With the debate heating up about e-cigarettes, PSB fielded a PSB Pulse Poll June 2-3, 2014, among 800 general population US consumers, to gauge familiarity, perceptions, and attitudes regarding e-cigarettes among the general population, smokers, former-smokers, and non-smokers. Check out the key findings of this survey in Winning Knowledge section of Penn Schoen Berland

1. © 2014 PENN SCHOEN AND BERLAND ASSOCIATES LLC.
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PSB Pulse: Perceptions of E-Cigarettes Differ Greatly Between Smokers and Non-Smokers
June 23, 2014 – With the debate heating up about e-cigarettes, PSB fielded a PSB Pulse Poll June 2-3, 2014, among
800 general population US consumers, to gauge familiarity, perceptions, and attitudes regarding e-cigarettes among
the general population, smokers, former-smokers, and non-smokers. The key findings are as follows:
1. Familiarity with e-cigarettes remains relatively low, though Smokers and former-smokers are significantly
more familiar with e-cigarettes than non-smokers.
2. Despite this relatively low familiarity, the numbers saying they would be bothered by people smoking e-
cigarettes around them is at 60%, compared to 85% saying they would be bothered by regular cigarettes.
3. Two-thirds of people consider e-cigarettes to be dangerous, but 58% of smokers consider e-cigarettes
not dangerous.
4. 43% think e-cigarettes are as bad as or worse than traditional cigarettes, but among smokers 70% think e-
cigarettes are better for people’s health than traditional tobacco cigarettes.
5. Though E-cigarettes are identified as the least effective method of quitting smoking, half still thought e-
cigarettes could be effective for quitting.

2. © 2014 PENN SCHOEN AND BERLAND ASSOCIATES LLC. 2
Key Data
1. Familiarity of e-cigarettes remains relatively low, with just a quarter of the population saying they are very
familiar with them. That number is 15% among non-smokers, but only 44% among smokers, indicating the
potential for growth among smokers remains high.
Q: How familiar are you with e-cigarettes?
All
Non-
Smokers
Former-
Smokers
Smokers
Total Familiar 70 61 71 85
Very familiar 25 15 25 44
Somewhat familiar 45 46 46 41
Total Not Familiar 30 40 28 16
Not very familiar 18 23 20 10
Not at all familiar 12 17 8 6
Indeed, 60% of current smokers say they have tried e-cigarettes and only 10% say they smoke them regularly.
2. Non-smokers find traditional cigarettes more bothersome than e-cigarettes, but 60% still say they are bothered
by people smoking e-cigarettes around them.
Q: If someone is smoking around you, other than when you are in an area specifically designated for smoking, how much would it
bother you? / If someone were smoking an e-cigarette around you, other than when you are in an area specifically designated for
smoking, how much if any would it bother you?
Non-Smokers
Traditional Cigarettes E-Cigarettes
Total Bothered 85 60
A great deal 59 31
Somewhat 26 29
Total Not Bothered 15 40
Not much 8 25
Not at all 7 15
3. Although 65% of all respondents say e-cigarettes are somewhat or very dangerous, 58% of smokers consider e-
cigarettes not dangerous (compared to 17% of smokers saying traditional cigarettes are not dangers) –
indicating here as well a large potential for smokers to adopt e-cigarettes as a safer alternative.

3. © 2014 PENN SCHOEN AND BERLAND ASSOCIATES LLC. 3
Q: How dangerous do you think cigarettes are for people’s health? / How dangerous do you think e-cigarettes are for people’s
health?
All Non-Smokers Former-Smokers Smokers
Traditional
Cigarettes
E-Cigarettes
Traditional
Cigarettes
E-Cigarettes
Traditional
Cigarettes
E-Cigarettes
Traditional
Cigarettes
E-Cigarettes
Total Dangerous 95 65 97 77 95 67 93 43
Very dangerous 71 24 84 32 72 22 46 11
Somewhat dangerous 24 41 13 45 23 45 47 32
Total Not Dangerous 5 35 4 22 5 34 7 58
Not very dangerous 3 26 2 18 4 24 5 41
Not at all dangerous 2 9 2 4 1 10 2 17
4. 43% overall think c-cigarettes are as bad as or worse than traditional cigarettes, but among smokers 70% think
e-cigarettes are better for your health.
Q: Do you think e-cigarettes are much better, somewhat better, no different, somewhat worse or much worse for people’s health than
traditional tobacco cigarettes?
All
Non-
Smokers
Former-
Smokers
Smokers
Total Better 57 49 56 70
Much better 16 8 18 28
Somewhat better 41 41 38 42
No different 38 43 38 27
Total Worse 5 7 6 3
Somewhat worse 2 2 3 2
Much worse 3 5 3 1

4. © 2014 PENN SCHOEN AND BERLAND ASSOCIATES LLC. 4
Whatever their potential appeal as an alternative to traditional cigarettes, when it comes to quitting, e-cigarettes are
identified as the least effective method of quitting smoking. Yet half still thought e-cigarettes could be effective in
quitting.
How effective do you think each of the following is for quitting smoking? Showing All
62% Effective 71% Effective 72% Effective 69% Effective 49% Effective
More than half of former smokers agreed e-cigarettes could be effective, but that number was likewise far lower
than with other methods
How effective do you think each of the following is for quitting smoking? Showing former-smokers only
Former-Smokers
Total
effective
Very
effective
Somewhat
effective
Total not
effective
Not very
effective
Not at all
effective
Switching to a nicotine replacement
therapy, like a patch, gum, or inhaler
75 23 52 26 20 6
The use of a smoking cessation drug 75 18 57 26 17 9
Just doing it on your own (sometimes
called "cold turkey")
74 30 44 26 22 4
Working with a professional counselor
or coach
72 20 52 28 20 8
Switching to e-cigarettes 53 13 40 47 32 15
9 9 9 10
17
29
19 19 21
33
38
51 53 50
37
24 20 19 19 12
Just doing it on your own
(sometimes called "cold
turkey")
Working with a
professional counselor or
coach
Switching to a nicotine
replacement therapy, like
a patch, gum, or inhaler
The use of a smoking
cessation drug
Switching to e-cigarettes
Very effective Somewhat effective Not very effective Not at all effective

5. © 2014 PENN SCHOEN AND BERLAND ASSOCIATES LLC. 5
About PSB Pulse:
Margin of error is ± 3.46 overall and larger for subgroups. PSB Pulse is fielded on the first Monday of each month. It
covers business issues ranging from business news to public policy issues affecting business to new product
categories and business trends. If you have a question or topic you’d like to explore, please contact us at
PSBPulse@ps-b.com to learn more.
About Penn Schoen Berland:
Penn Schoen Berland (PSB), a member of Young & Rubicam Group and the WPP Group, is a global research-based
consultancy that specialises in messaging and communications strategy for blue-chip political, corporate and
entertainment clients. PSB’s operations include over 200 consultants and a sophisticated in-house market research
infrastructure with the capability to conduct work in over 90 countries. The company operates offices in Washington,
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Penn Schoen Berland
Tel: 202-962-3055
Email: jmailloux@ps-b.com
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