The Oral Tobacco and Nicotine Pouch Report 2023

 

 

National Statistics on Oral Tobacco and Nicotine Pouch Use

 

The Oral Tobacco & Nicotine Pouch Report 2023 is produced by Nicokick in collaboration with Northerner. The aim is to create the best evidence base in the US on nicotine pouches and oral tobacco. The report is aimed at consumers and the interested public, authorities, decision-makers, and opinion leaders, with the intent of safeguarding fact-based public discussions about tobacco and nicotine while enabling interested parties to follow the development over time.

This report is based on purchasing data from Nicokick and Northerner, which provides insights into the trends of oral nicotine consumers across the U.S. throughout the full year of 2022, with the data coming from 99,964 customers. Insights from a consumer survey have complemented this rich evidence base.

 

 

Top Lists of 2022

 

 

Number of Cans Per Week

 

The average oral nicotine user consumes 4.3 cans of nicotine pouches or oral tobacco
weekly. The distribution in this respect is relatively even across the country. The highest average value is found in the Northeast at 4.5 cans, while the lowest is in the West at 4.2 cans. The Northeast also has the highest share of “high-frequency users” – more than one in two users (54 percent) state that they use five or more cans per week.

Regarding online purchases, an average of 23 cans were purchased per shopping occasion in 2022. Almost half (47 percent) of the U.S. consumers switch between two or more products. E-commerce has improved the opportunities to switch products as the selection is more extensive, and it is easy to find new varieties that suit individual taste preferences or other desires.

 

 

Reasons Consumers Start Using Snus or Nicotine Pouches

 

Quitting smoking is the most common reason to start using oral tobacco products or nicotine pouches. Just over four out of ten consumers (41 percent) state smoking cessation as the explicit reason to why they began using nicotine pouches or oral tobacco. The proportion is significantly higher among women (56 percent) than men (39 percent).

In addition to serving as a smoking cessation strategy, a social dimension comes into play as a reason to start for some oral nicotine users. An eighth of oral nicotine users (13 percent) saw others using it and got curious, and just over a fifth (22 percent) were introduced to nicotine pouches or oral tobacco by being offered some by a friend or family member. Few, however, state that they started using nicotine pouches or oral tobacco because of appealing marketing (2 percent).

 

 

Oral Tobacco and Nicotine Pouch Use During Tough Economic Times

 

2022 was when high inflation deeply impacted Americans’ wallets for the first time in a long while. Similar inflation figures were last seen in the late 1980s. Massive stimuli following the pandemic, the outbreak of war in Ukraine, and disruptions in the energy market contributed to an almost perfect storm. Led by the Federal Reserve, central banks worldwide have raised interest rates at a record pace in their attempts to curb inflation. Rising living costs erode households’ purchasing power and lead to significant changes in consumer behavior, as many must forgo all but the most essential purchases.

While few seem to set aside oral nicotine due to the deteriorating economy, nicotine pouches and oral tobacco consumption and purchasing behavior have changed. The major shift is that oral nicotine use changes and adapts to new circumstances. Eight out of ten consumers have changed their oral nicotine usage or purchasing behavior in some way during 2022 due to inflation and/or a deteriorating economy. Adaptive behaviors are more common among younger users than older ones.

The most common adjustment is to buy more online, where prices are often lower (54 percent), closely followed by purchasing more in bulk to reduce the cost per can (52 percent). Other common strategies include keeping each nicotine pouch or snus in for a longer time (20 percent), choosing the occasions to consume oral nicotine more carefully (14 percent), and switching to cheaper brands (13 percent).

 

 

How Smokers Perceive the Harm of Different Nicotine Products

 

According to a previous survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of Nicokick, slightly over two out of ten smokers (21 percent) believe that nicotine pouches are less harmful than cigarettes. This means that a clear majority (79 percent) perceive nicotine pouches as equally harmful, more harmful, or don’t know. Among oral nicotine users, on the other hand, more than nine out of ten (91 percent) perceive oral nicotine use as less harmful than cigarette smoking. In comparison, only 9 percent hold a different opinion.

The significant discrepancy between smokers and oral nicotine users partly indicates cognitive dissonance among smokers. In almost all humans, we (often unconsciously) downplay the risks of our actions and overlook the benefits of alternatives to defend the status quo for ourselves. This way, we can continue indulging in our vices and avoid undergoing a potentially difficult and painful process of change.

The variations in perceptions regarding the health effects of different forms of nicotine use among various groups can also be attributed to the limited accessibility of relevant knowledge. Information and research on the health effects of switching to nicotine pouches or oral tobacco may not reach out. Even among oral nicotine users, knowledge and information are limited; many may find the information complex to understand or engage with. More than half of oral nicotine users (53 percent) report that they have neither seen, read, nor heard about the health effects of transitioning from smoking to oral tobacco or nicotine pouches. Presumably, this type of knowledge is even less known among smokers.

 

 

How Snus and Nicotine Pouch Users Perceive the Harm of Different Nicotine Products

 

Consumers of oral nicotine generally know that nicotine pouches and oral tobacco products are less harmful than cigarettes. However, it can be difficult for individuals to assess the exact magnitude of the difference. On a ten-point scale where cigarettes represent a 10, oral nicotine users rate nicotine pouches at an average of 3.1 and snus at 6.0. This means oral nicotine users perceive both products (especially nicotine pouches) as less harmful than other alternatives such as cigarettes, chewing tobacco, vape/e-cigarettes, and heat-not-burn products. Considering all these products, there has only been one clear shift since the previous year. It pertains to vape/e-cigarettes, whose perceived risk has increased on the scale from 7.0 to 7.3, an increase of 0.3 units.

A driving force that partly explains the relatively higher acceptance of nicotine pouches and oral tobacco products compared to cigarettes is the impulse not to harm others. Nicotine pouches and oral tobacco products do not affect non-users in the same way that, for example, cigarette smoking can.
More than half of all nicotine pouch and oral tobacco product users (52 percent) state this as one of the main advantages of oral nicotine compared to other nicotine and tobacco products.

 

 

*Sources:

https://f1000research.com/articles/9-1225

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10401876/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24714502/

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/e-cigarettes-an-evidence-update

 

Download the Oral Tobacco & Nicotine Pouch Report Here

 

 

The Report Contains