Mists, vapors and other illusory volatilities of electronic cigarettes

Abstract

In this article, we analyze the discourse of electronic cigarette suppliers di rected at convincing potential users (smokers, former smokers or never smok ers) to acquire and use the new product. This is a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study on sellers’ discourse found in eight on-line sales websites which, between 2011 and 2013, had the highest search frequencies. The web sites were identified through Google Trends based on the number of accesses and search frequencies related to electronic cigarettes. Our methodological reference was dialectical-hermeneutics. We categorized the empirical material within the “understanding/interpretation” scheme within four broad mean ings: appropriation of the anti-smoking discourse; comparison between con ventional and electronic cigarettes; appeal to the trustworthiness of science and projection of e-cigarettes’ image. The analysis of these meanings config ured the argumentative elements of the marketing discourse used by electronic cigarette makers and suppliers.