page_title: Electronic cigarette
section_title: Motivation
hierarchical_section_title: Electronic cigarette / Use / Motivation
caption_attribution_description: Polski: Trzy powody rozpoczęcia palenia elektronicznych papierosów (2028). English: Three reasons why they started using e-cigarettes (2018).
context_page_description: An electronic cigarette is an electronic device that simulates tobacco smoking. It consists of an atomizer, a power source such as a battery, and a container such as a cartridge or tank. Instead of smoke, the user inhales vapor. As such, using an e-cigarette is often called "vaping". The atomizer is a heating element that atomizes a liquid solution called e-liquid. E-cigarettes are activated by taking a puff or pressing a button. Some look like traditional cigarettes, and most versions are reusable.
  E-cigarettes create an aerosol, commonly called vapor, made of particulate matter. The vapor typically contains propylene glycol, glycerin, nicotine, flavors, and traces of toxicants, carcinogens, heavy metals, and metal nanoparticles. Its exact composition varies, and depends on several factors including user behavior.
  The health effects of electronic cigarettes remain uncertain, but they are likely less harmful than smoking tobacco. E-cigarette vapor contains fewer toxic chemicals, in lower concentrations, than cigarette smoke, but also contains harmful chemicals not found in tobacco smoke.
  Nicotine is toxic and highly addictive.
context_section_description: There are varied reasons for e-cigarette use. Most users are trying to quit smoking, but a large proportion of use is recreational or as a way to get around smoke-free laws. Most still smoke, raising concern that dual use may "delay or deter quitting". Some people say they want to quit smoking by vaping, but others vape to circumvent smoke-free laws and policies, or to cut back on cigarette smoking.   Many vape because they believe vaping is safer than smoking. 
  Concerns over avoiding stains on teeth or odor from smoke on clothes in some cases prompted interest in or use of e-cigarettes. Some e-cigarettes appeal considerably to people curious in technology who want to customize their devices. There appears to be a hereditary component to tobacco use, which probably plays a part in transitioning of e-cigarette use from experimentation to routine use.
  E-liquid flavors are enticing to a range of smokers and non-smokers. Non-smoking adults tried e-cigarettes due to curiosity, because a relative was using them, or because they were given one. College students often vape for experimentation. Millions of dollars spent on marketing aimed at smokers suggests e-cigarettes are "newer, healthier, cheaper and easier to use in smoke-free situations, all reasons that e-cigarette users claim motivate their use". Marketing messages echo well-established cigarette themes, including freedom, good taste, romance, sexuality, and sociability as well as messages stating that e-cigarettes are healthy, are useful for smoking cessation, and can be used in smoke free environments. These messages are mirrored in the reasons that adults and youth cite for using e-cigarettes.
  Among current e-cigarette users, e-liquid flavor availability is very appealing.  The majority of committed e-cigarette users interviewed at an e-cigarette convention found them cheaper than traditional cigarettes.
  Some users stopped vaping due to issues with the devices. Dissatisfaction and concerns over safety can discourage ongoing e-cigarette use. Commonly reported issues with using e-cigarettes were that the devices were hard to refill, the cartridges might leak and that altering the dose was hard. Smokers mainly quit vaping because it did not feel similar to traditional cigarettes, did not aid with cravings, and because they wanted to use them only to know what they were like.
caption: Reasons for initiating e-cigarette use in the European Union according to a Eurobarometer poll (2018).[89]
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