blu vapes switch smokers away from cigarettes, new studies find

Imperial Brands has carried out two new behavioural studies¹ into its vape product, blu, showing how adult smokers use it in their daily lives to reduce – or even replace – cigarettes.

Our behavioural scientists tracked adult smokers who had no plans to quit at the study outset, and found the following:

• After just one week, significant numbers of participants had shifted from smoking cigarettes to vaping blu – with an average fall in smoking rates² of almost 29%. 
• Vaping blu led to a sharp drop in how many cigarettes were smoked per day³ (an average of almost 30% across both studies).
• Authentic fruit and mint flavours were a crucial part of subjects’ switching journeys, helping them transition from smoking cigarettes to vaping blu – in one of the studies, almost 29% of subjects exclusively used fruit flavours.
• Flavours also encouraged subjects to continue vaping and not return to cigarettes – with 60% in one study saying they planned to purchase blu in the future because they liked the flavours offered.
• Longer term follow-up – around six months later – revealed that between a third and 40% of subjects had either significantly reduced smoking cigarettes, or even stopped completely.

Elizabeth Clarke, Scientific Substantiation & Engagement Lead, said: “Our latest consumer scientific research demonstrates blu’s exciting potential to help adult smokers either substantially reduce, or completely stop, using cigarettes. This is potentially extremely positive news for public health.

“However, we’ve only scratched the surface of the rich insights from these studies. Our scientists are currently analysing the data to find out more about individuals’ switching journeys. Our intention is to gain an even better understanding of consumer behaviour to inform our future innovation pipeline and support adult smokers in their journeys to give up cigarettes.”

Thomas Nahde, Head of Harm Reduction & Engagement, added: “Consumer preferences, next generation products, and the tobacco harm reduction debate itself continue to evolve at pace – and we are committed to ensuring the accompanying scientific research does too. 

“These behavioural studies demonstrate actual harm reduction. We’re excited to use the results to show that responsibly manufactured and marketed vapes – including blu – can help make a positive contribution to public health.”

Both studies are set to be submitted for publication in the peer-reviewed academic literature later this year. The study findings will also be presented in more detail at the Global Forum on Nicotine 2025 in Warsaw (19-21 June).

Imperial Brands is committed to making a meaningful contribution to the public health concept of tobacco harm reduction through our next generation products.

Previously, we’ve conducted in-market research demonstrating how our heated tobacco system, PULZE & iD, helped adult subjects either substantially reduce – or even completely stop – smoking cigarettes. 

You can watch a video of our heated tobacco in-market study featuring PULZE & iD here.

Imperial Brands thanks the Russell Burnett Research and Consultancy Ltd (RBRC) and the Centre for Substance Use Research Ltd (CSUR) as collaborators in the design and conduct of these studies.

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¹Study 1: 421 subjects; product was blu bar. Study 2: 429 subjects; product was blu 2.0. Research took place in London, UK and lasted 6 weeks, with follow-up at 24 weeks. 
²In week 1 of the studies, the combined number of cigarettes smoked fell from a mean of 83.4 to 59.5 per participant.
³For the purposes of the studies, ‘substantial reductions’ was defined as a >50% reduction in cigarettes smoked per day.

ENDS

About blu
blu is a long-standing prominent vape brand, first established in 2009. The international rights to blu were acquired by Imperial Brands in 2015 and blu products are currently available in around 20 markets including the UK, Spain, France, Greece and Germany.