The Gen Z Vape Scene: Trends and Preferences of the New Generation

Recent years have seen how vaping popped up to be a trend among Gen Z. It didn’t emerge as a fad. Instead, after making a debut in the 2000s, the vapes blended themselves into growing pop culture. Their popularity is still going strong, especially among the new generation.

A 2022 study by the CDC found that around 2.55 million out of 21.64 million American youth happen to use vapes. And a lot of factors played a key role here. These include sleek design, hi-tech features, personalization, ease of use, disposable vape deals, flavor varieties, and safety. There are also social and cultural aspects.

The vape scene keeps evolving to match the preferences and interests of the New Gen. But what’s currently happening in vaping culture? What does Gen Z think about it? This is something to talk about!

So to understand that, we have added some of the common trends and preferences of Gen Z here on vaping. 

A Quick Look On Gen Z And Vaping

• The characteristics of vaping keep changing to go with the expectations of the new-gen audience. This particular group is one of the main customer bases of vapes.
• Hence, they target Gen Z in different ways that lead them to vaping. It can be the tech itself or flavor varieties or features.
• Trends like vaping tricks, customization, and online communities also manage to influence Gen Z and keep them hooked to vaping.
• Just being in trend won’t suffice. It’s also important to understand the preferences of the New Gen to stay relevant.

How Does Vaping Target Youth?

The appeal of vaping among Gen Z lies in social influence, pop culture, technology, flavor varieties, and safety perceptions.

Innovations

Generation Z falls among the group who were raised alongside current innovations. So, they’ll surely want their cigars to be techy. In that case, vapes perfectly fit the bill.

The latest batch of vaping devices has adopted more varieties and features for the new generation.

You’ll find disposables, pods, and vape pens that have basic designs and simple features. These offer comfort and ease of use for beginners.

Then there are high-power vapes like mods and sub-ohms that have advanced features like adjustable airflow, temperature control, Bluetooth connectivity, customizable settings, and short-circuit protection. They offer high-tech aspects for experts.

All these work to give Gen Z convenience, safety, and a kick to enjoy vaping with full flavors.

Flavor Varieties

A big draw of vaping for Gen Zers is the availability of mad flavors in e-juice. Study reveals that there are more than 7,000 flavors of e-liquids available to Gen Z.

Some of the most common flavors of e-juice include sweet, fruity, menthol, tobacco, and mixed. You can have candy, strawberry, mango, watermelon, peppermint, spearmint, orange, root bear, milk honey and whatnot.

Such flavors are appealing enough to lead the new generation to vaping.

Alleged Safety

Just like all of us, Gen Zers consider vaping a much safer alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes. This is somewhat true but not entirely.

Usually, e-liquids play a big role in the safety of vaping. They mostly contain propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin that FDA classifies as safe.

Besides, a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine mentions that vaping devices expose you to far fewer toxic substances than traditional cigarettes.

All these studies indicate vapes are a safer alternative. And this encourages the new generation to go with vaping.

Social Influence and Pop Culture

Vaping possesses a strong social factor. A lot of Gen Zs consider it a way to interact with others. This acts like an indirect pressure they experience to be a part of the community. Some of them also try vaping under the influence and peer pressure. That’s how they get involved in it.

Moreover, the new generation also sees it as a kind of social activity. They share vaping experiences, try out new flavors together, and hash out the deets on vaping gear to feel included.

On top of that, there are social media and celebrity endorsements that also influence youth. Because Gen Zers are highly connected online, it exposes them to content that pretty much glams up vaping. This influences them too.

You can also call vaping a part of pop culture. It’s seen as something trendy in media that reinforces the appeal even more. This is a big reason why vapes are so common among the new generation.

Trends In Vaping

Let’s highlight all the trends related to vaping and how they appeal to Gen Z.

Vaping Tricks

There are tons of cool vaping tricks that interest the new generation. Blowing rings and creating shapes are the common tricks with vapor. You can try:

• Ghost Inhale
• Dragon
• Tornado

Customizability

Now you can customize your vapes and e-liquids in different ways. You can change colors, and skins or add layers of personalization to the vape’s exterior surface and get them a makeover. You can also adjust the power settings, change the coils, or mix e-juice flavors. 

Many Gen Z happen to go with custom vape mods and pods because they consider them a personalized style statement.

Online Communities

When it comes to vaping culture among Gen Z, social media plays a big role. You’ll find platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Reddit having different vibrant vaping communities.

There vapers share reviews, tips, tricks, and experiences as well as exchange knowledge. Such online spaces not only work to shape trends but also introduce the latest products to a wider audience.

Preferences of New Generation

Customization in any vape they like. It can be a personalized design, adjustable airflow, wattage etc.

More e-liquid flavors. Not all brands offer all kinds of flavors. So, Gen Z appreciates including more flavors.

Ease of Use. Albeit Gen Z who aren’t tech savvy opt for pods and disposables because of their ease of use. They also want mods to be easy to use since most of them have complex features.

Tech Integration. Many vapers might prefer more techs in their vapes. It can be Bluetooth connectivity or smart app features.

Safety. Because vapes have affected the health of many Gen Zers. They want safer formulations in e-juices and smokes that won’t be harmful.  

Future of Vaping Among Gen Z

The vaping scene is continuously evolving. A number of factors can influence its future:

Innovation:

As the techs advance, the new gen can expect vapes to be more sophisticated. Manufacturers may formulate and develop features like:

• Longer battery life
• Improved safety mechanisms
• More effective nicotine or a safer alternative to nicotine
• Better Bluetooth connectivity
• Smartphone app to track usage, and customize settings.
• Biodegradable and sustainable alternatives

Health Research

Even though vapes are a somewhat safer alternative to traditional cigarettes, they aren’t absolutely free of risks.

Some studies found toxic chemicals in e-liquids like 2-chlorophenol, amino acid, benzaldehyde, formaldehyde, toluene, acetaldehyde, and acrolein.

The chemicals— when reach your organs— can result in several health hazards like severe inflammations in the lungs, liver, bladder, breast, and stomach, damage to those organs as well as cancer.

Some other issues include cough, shortness of breath, headache, dizziness, vomiting, nausea and fever.

That said, there are fewer studies on vaping than cigarettes. So, we can expect more online research into the health impacts of vapes. They should give us more concrete evidence of safety.

Those studies can work to shape public health guidelines and regulations.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Has Vaping Affected Gen Z?

Vaping can affect Gen Z both physically and mentally as its e-liquids have chemicals like nicotine and flavoring elements that can raise health concerns.

What Percentage Of Gen Z Vape?

Around 18% of Gen Z vape regularly, according to a 2019 study.

What Is The Trend In Youth Vaping?

Vaping tricks, giving devices a makeover, adding bright colors, and customizing features are some of the trends in youth vaping.

What Generation Vapes The Most?

Gen Z who are between 18 and 24 vape the most.