The compiled data indicate that on the whole, e-cigarette ever users tend to distrust governmental agencies more than never users. Perhaps unsurprisingly, those participants were more likely to perceive e-cigarettes as addictive, tended to distrust e-cigarette companies, while those who perceive the devices as safer alternatives relative to conventional cigarettes, were more likely to distrust doctors, pharmacists and healthcare providers.
Many fail to differentiate between the tobacco and vaping industries
Trust in tobacco companies and trust in e-cigarette companies were both negatively associated with perceived harm of e-cigarettes. Many harm reduction advocates would argue, that the tragedy here is that so many people fail to differentiate between the two industries, as there are numerous well meaning vaping businesses which have smoking cessation to heart.
The researchers concluded that future harm reduction campaigns promoting e-cigarette use for smoking cessation, “should incorporate messaging to discredit industry sources of information and utilize non-governmental sources to effectively influence e-cigarette attitudes.”
