Motivation for the Shift to E-cigarettes' Consumption

This work is devoted to the study of the motivations of consumers of electronic cigarettes. This work had two main goals - to identify the motives for trying and continuing use of electronic cigarettes, as well as to operationalize the concept of the practice of consuming electronic cigarettes through identifying the actions that should be included in this practice. The work was carried out on the basis of a modern interpretation of the theory of practices in relation to practices that are potentially harmful to health and Western research on the motivation of consumers of electronic cigarettes. We conducted fifteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews with former and current e-cigarette consumers. The main motivation for trying electronic cigarettes was curiosity, while the main motivation for continuing was the desire to quit smoking among smoking respondents, and the taste of electronic cigarettes among non-smoking respondents. We also checked and supplemented the list of actions that should be included in the practice of consuming electronic cigarettes. This study is one of the first on the topic of electronic cigarettes in Russia, therefore, in further studies, it is worth checking our data using quantitative methods, as well as conducting a broader study to establish the reasons for the transition to electronic cigarettes.