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Date of Graduation

5-2025

Description

Significance: This research is crucial for understanding how ZYN, a leader in the rapidly growing nicotine pouch market, influences younger generations through platforms like TikTok. With the nicotine pouch industry projected to grow from $1.99 billion in 2022 to $22.98 billion by 2030, ZYNfluencers play a key role in shaping trends, building brand loyalty, and attracting new users. This phenomenon poses a challenge to tobacco control policies, as marketing strategies targeting youth—potentially with modified risk claims—could undermine efforts to limit nicotine's appeal. By examining ZYN’s impact on social media, this study highlights the need for updated regulations to address the evolving influence of influencers and the digital marketing landscape.

Methods: A sample of 123 TikTok videos videos relevant to ZYN content posted by September 1st, 2024 were collected via (API) a TikTok application programing interface from https://console.apify.com/ using the popular hashtags #ZYN ( 1.5 B views) #ZYNtok ( 154 M views) #ZYNfluencer ( 56.6 M views). A codebook was developed using the first 50 videos, where each author analyzed and captured key themes. In the final codebook, all of the collected data was annotated and classified by if the video contained content regarding discussions about ZYN whether those are positive, negative or neutral, the presence of fitness or sports themes, celebrity endorsements, popular music, the physical appearance of the presenter, such as youth, comedy, methods of normalization, and abundant collections. We defined if the account was operated by “influencers” via the following count (>1,000) and the users appeal towards nicotine use, specifically with ZYN products.

Results: Overall, 39.8% of the videos analyzed were directly related to ZYN content creators and the promotion of ZYN use. Among the relevant videos, 24.4% featured the normalization or casual portrayal of ZYN in social and cultural contexts. 16% of the videos discussed the product itself, with the sentiment breakdown as follows: 37.5% of these discussions were negative, 25% were neutral, and 37.5% were positive. Additionally, 10.2% of the videos incorporated humor, using memes or jokes to depict ZYN. 14.2% of the users featured in the videos appeared to be youthful, and 6% of the videos included celebrity endorsements or promotional content.

Implications: The rise of ZYN and its promotion by influencers on TikTok highlights regulatory gaps in nicotine pouch marketing, particularly targeting youth. Many young users may perceive these products as safer alternatives to cigarettes, despite the risks of nicotine addiction and health issues like heart disease and cancer. This underscores the need for stronger regulations to protect younger generations from the growing influence of digital marketing and nicotine use.

Publication Date

2025

Document Type

Book

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Health, Human Performance and Recreation

Advisor/Mentor

Dobbs, Page

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

Keywords

Health

ZYNfluencers: Decoding the New Wave of Nicotine Culture on TikTok

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