Is electronic cigarette the most popular cigarette for Chinese?

Is electronic cigarette the most popular cigarette for Chinese?

Although the electronic cigarette was invented by the Chinese, it did not occupy a large market in China. China has 350 million smokers, while the penetration rate of electronic cigarettes is only 1%. On the other hand, in the foreign market, electronic cigarettes have grown rapidly and are generally considered as revolutionary products with unlimited potential. You can easily see people using electronic cigarettes on the streets of Europe and the United States, and you can see electronic cigarettes in Xiangkou in street stores, convenience stores and other places

Although the electronic cigarette was invented by the Chinese, it did not occupy a large market in China. China has 350 million smokers, while the penetration rate of electronic cigarettes is only 1%. On the other hand, in the foreign market, electronic cigarettes have grown rapidly and are generally considered as revolutionary products with unlimited potential. You can easily see people using electronic cigarettes on the streets of Europe and the United States. You can see electronic cigarettes sold like chewing gum in small street stores, convenience stores and other places. Why does the electronic cigarette that can be popular in Europe and America fail to become the mainstream in China?

Today, I have sorted out several reasons, hoping to solve everyone's doubts.

Electronic cigarettes are only temporary substitutes for cigarettes

Although the popularity of e-cigarettes is higher in European countries, in fact, e-cigarettes are only temporary substitutes for cigarettes. For example, when there is no cigarette or lighter, emergency response is needed. In fact, few people only smoke e-cigarettes. Many old smokers think that the tobacco flavor of electronic cigarettes is not as strong as that of real cigarettes, and they always feel that they are not strong enough, which is related to the difference between the composition of electronic cigarette oil and traditional tobacco. We all know that the composition of electronic cigarette oil is simple. It only contains, glycerin, amino acids, plant essence and other simple substances, so it is healthier. Traditional cigarettes are different.

Traditional cigarettes are divided into flue-cured tobacco type and mixed type.

The flue-cured tobacco originated in Britain, also known as British cigarettes. Its formula features that all or most of the raw materials of flue-cured tobacco are used, and the cut tobacco is orange yellow. The cigarette smoke has a typical aroma of flue-cured tobacco. The original "Camel", "Lucky Lottery" and "Marlboro" were all flue-cured tobacco, and tobacco merchants spared no effort in advertising to promote that "our tobacco leaves are roasted".

Mixed cigarettes originated in the United States, also known as American cigarettes. "Camel" is the first American mixed cigarette brand. The mixed cigarette formula is composed of flue-cured tobacco, sun cured tobacco, air cured tobacco and other tobacco leaves. It is characterized by rich aroma, mellow tobacco flavor, and brown red color of cut tobacco. At the same time, the tar content is lower than that of flue-cured tobacco.

Chinese people think that the essence flavor of mixed cigarettes is too strong and not as natural as that of flue-cured cigarettes. Therefore, China started from making flue-cured cigarettes at first, and then slowly turned to mixed cigarettes with the trend, so that Chinese smokers who are used to smoking flue-cured cigarettes will be more easily accepted.

So traditional cigarettes contain not only , but also tar, which is actually an addiction factor, while electronic cigarettes are replaced by various fruit flavors. Therefore, too little tar flavor may also be an important factor in the low conversion rate of electronic cigarettes to regular smokers.

Traditional tobacco is a kind of cigarette raw material that combines different tobacco leaves or different grades of the same tobacco leaves in a certain proportion to form a certain flavor or sensory characteristics. It is difficult to find the proportion that everyone likes. This process is the process of making a formula, which generally lasts about 3 years. Therefore, it is understandable that the newly emerging electronic cigarette has not been accepted by the old smokers.

Doubts about the Safety of Electronic Cigarette

The mechanical safety and ingredient safety of electronic cigarettes have been confirmed. The FDA of the United States will allow electronic cigarettes to be put on the market only after testing their products. While 80% of the global e-cigarette manufacturing comes from China, 90% of which are processed and manufactured in Shenzhen. However, so far there are few such confirmatory information in China, and more are still questioned. There are no relevant standards and regulations on the safety of the equipment, the safety of the tobacco oil, the safety of the battery, the safety of the inhaled gas and the exhaled gas, and there are no corresponding regulatory measures to guarantee the problems. Therefore, smokers dare not easily try electronic cigarettes for the sake of safety, health and later security.

The electronic cigarette market lacks control

Up to now, the state has no clear legislation and management on the electronic cigarette industry, no control on the market, and no detection by relevant departments. Consumers worry too much, so even if all kinds of advertisements are hyped up, it will not help. Today's consumers only believe in policies, not advertising. Although the mandatory national standard for electronic cigarette has entered the approval stage, people are still in a wait-and-see state before the policy is officially introduced. Nobody dares to be the first person to eat crabs.

Insufficient promotion of electronic cigarette

A few years ago, when electronic cigarettes were just emerging in China, there were almost no advertisements. They were all Amway and only communicated within the VAPOR circle. Only those who contacted or knew the circle could understand electronic cigarettes. In particular, recently, the media has always reported that some players' wrong operation has led to the explosion of electronic cigarettes, which has further enhanced people's fear of electronic cigarettes and dared not touch them.

