Recent manuscripts
Archive
Aims and Scope
Editorial Board
Open Access
Indexing
Contact us
Authorship & COI
Principles of Transparency Checklist
Publication Ethics
Crossmark
Data Policies
Supporting Diversity
Instructions to authors (PDF)
Manuscript Types
Manuscript Formatting
How to submit
Special Publications & Reprints
Preprints
TID on Twitter
RESEARCH PAPER
Twitter users’ reaction to a chain pharmacy’s decision to end tobacco sales
1
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, USA
Submission date: 2015-01-15
Acceptance date: 2015-10-20
Publication date: 2015-11-04
Corresponding author
Patricia A. McDaniel
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Ste. 455, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Ste. 455, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA
Tobacco Induced Diseases 2015;13(November):36
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Background:
Reducing the number of tobacco outlets may help reduce smoking uptake and use; public support for such action is essential. We explored how Twitter users responded to the announcement by US pharmacy chain CVS that it was voluntarily ending tobacco sales.
Methods:
We used Twitter’s application programming interface to retrieve tweets and retweets posted over an 8-day period in February 2014 that contained two trending CVS-related hashtags (#cvs and #cvsquits). We manually coded 6,257 tweets as positive, negative, or neutral.
Results:
The majority of tweets were positive (56.0 %) or neutral (39.4 %).
Conclusions:
There was little disapproval of CVS’s decision to end tobacco sales among Twitter users, possibly due to the voluntary nature of the decision. The level of support suggests that CVS’s image and bottom line will not suffer as a result. Further voluntary actions to end tobacco sales – which may lay the groundwork for legislation -- should be incentivized and supported.
Reducing the number of tobacco outlets may help reduce smoking uptake and use; public support for such action is essential. We explored how Twitter users responded to the announcement by US pharmacy chain CVS that it was voluntarily ending tobacco sales.
Methods:
We used Twitter’s application programming interface to retrieve tweets and retweets posted over an 8-day period in February 2014 that contained two trending CVS-related hashtags (#cvs and #cvsquits). We manually coded 6,257 tweets as positive, negative, or neutral.
Results:
The majority of tweets were positive (56.0 %) or neutral (39.4 %).
Conclusions:
There was little disapproval of CVS’s decision to end tobacco sales among Twitter users, possibly due to the voluntary nature of the decision. The level of support suggests that CVS’s image and bottom line will not suffer as a result. Further voluntary actions to end tobacco sales – which may lay the groundwork for legislation -- should be incentivized and supported.
REFERENCES (32)
1.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking--50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2014.
2.
Novak SP, Reardon SF, Raudenbush SW, Buka SL. Retail tobacco outlet density and youth cigarette smoking: a propensity-modeling approach. Am J Public Health. 2006;96(4):670–6. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2004.061622.
3.
Henriksen L, Feighery EC, Schleicher NC, Cowling DW, Kline RS, Fortmann SP. Is adolescent smoking related to the density and proximity of tobacco outlets and retail cigarette advertising near schools? Prev Med. 2008;47(2):210–4. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2008.04.008.
4.
Lipperman-Kreda S, Grube JW, Friend KB. Local tobacco policy and tobacco outlet density: associations with youth smoking. J Adolesc Health. 2012;50(6):547–52.
5.
Adams ML, Jason LA, Pokorny S, Hunt Y. Exploration of the link between tobacco retailers in school neighborhoods and student smoking. J Sch Health. 2013;83(2):112–8. doi:10.1111/josh.12006.
6.
Reitzel LR, Cromley EK, Li Y, Cao Y, Dela Mater R, Mazas CA, et al. The effect of tobacco outlet density and proximity on smoking cessation. Am J Public Health. 2011;101(2):315–20. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2010.191676.
7.
Halonen JI, Kivimaki M, Kouvonen A, Pentti J, Kawachi I, Subramanian SV et al. Proximity to a tobacco store and smoking cessation: a cohort study. Tob Control. 2013. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050726.
8.
Kotecki JE, Hillery DL. A survey of pharmacists’ opinions and practices related to the sale of cigarettes in pharmacies-revisited. J Community Health. 2002;27(5):321–33. doi:10.1023/A:1019884526205.
9.
Kotecki JE, Fowler JB, German TC, Stephenson SL, Warnick T. Kentucky pharmacists’ opinions and practices related to the sale of cigarettes and alcohol in pharmacies. J Community Health. 2000;25(4):343–55. doi:10.1023/A:1005168528085.
10.
Kotecki JE, Elanjian SI, Torabi MR, Clark JK. Pharmacists’ concerns and suggestions related to the sale of tobacco and alcohol in pharmacies. J Community Health. 1998;23(5):359–70. doi:10.1023/A:1018797805959.
11.
Kotecki JE, Torabi MR, Elanjian SI. Pharmacists’ opinions and practices related to the sale of cigarettes and alcohol--a follow-up study. J Community Health. 1997;22(6):469–79. doi:10.1023/A:1025132716575.
