Publication Type

PhD Dissertation

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

1-2023

Abstract

In the global environment of tobacco control, along with the increasing concern for health, electronic companies around the world have focused on the research and production of "non-combustible alternatives to cigarettes" to meet the psychology of consumers to quit smoking and the pursuit of fashion, and the most popular products are "Electronic Cigarette” (E-cig) and its similar products. In recent years, domestic E-cig-related products have gradually known by the public, with increasing exposure in the news media and rapid growth in sales. Among them, HnB E-cig has smoking taste closer to the characteristics of traditional cigarettes and therefore is gradually accepted by the market. HnB Tobacco Products, filled in their mouths with tobacco flakes, will heat tobacco via the temperature control technology by the electric heat core, so that the tobacco just releases aromatic substances and nicotine and therefore generate smoke. Therefore, this smoking method involves no combustion, while low-temperature heating of tobacco products can significantly reduce the release of harmful substances, which can both provide smoking satisfaction and reduce coke and harm at the same time. Because E-cig and HnB Tobacco Products have stylish designs, low harm to humans, and numerous product flavors, they have quickly dominated the market among alternatives of traditional cigarettes.

Using least square method and instrumental variables, this dissertation investigates the impact of changes in consumer cognitive ability, attention paid to health, and external factors on the consumption of new e-cigarettes in the E-cig industry to explore the impact of new product changes on changes in Consumer Behavior. By studying this issue, we can effectively get to know the current hotspots and consumption trends in domestic tobacco market, help E-cig companies in developing, designing, and optimizing E-cig products, and facilitate the E-cig players to be more adaptable to the rapidly changing external environment of the industry and promote the healthy development of the E-cig industry.

The first part makes an introduction. It contains the background and significance of the topic selected, the research content, the research method, the framework structure of the research, and the innovation of the dissertation. The second part is mainly divided into two aspects: defining concepts and analyzing the current situation. On the one hand, it is to explain the key terms and concepts, and at the same time systematically compare the advantages and disadvantages of new tobacco and traditional cigarette, to highlight the new product change. On the other hand, it is to make a systematic analysis of the current development status of China's E-cig industry to highlight the importance of this dissertation's research. The third part lists literature review and research hypotheses. This part mainly presents an analysis of three significant factors affecting tobacco, especially E-cig consumption: personal factors such as gender, age and income, health factor and the external factors, such as the cohort effect. Three research hypotheses are proposed based on literature interview: first, age, income and education are closely related to E-cig consumption behavior. Second, lower health risks are an important reason for consumers to choose E-cig over traditional cigarettes. Third, external factors are a key reason for E-cig consumption. The fourth part reveals data, variables, and identification strategies. It mainly introduces the data used, the variables set, and the identification strategy used herein, while also gives the descriptive statistics of the data in this dissertation. The fifth part describes the basic measurement results. This part focuses on the validation of the proposed hypotheses using the data in this dissertation through various methods such as least square regression model, Instrumental Variables Method, principal component analysis, and Shapley decomposition. The sixth part conducts robustness test, specifically by further controlling for county-level fixed effects to demonstrate the robustness of the results of this dissertation. The seventh part gives the research conclusions and policy recommendations. This part summarizes the research of this dissertation, provides policy recommendations on how to further regulate the E-cig industry using changes in Consumer Behavior, and presents the shortcomings of this dissertation and prospects for further research.

Keywords

New E-cig, Consumer Behavior

Degree Awarded

Doctor of Bus Admin (CKGSB)

Discipline

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Sales and Merchandising | Technology and Innovation

Supervisor(s)

FU, Fangjian

First Page

1

Last Page

123

Publisher

Singapore Management University

City or Country

Singapore

Copyright Owner and License

Author

Download

Share

COinS