Presence of flavoured products overall and by flavour type in ENDS ads by year (2015–2020)
| Study 1 | Study 2 | |||||||
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | P value | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | P value | |
| (n=587 ads) % (95% CI) | (n=603 ads) % (95% CI) | (n=495 ads) % (95% CI) | (n=827 ads) % (95% CI) | (n=1359 ads) % (95% CI) | (n=675 ads) % (95% CI) | |||
| Any flavoured product present* | 41.2 (37.3 to 45.3) (n=242 ads) | 41.6 (37.8 to 45.6) (n=251 ads) | 48.7 (44.3 to 53.1) (n=241 ads) | p=0.023 | 52.7 (49.3 to 56.1) (n=436 ads) | 39.0 (36.4 to 41.6) (n=530 ads) | 54.4 (50.1 to 58.1) (n=367 ads) | p<0.001 |
| Any non-tobacco flavoured product present | 33.2 (29.5 to 37.1) (n=195 ads) | 35.3 (31.6 to 39.2) (n=213 ads) | 42.5 (38.2 to 46.9) (n=210 ads) | p=0.005 | 44.1 (40.8 to 47.5) (n=365 ads) | 33.4 (30.9 to 36.0) (n=454 ads) | 43.7 (40.0 to 47.5) (n=295 ads) | p<0.001 |
| Flavoured product type†‡ | ||||||||
| Tobacco | 75.6 (69.8 to 80.6) (n=183 ads) | 61.0 (54.8 to 66.8) (n=153 ads) | 50.2 (43.9 to 56.5) (n=121 ads) | p<0.001 | 56.9 (52.2 to 61.5) (n=248 ads) | 56.0 (51.8 to 60.2) (n=297 ads) | 59.7 (54.6 to 64.6) (n=219 ads) | p=0.543 |
| Menthol | 56.2 (49.9 to 62.3) (n=136 ads) | 43.0 (37 to 49.2) (n=108 ads) | 35.7 (29.9 to 41.9) (n=86 ads) | p<0.001 | 33.9 (29.6 to 38.5) (n=148 ads) | 39.1 (35 to 43.3) (n=207 ads) | 55.0 (49.9 to 60.1) (n=202 ads) | p<0.001 |
| Fruit | 26.4 (21.3 to 32.4) (n=64 ads) | 29.5 (24.2 to 35.4) (n=74 ads) | 28.2 (22.9 to 34.2) (n=68 ads) | p=0.753 | 46.1 (41.5 to 50.8) (n=201 ads) | 51.3 (47.1 to 55.6) (n=272 ads) | 32.1 (27.6 to 37.1) (n=118 ads) | p<0.001 |
| Mint | 6.2 (3.8 to 10.0) (n=15 ads) | 27.1 (22 to 32.9) (n=68 ads) | 28.6 (23.3 to 34.7) (n=69 ads) | p<0.001 | 18.3 (15 to 22.3) (n=80 ads) | 33.8 (29.9 to 37.9) (n=179 ads) | 6.8 (4.6 to 9.9) (n=25 ads) | p<0.001 |
| Dessert | 7.8 (5.1 to 12.0) (n=19 ads) | 29.5 (24.2 to 35.4) (n=74 ads) | 38.2 (32.3 to 44.5) (n=92 ads) | p<0.001 | 22.5 (18.8 to 26.6) (n=98 ads) | 18.3 (15.2 to 21.8) (n=97 ads) | 8.7 (6.2 to 12.1) (n=32 ads) | p<0.001 |
| Candy | 0.0 (–) (n=0 ads) | 2.0 (0.8 to 4.7) (n=5 ads) | 10.0 (6.8 to 14.4) (n=24 ads) | p<0.001 | 17.2 (13.9 to 21.0) (n=75 ads) | 12.4 (9.9 to 15.5) (n=66 ads) | 20.7 (16.9 to 25.2) (n=76 ads) | p=0.004 |
| Non-alcoholic beverages | 0.8 (0.2 to 3.2) (n=2 ads) | 2.8 (1.3 to 5.7) (n=7 ads) | 5.4 (3.2 to 9.1) (n=13 ads) | p=0.013 | 13.5 (10.6 to 17.1) (n=59 ads) | 10.6 (8.2 to 13.5) (n=56 ads) | 12.0 (9 to 15.7) (n=44 ads) | p=0.367 |
| Coffee | 4.1 (2.2 to 7.5) (n=10 ads) | 3.6 (1.9 to 6.7) (n=9 ads) | 1.7 (0.6 to 4.3) (n=4 ads) | p=0.261 | 12.6 (9.8 to 16.1) (n=55 ads) | 8.3 (6.2 to 11.0) (n=44 ads) | 8.4 (6 to 11.8) (n=31 ads) | p=0.049 |
| Spice | 9.9 (6.7 to 14.4) (n=24 ads) | 22.3 (17.6 to 27.9) (n=56 ads) | 7.9 (5.1 to 12.0) (n=19 ads) | p<0.001 | 3.7 (2.3 to 5.9) (n=16 ads) | 0.9 (0.4 to 2.2) (n=5 ads) | 0.8 (0.3 to 2.5) (n=3 ads) | p=0.002 |
| Alcohol | 5.0 (2.8 to 8.5) (n=12 ads) | 1.6 (0.6 to 4.2) (n=4 ads) | 0.8 (0.2 to 3.3) (n=2 ads) | p=0.008 | 3.0 (1.7 to 5.1) (n=13 ads) | 2.3 (1.3 to 3.9) (n=12 ads) | 0.8 (0.3 to 2.5) (n=3 ads) | p=0.098 |
| Nuts | 0.0 (–) (n=0 ads) | 0.8 (0.2 to 3.1) (n=2 ads) | 0.0 (–) (n=0 ads) | p=0.145 | 0.0 (–) (n=0 ads) | 0.0 (–) (n=0 ads) | 0.0 (–) (n=0 ads) | – |
| Other§ | 14.0 (10.2 to 19) (n=34 ads) | 29.9 (24.5 to 35.8) (n=75 ads) | 50.6 (44.3 to 56.9) (n=122 ads) | p<0.001 | 20.9 (17.3 to 24.9) (n=91 ads) | 18.3 (15.2 to 21.8) (n=97 ads) | 10.1 (7.4 to 13.6) (n=37 ads) | p<0.001 |
*Includes tobacco-flavoured ENDS products.
†Denominator based on number of ads that advertised at least one flavoured ENDS product.
‡Flavoured product type categories were not mutually exclusive (ie, more than one flavour could be present in an ad). Because of this, percentages may sum to >100%.
§Other flavour category includes 16 flavours that did not fall into the other main categories (eg, nacho cheese) and 440 ‘concept flavours’ where the flavour was unclear based on the name (eg, Winter Solstice, Red Venom, Pluto).
ENDS, electronic nicotine delivery systems.