| Summary: | Introduction
Heated tobacco products (HTPs) and nicotine vaping products (NVPs)
both are legal consumer products in the Republic of Korea. Little is known
about perceptions of harmfulness of HTPs and NVPs relative to cigarettes in
South Korea among adults who smoke, and how exposure to marketing may be
associated with harmfulness perceptions.
Methods
This study used data from the 2020 International Tobacco Control
(ITC) Korea Survey, and included 3713 adult (aged 19 years) cigarette smokers
who were: 1) exclusive smokers (n=1845); 2) dual HTP + cigarette consumers
(n=1130); 3) dual NVP + cigarette consumers (n=224); and 4) triple consumers
(all three products, n=514). Weighted multinomial regression models were
conducted to estimate smokers’ perceptions of harmfulness of HTPs and NVPs
compared to cigarettes, NVPs to HTPs, and self-reported exposure to HTP/NVP
advertising. Analyses compared the perceptions of harmfulness between the four
different consumer groups, and tested whether exposure to HTP/NVP advertising
was associated with perceptions of lower relative harm.
Results
Among all respondents, 27.5% believe that HTPs are less harmful than
cigarettes and 23.4% believe that NVPs are less harmful than cigarettes. Exclusive
cigarettes smokers were significantly less likely to perceive that HTPs and NVPs
are less harmful than cigarettes compared to dual HTP + cigarette consumers,
dual NVP + cigarette consumers, and triple consumers (all p<0.001). Half of
respondents perceive NVPs as equally harmful as HTPs (14.1% perceive NVPs
as more harmful than HTPs). Exposure to HTP/NVP advertising was associated
with perceiving these products as less harmful than cigarettes.
Conclusions
About one-quarter of Korean cigarette smokers perceive HTPs
and NVPs as less harmful than cigarettes. Further investigation is required to
understand how harm perceptions and HTP/NVP advertising are related to
changes in product use, such as switching between products, using multiple
products, or discontinuing all product use.
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