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Price Promotions of E-Liquid Products Sold in Online Stores

Author

Listed:
  • Shaoying Ma

    (Center for Tobacco Research, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA)

  • Shuning Jiang

    (Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA)

  • Meng Ling

    (Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA)

  • Jian Chen

    (Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA)

  • Ce Shang

    (Center for Tobacco Research, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
    Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA)

Abstract

Background: Retailer price promotions are an important marketing strategy to attract consumers. However, there is scarce evidence on how retail price promotions are being implemented by e-cigarette online stores, particularly for e-liquid products that are not often found in brick-and-mortar stores and sold in lower prices compared to other types of e-cigarettes. Objectives: We collect data on e-liquid price-promotion activities from online stores using web scraping. From February to May 2021, we scraped the price promotion data of over 14,000 e-liquid products, from five popular online vape shops that sell nationwide in the US. We present descriptive analyses of price promotion on those products, assess price promotion practices in online stores, and discuss components of the final purchase price paid by online customers. Findings: Of the 14,000 e-liquid products and over, 13,326 (92.36%) were on sale, and each online store on average offered discounts from 9.20% to 47.53% for these products. The distribution of the after-discount price was largely similar across the five stores, and there is evidence that each store had adopted different price-promotion strategies. Conclusion: Despite low prices, price promotions are common for e-liquid products, which may undermine the effect of e-cigarette pricing policies such as excise tax that are designed to raise e-cigarette prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Shaoying Ma & Shuning Jiang & Meng Ling & Jian Chen & Ce Shang, 2022. "Price Promotions of E-Liquid Products Sold in Online Stores," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-13, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:14:p:8870-:d:868488
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David C. Braak & K. Michael Cummings & Georges J. Nahhas & Bryan W. Heckman & Ron Borland & Geoffrey T. Fong & David Hammond & Christian Boudreau & Ann McNeill & David T. Levy & Ce Shang, 2019. "Where Do Vapers Buy Their Vaping Supplies? Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) 4 Country Smoking and Vaping Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-13, January.
    2. Michael F. Pesko & Charles J. Courtemanche & Johanna Catherine Maclean, 2020. "The effects of traditional cigarette and e-cigarette tax rates on adult tobacco product use," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 229-258, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ellen Galstyan & Artur Galimov & Leah Meza & Jimi Huh & Carla J. Berg & Jennifer B. Unger & Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati & Steve Sussman, 2022. "An Assessment of Vape Shop Products in California before and after Implementation of FDA and State Regulations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-10, November.
    2. Muñoz-Villamizar, Andrés & Piatti, Matias & Mejía-Argueta, Christopher & Pirabe, Luis Felipe & Namdar, Jafar & Gomez, Juan Felipe, 2024. "Navigating retail inflation in Brazil: A machine learning and web scraping approach to the basic food basket," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

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