Title: Gender perceptions of smoking and cessation via technology, incentives and virtual communities

Authors: Alan D. Smith, Amber A. Smith

Addresses: Department of Management and Marketing, Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh, PA 15219-3099, USA. ' Department of Management and Marketing, Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh, PA 15219-3099, USA

Abstract: There are many studies that have tried to evaluate some of the determining factors in smoking cessation, but with limited success. In particular, the present study deals with these concerns within the context of the current global recession and the roles of technology and social networking as moderating variables in the examination of smoking working professionals| relationships between people|s background experiences with smoking, their self-reported perceptions about health, economic, and social aspects of smoking, and their perspectives on quitting. The empirical section examines current opinions of smoking analogues as alternatives to cessation and identify whether these opinions were influenced by negative perspectives of smoking in general. Several hypotheses and factor analyses related to smoking cessation statistically evaluated assumptions that economic and social considerations had more effects on quitting than health concerns; personal experience with smoking leads to less confidence in cold turkey quitting; and that technology-based solutions and virtual communities can gain wide acceptance despite the chemical addictiveness of tobacco-related products.

Keywords: business strategy; economic recession; customer behaviour; customer relationship management; CRM; smoking cessation; tobacco; virtual communities; online communities; web based communities; stopping smoking; incentives; social networking; consumer perceptions; health concerns; personal experiences; cold turkey quitting; technology based solutions; gender perceptions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEH.2011.039056

International Journal of Electronic Healthcare, 2011 Vol.6 No.1, pp.1 - 33

Published online: 14 Mar 2011 *

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