Plain packaging of vape pods reduces young people’s interest in trying them. Still, it appears to have little impact on adults, according to a new study led by researchers at University College London (UCL) and King’s College London. The findings, published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, provide timely evidence as the UK considers stricter regulations on the marketing and display of vaping products.
The study was conducted in collaboration with Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and the Brighton and Sussex Medical School. It drew on responses from 2,770 adolescents aged 11–18 across Great Britain and 3,947 adults aged 18 and older in the UK. Participants were shown images of vape pod packs that were either fully branded with colourful logos and designs or standardised in plain white with simple black lettering. This allowed the researchers to compare the influence of packaging styles on levels of interest in vaping.
Results showed a marked contrast between the two groups. Over half of adolescents (53%) believed their peers would be interested in trying vapes when presented in branded packaging. That figure fell sharply to 38% when the same products were presented in plain white packaging. Among adults, however, there was no meaningful difference: interest remained steady whether the packaging was branded or stripped back. In addition, adults’ perceptions of vaping’s relative harm compared with smoking were not influenced by the type of packaging they viewed.
These findings come at a critical juncture. The UK government’s proposed Tobacco and Vapes Bill, currently being debated in the House of Lords, would grant new powers to regulate packaging, displays, advertising and flavour descriptors. The intention is to curb vaping’s appeal among children and teenagers while preserving its value as a harm reduction tool for adult smokers. According to ASH’s most recent survey, 7% of young people aged 11–17 in Great Britain—around 400,000 adolescents—currently vape, and two in five of them do so daily.
Dr Eve Taylor, the study’s lead author from UCL’s Department of Behavioural Science & Health, underlined the need for careful policymaking. She argued that regulation must “strike a delicate balance” by deterring children and non-smokers without discouraging smokers from switching to a less harmful alternative. She added that the results “show that regulating packaging might be helpful by reducing vaping’s appeal to adolescents but not adults,” thus moving closer to achieving that balance.
Echoing this point, Hazel Cheeseman, Chief Executive of ASH, described the findings as “important research” with direct relevance to the legislative debate. She urged Parliament to pass the Tobacco and Vapes Bill swiftly, warning that without detailed regulations in place, it would be far more challenging to reduce youth vaping while still supporting smokers who use vaping as a cessation aid.
The researchers also examined the impact of flavour descriptions and codes on interest. Some participants saw plain packs with either brand-style flavour names, such as “Blue Razz Lemonade,” more straightforward descriptors, like “Blueberry Raspberry Lemonade,” or, in the adult survey, numerical codes like “FR127.” While these adjustments made little difference to adolescents, adults who neither smoked nor vaped were less likely to be interested when shown coded flavours. The team highlighted that packaging remains a central marketing tool for vape companies, often designed with bright colours and cartoon imagery that are particularly attractive to younger audiences. Although they noted limitations—including differences in survey wording between age groups and a higher proportion of vapers in the adult sample—the researchers concluded that plain packaging could be a promising step towards protecting young people without undermining vaping’s role in harm reduction for adults.
More information: Eve Taylor et al, The effect of standardised packaging and limited flavour descriptors of vape pods among adults and youth in Great Britain: a cross-sectional between-subjects experimental study, The Lancet Regional Health – Europe. DOI: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2025.101442
Journal information: The Lancet Regional Health – Europe Provided by University College London