Making disposable vaping devices look plain and unbranded may help stop young people who have never smoked or vaped from trying them, according to a new study published in Tobacco Control. However, researchers warn this change could also reduce the number of people who switch from smoking to vaping.
Vaping has grown quickly in popularity among young people, especially with the rise of cheap, disposable devices. Past research has shown that colorful branding makes cigarettes and vapes more attractive to youth. But little was known about how the design of the vape device itself affects this appeal—until now.
To explore this, researchers used data from 15,259 people aged 16 to 29 across England, Canada, and the United States. Participants were part of the 2023 International Tobacco Control Youth and Young Adult Tobacco & Vaping Survey.
Participants were randomly assigned to view images of four branded or four plain white disposable vapes. They were then asked which products they would want to try and how harmful they believed the products to be.
The results showed that plain designs made vapes less appealing. About 67% of people who saw the plain designs said they had no interest in trying any of the devices. In contrast, only 63% of those who viewed branded vapes felt the same.The impact was smallest among people who had never smoked or vaped. Still, 93% of them in the standardised group said they had no interest, compared to 91% in the branded group.
The biggest difference was seen in people who had smoked but never vaped in the past month—47.5% of them were not interested in the plain devices, compared to 37.5% for the branded ones. These individuals might benefit the most from switching to vaping as a harm-reduction strategy, the researchers noted.
- 20% of exclusive vapers in the standardised group were not interested in the products, compared to 16.5% in the branded group.
- Among people who both smoked and vaped, 13.5% were uninterested in plain vapes vs. 9.5% for branded.
- Among former smokers or vapers, over 72.5% had no interest in standardised devices compared to 65% for branded ones.
However, the study found little change in how harmful participants thought vaping was. Around 31% of those shown plain devices believed vaping was less harmful than smoking, versus 33% of those who saw branded ones. Views on harm were similar across all smoking and vaping groups.
Several countries have already used packaging regulations to make cigarettes less appealing. The UK government has announced plans to apply similar rules to vapes in 2024, but it’s still unclear what these rules will involve.”Our findings suggest that regulating the design of vape devices, not just the packaging, could help reduce youth vaping,” the researchers stated. “But there is a risk that this could also discourage smokers from switching to vaping, or lead to relapse among those who already switched.”
They concluded: “For countries aiming to curb vaping among young people, standardising vape design could be a useful policy tool. However, any negative effects on smoking cessation efforts should be studied further and offset by additional policies that support quitting smoking.”
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