Vaping is slowly gaining a ton of momentum and for pretty good reasons. It's healthier, tastier, and you can do it pretty much anywhere. Nicotine vaping first started to gain popularity in the early 2000s and now in 2016 it is one of the quickest growing industries in the world. Let's talk about some of the perks of e-cigarettes as well as why some people still continue to smoke.
Vapor means much less Carcinogens:
When you use an e-cig you are not inhaling any smoke at all. It is pure Nicotine vapor that typically has an extra flavor associated with it as well. This is why vaping is a much healthier alternative than smoking, and even chewing tobacco. Smoke is extremely toxic to your lungs alone. Combine cigarette carcinogens with the dangerous effects of smoke inhalation and you have 1 dangerous little product wrapped in paper. We don't even need to talk about the dangers of the mouth cancer-causing oral tobacco products. Even Phillip Morris, one of the largest Tobacco companies in the world has recently advised its customers to stop smoking cigarettes and turn to an alternative. Vape juice products tend to have much less of these harmful chemicals so it is widely believed that vaping has a much lower risk of cancer associated with it than the other forms of tobacco use.
Why do people choose to Still Smoke?
Even with vaping being much healthier and more convenient than cigarettes, there are some people who choose to still smoke instead. I think the main reason for this is the fact that Many people are addicted to the act and feeling of smoking itself, rather than the effects caused by nicotine. Many smokers talk about how "vaping just doesn't give them the burn that a cigarette does". Essentially, these smokers seem to have built up a strong psychological dependence on the act cigarettes rather than a Chemical need.
Anyone who's at least 25 years old knows how ruthless the tobacco companies can be when it comes to their marketing campaigns. Although laws have gotten more strict recently, tobacco still remains one of the most heavily advertised products in history. In the 80s and early 90s, it could be hard to go a single day without seeing a tobacco ad either on television, in magazines, in films, or on a huge billboard.
I think this heavy marketing and branding has created some very die-hard loyal tobacco consumers who hate the thought of consuming anything other than their preferred method of tobacco consumption (ie. smoking, chewing, etc.). This works the same way that Apple fanatics will not use any phone other than the iPhone, or how Pepsi drinkers won't have anything to do with Coca-Cola.
The fact of the matter is that brand marketing can creative a strong sense of attraction towards one product or another. It gives users a sense of belonging in a way that becomes ingrained into their personality. As consumers, we need to try and make better decisions about the products that we buy and be more aware of the feelings/emotions that can be caused by advertisements.