Watching Vaping Commercials Can Trigger Urge to Smoke: Study

Simply kicking the butt is not enough to quit smoking, claim researchers. You must also abstain from watching ads of e-cigarettes.

According to Business Standard, researchers at University of Pennsylvania's Anneberg School for Communication found that active smokers feel a greater urge to smoke and those who gave up feel less restrained about smoking a traditional cigarette, after watching commercials showing vaping.

"We know that exposure to smoking cues such as visual depictions of cigarettes, ashtrays, matches, lighters, and smoke heightens smokers' urge to smoke a cigarette, and decreases former smokers' confidence in their ability to refrain from smoking a cigarette. Because many e-cigarette brands that have a budget to advertise on television are visually similar to tobacco cigarettes, we wanted to see if similar effects can be attributed to e-cigarette advertising," said Dr. Erin K. Maloney a researcher at the school., in a news release.

The study involved 301 daily smokers, 272 intermittent smokers and 311 who quit smoking. After watching three e-cigarette commercials, the study's participants were asked about their urge to smoke, reports TIME. Only the intermittent smokers group reported no changes. Some 35 percent of the daily smokers reported smoking during the study after they saw the ads.

The findings of the study were noted to be significant given the ban over advertising tobacco and the increasing ad spending on e-cigarettes in the coming years.