail sales.MethodsUsing Nielsen Scantrack sales data from January 2014 to January 2020 for 23 US states, we evaluate the effect of the EVALI outbreak. First-differenced state-panel regressions tracking unit sales of total-level and category-level e-cigarettes and cigarette sales controlling for price, Tobacco 21 policy coverage, product distribution, seasonality, EVALI-attributable deaths, and state-level e-cigarette policies affecting the availability of e-cigarettes (non-tobacco flavoured and total) were employed.ResultsDollar sales of e-cigarettes declined 29% from their pre-EVALI peak by January 2020. Total sales of e-cigarettes declined in response to EVALI deaths and the total e-cigarette sales ban put in place in Massachusetts adopted in its wake. Cigarette sales were largely unchanged by either the direct or indirect policy effects of the EVALI outbreak, except for in Massachusetts, where cigarette sales—particularly those smoked by young people—rose temporarily after a total ban on e-cigarette sales.ConclusionSales of e-cigarettes declined in response to the EVALI outbreak and from the most restrictive regulatory policies that were adopted in response, while sales of cigarettes were affected less.

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Determinants of Consumer Intention to Use Online Gambling Services

International Journal of E-Business Research ◽

10.4018/ijebr.2016100102 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 23-37 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nuno Fortes ◽

António Carrizo Moreira ◽

João Saraiva

Keyword(s):

Perceived Risk ◽

Online Survey ◽

Online Gambling ◽

Intention To Use ◽

Unified Theory ◽

Convenience Sample ◽

Performance Expectancy ◽

Use Of Technology ◽

Usage Behavior ◽

Facilitating Conditions

Online gambling has skyrocketed in recent years. As such, knowing the determinants of consumer usage behavior is crucial in understanding online gambling services. This study has as main objective the construction of an explanatory model of the online gambling services usage behavior, based on the incorporation of perceived risk in the conceptual framework of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2). The empirical validation of the model was performed by conducting an online survey to a convenience sample of 212 Portuguese online players. Data were processed using the PLS-SEM methodology. The results evidence that performance expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivations, price value, habits, as well as perceived risk influence the intention to use online gambling services.

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Content analysis of internet marketing strategies used to promote flavored electronic cigarettes

Addictive Behaviors ◽

10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.11.012 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 91 ◽

pp. 128-135 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Eric K. Soule ◽

Kari-Lyn K. Sakuma ◽

Sherilyn Palafox ◽

Pallav Pokhrel ◽

Thaddeus A. Herzog ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Content Analysis ◽

Electronic Cigarettes ◽

Internet Marketing ◽

Marketing Strategies

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Estimating evapotranspiration using the complementary relationship and the Budyko framework

Journal of Water and Climate Change ◽

10.2166/wcc.2017.148 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 771-790 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Homin Kim ◽

Jagath J. Kaluarachchi

Keyword(s):

Root Mean Square Error ◽

Vegetation Cover ◽

Meteorological Data ◽

Mean Square ◽

Limited Data ◽

Complementary Relationship ◽

Proposed Model ◽

The Usa ◽

Dry Conditions ◽

The Subject

Abstract Several models have been developed to estimate evapotranspiration. Among those, the complementary relationship has been the subject of many recent studies because it relies on meteorological data only. Recently, the modified Granger and Gray (GG) model showed its applicability across 34 diverse global sites. While the modified GG model showed better performances compared to the recently published studies, it can be improved for dry conditions and the relative evaporation parameter in the original GG model needs to be further investigated. This parameter was empirically derived from limited data from wet environments in Canada – a possible reason for decreasing performance with dry conditions. This study proposed a refined GG model to overcome the limitation using the Budyko framework and vegetation cover to describe relative evaporation. This study used 75 eddy covariance sites in the USA from AmeriFlux, representing 36 dry and 39 wet sites. The proposed model produced better results with decreasing monthly mean root mean square error of about 30% for dry sites and 15% for wet sites compared to the modified GG model. The proposed model in this study maintains the characteristics of the Budyko framework and the complementary relationship and produced improved evapotranspiration estimates under dry conditions.

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Change and Continuity in Vaping and Smoking by Young People: A Qualitative Case Study of a Friendship Group

10.20944/preprints201804.0034.v1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Neil McKeganey ◽

Marina Barnard

Keyword(s):

Young People ◽

Electronic Cigarettes ◽

Cigarette Use ◽

Friendship Group ◽

Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽

Short Period ◽

Actual Use ◽

Substantial Change

This paper explores as a case study the development of e-cigarette use and smoking within small friendship group (n=8) in Glasgow, Scotland. Interviewed twice at six months apart these 16/17 year olds reported substantial change in their use of and attitudes towards e-cigarettes and tobacco. At time 1 vaping generated much excitement and interest, with 6/8 having their own vape device. At time 2 only two young people still vaped, with the others no longer professing any interest in continued vaping. The two regular smokers, who had been smoking before they first vaped, now only vaped privately and to reduce their tobacco intake. This small case study illustrates plasticity in the use of electronic cigarettes; just as young people can initiate using these devices so too can they more away from their use- with such changes in actual use occurring within a relatively short period of time. These findings demonstrate more than anything else the volatility in young peoples’ substance use behaviour. If we are to better understand these behaviours we require both quantitative and qualitative research studies that are capable of both monitoring changes in individual and group behaviour over time but which are also able to elucidate the nuance of individual behaviour differentiating between long term, frequent, consistent use and more episodic, experimental and infrequent use by young people.

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