Positioning a controversial product: how Australian retailers are positioning e-cigarettes as ‘healthy’

E-cigarettes are controversial: advocates claim that using them (‘vaping’) is safer than traditional cigarettes, and they should be available for open sale. Opponents argue that the long-term health consequences of vaping are unknown and that even if it is healthier than smoking, encouraging people who would never have smoked to start vaping exposes vapers to unknown risks. In a comprehensive study of the Australian market – a market characterised by highly restricted sales of e-cigarettes and nicotine – this paper assesses how retailers are positioning (for some, arguably mal-positioning) and promoting their e-cigarettes (for some, illegally). The results show that while mainstream discussion of vaping focuses on them being safer than cigarettes, the positioning by retailers is very different, emphasising e-cigarettes as an attractive and safe option. Such a positioning is likely to encourage non-smokers to take up a product with clear risks, and which has no health benefit for them.