We Are Innovation consistently puts out interesting data and thought-leadership on smoking-alternative products. Yesterday, they released a new report titled, The Household Case for Innovation: A Five-Country Survey on Smoking Cessation, and Quality of Life.

What’s novel about this report is that WAI and Ipsos sought the opinions of the friends and family of those who quit smoking, rather than just polling the smokers themselves.

The study, linked above, had four core goals:

  • Find out how smokers were quitting.
  • Understand how smokers’ friends and family see health and lifestyle impacts from quitting.
  • Determine whether quitting improves the quality of life for friends and family.
  • See what smokers’ friends and families think about smoking-replacement products.

Below, we’ll take a look at five interesting pouch-related findings from the poll.

Five most interesting findings from the We Are Innovation/Ipsos Poll

While there is a lot of interesting data collected about partners' perceptions across a wide range of topics, we’ll focus on what stood out related to nicotine pouches

#1. Pouches are the second most popular quit aid

The survey polled five different countries, which were the USA, Canada, the UK, France, and Japan. In all but Japan, nicotine pouches were the second most popular quit method behind vaping. This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise because of the popularity of heated tobacco products (HTP) in the Land of the Rising Sun, but it’s encouraging to see pouches make headway across the other markets.

#2. Pouches are not initially seen as an effective quit tool

When smokers' friends or family were asked which quit methods they perceived as most effective, pouches lagged behind most other methods. In fact, those surveys rated medication, NRTs, Behavioural Therapy, and Mobile Apps as better than vapes, pouches, and HTP.

However, later in the survey, when a respondent had seen a friend or family member use pouches, a whopping 87% suggested they were effective.

#3. Perceptions of harm

The poll uses the concept of Innovative Nicotine Products (INP) for vapes, pouches, and heated tobacco. Interestingly, the majority of respondents correctly identified these products as being safer than smoking cigarettes. While percentages varied by country, respondents in the US and Canada were most likely to agree, with Japan at the other end of the scale.

#4. INP concerns

It’s not all rosy. Survey respondents did have some concerns about INPs, including pouches. Many answers claimed that switching to an INP was just “trading one addiction for another”. While I have some sympathy towards that position, it’s not clear that accessing nicotine without combustible tobacco is truly addictive. It’s a dependence that doesn’t have the destruction of cigarettes, and other substances like alcohol, heroin, cocaine, etc.

#5. Prohibition

The poll has some very interesting attitudes towards the regulations of nicotine pouches. In France, 30% of respondents believe pouches should be completely prohibited. This deranged position is perhaps no surprise considering the government and media's position on the harm reduction product.

Japan and the UK, with 15% and 14% respectively, were the least likely countries to call for total prohibition of pouches, with the US at just 16% and Canada at 23%.

Final thoughts

We’ve taken a narrow pouch-centric look at this survey, but there is a lot there for those in the nicotine pouch space. I’d urge anyone to download the report and check out the various parts, including a very interesting Perceived Health and Lifestyle Changes Section. If you’re a current smoker, the section could provide the final piece of encouragement you need to quit, precisely because it highlights a bunch of mini-wins that friends and loved ones see about people who stop smoking.