Understanding young adults' perception on e-cigarette: a qualitative study

Abstract

E-cigarette are widely used in society. In order to understand the intentions of e-cigarettes usage among young adults, this study aimed to explore what factors influenced them to use e-cigarettes. In this study, 5 participants volunteered for counselling discussion. All participants were males and currently enrolled as university students. Participant's ages ranged from 21 to 25 years old. This study used a qualitative method by applied interview approach to gain in-depth understanding of participants' viewpoints on e-cigarettes. The findings showed that there were 7 categories explained the intentions of young adults on e-cigarette usage. The intentions for e-cigarettes usage were to stop smoking addiction, harmless, suitable for indoor smoking, user friendly, pleasant flavour, fashion, and hobby. Based on these categories, this study grouped young adults' perceptions on e-cigarettes usage into 3 factors, which were the perception that e-cigarettes were safer than tobacco smoking, the nature of e-cigarettes was opposite by tobacco cigarettes, and to be stylish. The study provides a conceptual understanding for counsellors and educators to gain information about young adults' perceptions on this matter. This study helps further research to construct domains regarding the perceptions of e-cigarettes usage among young adults.