The price of electronic cigarette is on the high side

For smokers who smoke a pack of cigarettes every three days, the monthly cost is about 100 yuan, while the price of electronic cigarette products ranges from 100 yuan to 500 yuan. In addition, the price of tobacco oil may not be particularly appropriate for some smokers. If it is the user who plays with the big smoke, and the consumption of the atomizing core, it will cost more. For ordinary office workers with low income, it is a little difficult to accept hundreds of monthly expenses.

Electronic cigarettes are not conducive to social interaction

The biggest consumption of tobacco and alcohol in China is not for self use, but belongs to social products. Giving gifts and receiving cigarettes and scattering cigarettes are often not because individuals want to smoke, but as a social media, the most choice is tobacco. Not only that, cigarettes also have the function of sharing, while electronic cigarettes are slightly inferior in this respect. Even though some brands have made small electronic cigarettes that can be easily carried and shared, the price is much higher than cigarettes, which is also a factor that electronic cigarettes have not been popularized.

Incapable tobacco tax

Chinese tobacco enterprises judge whether their performance is good by the amount of taxes they pay to the state each year, and the tax revenue of tobacco has always been the top in the overall tax revenue of China. The appearance of electronic cigarette, a product similar to cigarettes, is bound to have an impact on traditional tobacco. A new thing that has just come to the fore must be incomparable with an old thing that has been popular in China for hundreds of years. Besides, with such a huge market, I believe its manufacturers and operators will spare no effort to maintain its market share. And the electronic cigarette will certainly be very difficult to walk in this situation where the status and resources are extremely unequal.

China's electronic cigarette market lacks education

For a long time, the Chinese people's understanding of electronic cigarettes is still at the stage of smoking cessation products, and because of the influence of "smoking like", the public's impression of electronic cigarettes is not good. In addition, this year's 315 party's report on electronic cigarettes worried the public. They could not tell the difference between electronic cigarettes and traditional tobacco, and did not understand the working principle of electronic cigarettes and their actual use. Therefore, the education of China's electronic cigarette market has always been the direction of efforts of major electronic cigarette brands.

Nowadays, Chinese e-cigarette brands are trying their best to open up the Chinese market while educating Chinese people about e-cigarettes. For example, many e-cigarette brands have established their own communities to popularize e-cigarette knowledge to their users, convey brand concepts, and enhance customer stickiness; Some e-cigarette brands implement the lifelong free replacement system, that is, no matter what problems occur to the tobacco sticks you buy, the brand will unconditionally exchange the latest tobacco sticks for you, and you can replace them at any time if there is no problem; Some e-cigarette brands implement the system of exchanging empty cartridges, that is, used cartridges can be purchased at a discount of a part of the price; Some e-cigarette brands use the popular blockchain model to attract users to mine and retain customers; Other companies often organize offline salon activities, communicate with users face to face, understand customer needs, and achieve continuous updating and iteration of products to meet the needs of more users.

Successful customer acquisition mode of iqos

Looking around the world, there are also some methods that can be used for reference by domestic brands of electronic cigarettes from the popular IQOS. First of all, the price of IQOS is relatively friendly, which is basically equivalent to the price of traditional cigarettes in the domestic market of Japan. Besides, IQOS also offers regular, balanced regular, Menthol and Mint cigarette bombs. Secondly, we made full use of Marlboro's unmatched consumption base and brand influence in the world. Even a new cigarette that is completely different from traditional cigarettes still uses the brand name of "Marlboro", saving the steps of brand marketing. Third, in addition to the existing sales channels of Murphy International, it also uses grassroots marketing platforms and e-commerce platforms. The most important thing is that they have created a tall IQOS flagship store - IQOS Embassy offline.

Since 3014, Murphy International has opened 10 flagship stores in Japan and Italy and 3 flagship stores in Russia. Consumers can drink HeatSticks in the store, and they can also make detailed inquiries about IQOS and enjoy high-quality after-sales services. For example, in Europe, new customers enjoy the free experience service. As long as you have never used IQOS, you can experience IQOS cigarette sets worth 99 euros (about 776 yuan) for two weeks for free, and you can also give two free cigarette bombs. In addition, in the process of customer experience, there will be experience tutors for the whole process of service, ready to answer questions for customers. However, the cost of acquiring customers each time is around 360 euros (about 3038 yuan), which shows that Murphy International has paid a high cost in acquiring customers for IQOS.

From the perspective of historical evolution, it is inevitable that new things will always be rejected by old things. It is also inevitable that old things will always be replaced by new ones. Maybe some people don't like electronic cigarette just because they don't like the taste of it at that time.

Cigarette is never something we need. Maybe what you need to overcome is not your addiction, but your own addiction. If you want to be healthy, you have to quit smoking completely. In addition, you can't use anything to replace your health. Similarly, you can't rely on any substitute to quit smoking. A correct view of tobacco addiction and electronic cigarettes may be the necessary way to make the right choice.