Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 11-19-2015 12:00 AM Heating Up the Debate: E-cigarettes and Instagram Stephanie L. Ritter The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. Daniel Robinson The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Media Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Master of Arts © Stephanie L. Ritter 2015 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Health Communication Commons, and the Social Media Commons Recommended Citation Ritter, Stephanie L., "Heating Up the Debate: E-cigarettes and Instagram" (2015). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 3350. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3350 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HEATING UP THE DEBATE: E-CIGARETTES AND INSTAGRAM (Thesis format: Monograph) by Stephanie Ritter Graduate Program in Media Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Stephanie Ritter 2015 Abstract Electronic cigarette (“e-cigarette”) posts on Instagram are increasing daily. Two compelling reasons to investigate e-cigarette content on Instagram are: the large numbers of young people on Instagram and recent research suggesting that e-cigarettes function as tobacco smoking initiation products, especially among teens. For this study, a representative sample of 854 e-cigarette hashtag (“#”) ecig posts were compiled from Instagram in October 2014. A content analysis was then performed on these posts to determine the frequency and composition of such categories as product shots, promotion, event sponsorship, “vape-selfies,” and health-related messages. Noteworthy findings include the preponderance of e-cigarette product shots, “follower giveaway” contests to increase electronic word-of-mouth (“eWOM”), “blowing cloud” contests promoting e-cigarettes and the “vaping lifestyle,” and the near absence of health information concerning e-cigarettes. Keywords E-cigarette, Instagram, promotion, health, follower giveaways, vape-selfies, cloud contest ii Acknowledgments First, I would like to thank Dr. Daniel Robinson, my supervisor and mentor, who has been incredibly supportive throughout this entire process. From chatting about my options for graduate school in fourth year to encouraging me to apply for a CIHR grant and now to supervising me to submit my thesis, thank you for always taking the time to field my questions and calm my concerns. It has been a long road, but I am incredibly grateful for all of your help. I would not be where I am today if it were not for Professors Dr. Anabel Quan-Haase and Dr. Carole Farber. I admire how generous both of you are with your time and I hope someday I can inspire and motivate my students as you do. Your guidance and support as my letter writers and secondary supervisors for the CIHR grant allowed me to realize my true calling - and something you are both so naturally good at - knowledge translation. Last but definitely not least, I would like to thank my family, friends and Labrador Retriever. My mom Elaine, dad David, and sister Caitlin have contributed to this project in more ways than I have room to share. To my mom who always agreed to be my audience when I needed to read my thesis out loud; my dad who would remind me of how proud he was of what I was accomplishing almost every day; and my sister Caitlin who I could always count on to be my voice of reason. I truly do not think I could have accomplished this thesis without the support of each of these truly amazing people. A big hug to my friends in both London and Toronto. The past two years have been difficult, but meeting for coffee and editing sessions on the Danforth, dinner dates around town, and liquid bonding rituals conforming to my writing schedule, helped me keep the work/social balance I needed to submit this work. Lastly, I have to thank my dog Ruby who literally stayed by my side throughout this entire process. iii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vii Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1 Chapter One: Methodology .......................................................................................... 14 1.1 Ethical Considerations .......................................................................................... 14 1.2 Data Collection Process ........................................................................................ 15 1.3 Construction of Instagram Sample ........................................................................ 16 1.4 Pilot Study ............................................................................................................. 18 1.5 Research Setting: Instagram & Data Collection ................................................... 19 1.6 Research Approach: Mixed Methods .................................................................... 20 1.7 Research Design: Content & Cultural Analysis .................................................... 21 1.8 Researcher’s Role ................................................................................................. 23 2 Chapter Two: #ecig Shop Talk .................................................................................... 24 2.1 Overview of Collected Content ............................................................................ 24 2.3 Product Shots ........................................................................................................ 25 2.4 Promotion .............................................................................................................. 28 2.4.1 Non-Monetary ........................................................................................... 31 2.4.2 Monetary ................................................................................................... 35 2.4.3 Event Sponsorship .................................................................................... 40 2.5 Business Listings .................................................................................................. 48 iv 2.6 Health-Themed Posts ............................................................................................ 48 3 Chapter Three: #ecig Shoot & Share ........................................................................... 52 3.1 Vape-selfies ........................................................................................................... 52 3.1.1 Vape-selfies and Identity Construction ..................................................... 55 3.1.2 Vape-selfies: ‘Writing Ourselves into Being’ & Impression Management .............................................................................................. 57 3.1.3 Vape-Selfies & Prosumers ........................................................................ 61 3.1.4 Vape-Selfies & Marxist Notions of Exploitation ...................................... 67 3.2 Blowing Clouds .................................................................................................... 68 3.3 Vaping Memes ...................................................................................................... 72 3.4 Miscellaneous ....................................................................................................... 75 3.4.1 Active Producers of E-cigarette Content & Digital Footprint .................. 77 3.5 Erotic Posts ........................................................................................................... 78 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 84 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 91 Curriculum Vitae ............................................................................................................ 104 v List of Tables Table 1: Summary of Promotion Categories ..................................................................... 12 Table 2: Frequency of E-cigarette-related Hashtags (June 16, 2014) ................................ 15 vi List of Figures Figure 1: First, Second, and Third Generation E-cigarettes (Respectively) ........................ 4 Figure 2: Data Collection Schedule (October 2014) .......................................................... 16 Figure 3: Microsoft Spreadsheet Example ........................................................................