British public back the electronic cigarette revolution, says E-Lites survey

Over one-in-three British people believe electronic cigarettes should be made more widely available to smokers, so says a major survey commissioned by the UK’s E-Lites brand.

Some 36 per cent of survey respondents said electronic cigarettes should be more accessible to smokers, while 43 per cent agreed in principle that the recent introduction of the products represented good news for smokers. But 47 per cent said they didn’t know enough about e-cigarettes to give an opinion, which supports calls for more education about the products’ benefits for smokers.

The E-Lites survey, carried out by USurv.com, questioned 1,000 members of the public about their attitudes to smoking. Respondents comprised of 25 per cent regular smokers, 12 per cent occasional smokers and 63 per cent non-smokers.

Asked which three things they disliked most about smoking in general, the most common answer was the smell, cited by 58 per cent of respondents, and this was closely followed by bad breath, cited by 46 per cent of those surveyed.

This suggests the outward effects of smoking and their impact on personal appearance are more important to image-conscious Britons than the damage to health. Only 37 per cent selected damage to smokers’ health as a main thing to dislike, while 38 per cent cited the impact of smoking on the health of non-smokers as a key cause of complaint.

With the latest budget announcement pushing the average cigarette pack price to £7, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the top complaint among smokers was the rising cost of smoking, with 69 per cent naming that as their main gripe.

Yet 83 per cent of overall respondents confirmed that they were aware of electronic cigarettes such as E-Lites, which are an alternative option for smokers. Around one-in-three appreciate that electronic cigarettes are healthier than conventional cigarettes and only slightly fewer acknowledge that the smoking ban does not apply to these smoke-free products.

Interestingly, only 13 per cent accept that electronic cigarettes are cheaper than normal cigarettes, despite E-Lites, for example, being 70 per cent cheaper than their conventional counterparts. It’s estimated that a typical 20-a-day smoker would save around £162 per month by switching.

E-Lites, founded in 2007, is the UK’s most established brand, providing smokers with a reliable electronic device that’s safer, cleaner, healthier and cheaper than tobacco cigarettes, as well as being legally unrestricted for use in public places. The absence of tar, tobacco and other toxins allows E-Lites users to avoid the damaging effects of smoking, while still enjoying a familiar experience of nicotine inhalation. Being free of nasty smells and smoke, E-Lites present no passive smoking issues and are therefore far less objectionable to non-smokers.

E-Lites co-founder and director Adrian Everett said: “We commissioned this survey to get an accurate picture of how Britons feel about smoking in 2012. The results are extremely interesting. While smokers are fed up with the rising cost of tobacco cigarettes, non-smokers in particular object to the nasty smells, smoky environments and bad breath that are associated with smoking. It’s therefore not surprising that almost half of the British public agree that electronic cigarettes like E-Lites are a welcome innovation, simply because they eliminate all of these complaints in one. That’s precisely why we are working hard to further increase the availability of E-Lites throughout the country.

“However, what we also recognise is that many other people in the UK do not feel sufficiently informed about electronic cigarettes, so we must continue trying to educate the public about the advantages of these products as opposed to their increasingly outdated tobacco predecessors.”

E-Lites (www.e-lites.co.uk) was established in the UK in 2007 and is already a leader in its field, producing some of the most advanced electronic cigarettes on the market. The company is expanding nationally and internationally as demand grows for its innovative products.

Its latest range of new-generation E-Lites are the result of extensive UK research and development.

The evolution of E-Lites has been supported by significant investment in design and testing to ensure its electronic smoking devices are made to the highest standards and deliver the most authentic and luxurious smoking sensation possible. The company’s manufacturing facility uses the latest state of the art micro-electronic technology, ensuring E-Lites set the standard within the electronic smoking industry. E-Lites are globally patented, internationally trademarked, and are backed by an international parts replacement guarantee.

Michael Ryan, one of the founding directors of E-Lites, is also chairman of the Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association (ECITA), a representative body which provides advice, guidelines and support to members, as well as working to ensure the correct regulatory framework is applied to such products. For more information, visit www.ecita.org.uk