Source: MIL-OSI Submissions
Source: Impact PR
South Islanders looking to quit smoking are set to benefit from the retail expansion of the country’s largest retailer of e-cigarettes, which will also create 40 new jobs.
A new Shosha study of 1,000 adult respondents nationwide, which was carried out by an independent research firm, has found South Islanders are more likely to want to quit smoking but less likely to use e-cigarettes as part of a smoking cessation programme than North Islanders.
Nabhik Gupta, spokesperson for Shosha, says the availability of smoking cessation products such as electronic cigarettes will be restricted under a recent law change that comes into effect next week.
He says the new industry regulation will mean consumers will only be able to purchase vape products from speciality retailers with a physical store presence.
“According to our research, around 11% of South Islanders say their smoking is a habit that troubles them or they want to change – compared to 10% of North Islanders.
“However only around a tenth (10%) of South Islanders have used vaping products as part of a smoking cessation programme, compared to a seventh (14%) of North Islanders.
“The research also shows South Islanders are less likely to recommend e-cigarettes to a friend or relative looking to quit smoking than their North Island counterparts.
“One possible reason for this may be that reduced retail access to a range of smoking alternatives is a barrier to using these products as part of their efforts to quit smoking,
“The new Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Act on November 11 will place restrictions on the retail sale of these products through convenience channels such as dairies and services stations, which has the potential to further restrict access to smoking alternative products in some parts of the South Island,” he says.
Gupta says they will open eight new stores in the South Island before the end of the year, creating employment for another 40 locals to work in the stores.
He says the new NZ owned stores will be in Blenheim, Richmond, Mosgiel, Queenstown, Ashburton, Levin, Feilding, and Hawera with the first three stores opening Monday 9th November.
Methodology:
The online survey was conducted in August 2020 using a nationwide sampling framework. The results are then weighted to Statistics New Zealand census gender, age and location to give a representative sample of the population.
This survey collected n=1,008 responses from adult New Zealanders, which have been analysed and presented within this report
