Objectives. To conduct a content analysis of news articles to investigate the relationship between language used to describe e-cigarettes, how the news articles framed (conveyed information to influence a certain perception of the news read by its audience) e-cigarettes, and the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) oversight of e-cigarettes.
Methods. We searched a database of articles published across the United States from February 1, 2016, to February 28, 2017, using the headline terms “e-cigarette,” “e-cig,” and “vape.” We then dichotomized terms into 2 categories: technical (“e-cigarette” or “e-cig”) and nontechnical (“vape”). We coded the frame of each article body as positive, negative, or neutral or mixed.
Results. Articles containing the term “vape” in the headline were more likely to positively frame e-cigarettes (P ≤ .001) and negatively frame FDA oversight (P ≤ .001) in the body than were those with “e-cigarette” or “e-cig” in the headline.
Conclusions. Omitting the word “cigarette” when describing tobacco products may reduce the negative perception associated with tobacco use, making it more appealing. It is important to know which terms are used to describe e-cigarettes and how these terms can make those products appear less harmful.
- When this research was performed, Kandice Cross and Joshua Wu were students in the College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus. Megan E. Roberts and Amy K. Ferketich are with the College of Public Health, The Ohio State University.
