Indonesia has effectively no regulations on e-cigarettes and is one of the world’s largest populations of social media users. In this context, e-cigarettes companies are using social media platforms to hook their ideal consumer—young people—where they spend much of their time.
Our new study offers a first-of-its-kind look at the social media marketing tactics of the e-cigarette industry in Indonesia. It uncovers how brands use social media, and particularly Instagram, to directly market products to young people with content meant to appeal to them and draw them to online stores. E-cigarette marketing exposure is associated with an increased likelihood of use among youth.
The report summarizes data from the Tobacco Enforcement and Reporting Movement (TERM,) a real-time digital media monitoring tool, and explores how and through which social media platforms e-cigarettes are marketed.
