Exposure to e-cigarette marketing is linked to greater e-cigarette use, according to a study published in Pediatrics.
Researchers analyzed nationally representative samples of youth from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study, a national longitudinal study of tobacco use. The analysis included 8,121 adolescents between ages 12 and 17, and 1,683 young adults between ages 18 and 24.
They studied 30-day exposure to e-cigarette marketing via several sources, such as websites and events, between 2014-15. They then studied e-cigarette experimentation between 2015-16.
Researchers found 70.7 percent of adolescents and 73.9 percent of young adults reported exposure to e-cigarette marketing. About 4.9 percent of adolescents and 4.5 percent of young adults reported experimenting with e-cigarettes in the second half of the study.
Adolescents and young adults exposed to e-cigarette marketing were 53 percent more likely to have experimented with e-cigarettes than those not exposed.