Uncovering electronic cigarette shops 'retail kinship' strategies

Marck, Michael and Ennis, Sean and Caemmerer, Barbara; Robinson, Linda and Brennan, Linda and Reid, Mike, eds. (2017) Uncovering electronic cigarette shops 'retail kinship' strategies. In: ANZMAC 2017 : Marketing for Impact. RMIT University, Melbourne, pp. 649-652.

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore how vape shops use retail kinship strategies to create a community of loyal customers. Retailing a product shrouded in rhetoric and controversial benefits is risky: a product that may wean consumers from a nasty habit proven to shorten one’s life span yet is banned in Canada and restricted in Australia with a plethora of laws regulating its use. In the UK and Europe the reality is a welcoming of e-cigs as an effective tool to discourage smoking tobacco. Such a product is not only perilous and controversial but requires customised retail strategies to flourish in a kinship manner devoted to their community of customers. The UK e-cigarette industry is facing paradoxical public opinion, contentious medical reports and ever-changing governmental legislation– welcome to the UK e-cigarette market, an industry worth £913 million and 2.6 million users of vape products. (Goldsmith, 2016).