12.
Hudmon KS, Hussar DA, Fenlon CM, Corelli RL. Pharmacy students’ perceptions of tobacco sales in pharmacies and suggested strategies for promoting tobacco-free experiential sites. Am J Pharm Educ. 2006;70(4):75.
13.
Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. Tobacco-Free Pharmacies. 2015. http://www.no-smoke.org/learnm.... Accessed 22 August 2015.
14.
Hickey LM, Farris KB, Peterson NA, Aquilino ML. Predicting tobacco sales in community pharmacies using population demographics and pharmacy type. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2006;46(3):385–90. doi:10.1331/154434506777069507.
15.
Bentley JP, Banahan BF, McCaffrey DJ, Garner DD, Smith MC. Sale of tobacco products in pharmacies: results and implications of an empirical study. J Am Pharm Assoc. 1998;38(6):703–9.
16.
Eule B, Sullivan MK, Schroeder SA, Hudmon KS. Merchandising of cigarettes in San Francisco pharmacies: 27 years later. Tob Control. 2004;13(4):429–32. doi:10.1136/tc.2004.007872.
17.
McDaniel PA, Offen N, Yerger VB, Malone RE. “A Breath of Fresh Air Worth Spreading”: Media Coverage of Retailer Abandonment of Tobacco Sales. Am J Public Health. 2014;104(3):562–9. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301564.
18.
Brennan TA, Schroeder SA. Ending sales of tobacco products in pharmacies. JAMA. 2014;311(11):1105–6. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.686.
19.
Pew Research Internet Project. Social Networking Fact Sheet. 2014. http://www.pewinternet.org/fac.... Accessed 16 October 2014.
21.
Bohannon J. Twitter as good as a telephone survey? Science. May 11, 2010. http://news.sciencemag.org/sci...=. Accessed 22 October 2015.
22.
Tumasjan A, Sprenger TO, Sandner PG, Welp IM, editors. Predicting elections with Twitter: What 140 characters reveal about political sentiment. Proceedings of the Fourth International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media; 2010; Washington, DC: AAAI Press.
23.
Bohannon J. Twitter offers entire data pool, but some wary of diving in. Science. 2014;343:958.
24.
Kim AE, Hansen HM, Murphy J, Richards AK, Duke J, Allen JA. Methodological considerations in analyzing Twitter data. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr. 2013;2013(47):140–6. doi:10.1093/jncimonographs/lgt026.
25.
Twitter. To trend or not to trend.... 2010. https://blog.twitter.com/2010/.... Accessed 22 October 2015.
27.
Stone B. Project retweet: Phase one. Twitter. 2009. https://blog.twitter.com/2009/.... Accessed 22 October 2015.
28.
Rhodes M. The problem with automated sentiment. 2010. http://www.freshminds.net/2010.... Accessed 22 October 2015.
29.
Gilblom K, Cortez M. CVS’s Competitors Can’t Afford to Quit Tobacco. Bloomberg Business. 2014. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.... Accessed 22 October 2015.
30.
Euromonitor International. CVS’s Decision to Stop Selling Tobacco Will Have Minimal Industry Impact. 2014. http://blog.euromonitor.com/20.... Accessed 22 October 2015.
31.
Patwardhan P, McMillen R, Winickoff JP. Consumer perceptions of the sale of tobacco products in pharmacies and grocery stores among U.S. adults. BMC Res Notes. 2013;6:261. doi:10.1186/1756-0500-6-261.
32.
Adeyanju C. CVS Stock: CVS Health Finding Its Footing Without Tobacco. Investor Place. 2015. http://investorplace.com/2015/.... Accessed 22 October 2015.
CITATIONS (3):
1.
Social networks in nursing work processes: an integrative literature review
Ana Cláudia Mesquita, Cristina Mara Zamarioli, Francine Lima Fulquini, Emilia Campos de Carvalho, Emilia Luigia Saporiti Angerami
Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP
Ana Cláudia Mesquita, Cristina Mara Zamarioli, Francine Lima Fulquini, Emilia Campos de Carvalho, Emilia Luigia Saporiti Angerami
Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP
2.
Methods for Coding Tobacco-Related Twitter Data: A Systematic Review
Brianna A Lienemann, Jennifer B Unger, Tess Boley Cruz, Kar-Hai Chu
Journal of Medical Internet Research
Brianna A Lienemann, Jennifer B Unger, Tess Boley Cruz, Kar-Hai Chu
Journal of Medical Internet Research
3.
Perceptions of Menthol Cigarettes Among Twitter Users: Content and Sentiment Analysis
Shyanika W Rose, Catherine L Jo, Steven Binns, Melissa Buenger, Sherry Emery, Kurt M Ribisl
Journal of Medical Internet Research
Shyanika W Rose, Catherine L Jo, Steven Binns, Melissa Buenger, Sherry Emery, Kurt M Ribisl
Journal of Medical Internet Research
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.