Lately, you may have probably seen people walking down the street with their hands covering their mouths, like they are communicating with the Secret Service, only to see a massive smoke cloud appear seconds later.
Or, you might have noticed the abundance of tiny plastic pods that litter city sidewalks; real estate that once belonged to cigarette butts.
Both are signs of the rapidly increasing popularity of Juul, an electronic device that vaporizers nicotine salts and has been branded as the alternative to cigarettes. Juuls are everywhere. Men’s Journal perfectly described the product as “the iPhone of e-cigs.”
Juul Labs, the maker of the electronic cigarette, was recently valued at an impressive $15 billion. The product has barged into mainstream headlines like no other consumer device in recent years.
Always on top of what is trending, LendEDU took to surveying 1,000 self-identified Juul users and came away with these key findings:
- The average Juul smoker spends $180 per month on Juul pods, the vehicle for the nicotine-infused liquid. The median amount spent per month on Juul pods was $50.
- 69% of respondents previously smoked traditional nicotine products like cigarettes and spent an average of $238 per month on those products (median was $125). Based on these results, the average applicable respondent is saving $58 per month after switching to Juul.
- 48% of respondents account for Juul expenses in their monthly financial budget.
Full Survey Results
(All results derive from an online survey of 1,00 adult Americans that identified Juul as the only nicotine product they use)
1. Have you ever purchased your own Juul device kit or have you always been gifted one from a companion?
a. 76 percent of respondents answered “I purchased my own Juul device kit.”
b. 24 percent of respondents answered “Gifted one from a companion, never actually bought my own.”
2. In your best estimation, how much money do you spend per month on Juul pods?
a. The average amount spent on Juul pods per month by our respondents was $180.
b. The median amount spent on Juul pods per month by our respondents was $50.
3. Before you started consuming nicotine through a Juul, did you consume nicotine through traditional products like cigarettes and cigars?
a. 69 percent of respondents answered “Yes”
b. 26 percent of respondents answered “No”
c. 5 percent of respondents answered “I’d rather not say.”
4. (Asked only to those who answered “A” to Q3) Did you start using Juul as a method to try to quit consuming nicotine through traditional products like cigarettes and cigars?
a. 86 percent of respondents answered “Yes”
b. 14 percent of respondents answered “No”
c. 0 percent of respondents answered “I’d rather not say.”
5. (Asked only to those who answered “A” to Q3) In your best estimation, how much money did you spend per month on traditional nicotine products like cigarettes and cigars?
a. The average amount spent on traditional nicotine products like cigarettes per month by our respondents was $238.
b. The median amount spent on traditional nicotine products like cigarettes per month by our respondents was $125.
6. (Asked only to those who answered “A” to Q3) Since switching to Juul, do you believe you intake more or less nicotine each day with Juul compared to when you were consuming nicotine through traditional methods like a cigarette or cigar?
a. 22 percent of respondents answered “I now consume much more nicotine on a daily basis after switching to Juul.”
b. 18 percent of respondents answered “I now consume slightly more nicotine on a daily basis after switching to Juul.”
c. 18 percent of respondents answered “Same level of nicotine consumption.”
d. 38 percent of respondents answered “I now consume slightly less nicotine on a daily basis after switching to Juul.”
e. 5 percent of respondents answered “I now consume much less nicotine on a daily basis after switching to Juul.”
f. 2 percent of respondents answered “Unsure/I’d rather not say.”
7. Hypothetically speaking, if there was a Juul-based credit card (there isn’t) that earned you points/cash back on all Juul related purchases, would you apply for one?
a. 43 percent of respondents answered “Yes, definitely”
b. 32 percent of respondents answered “Most likely”
c. 11 percent of respondents answered “Most likely not”
d. 6 percent of respondents answered “Definitely not”
e. 8 percent of respondents answered “Unsure/I’d rather not say.”
8. (Asked only to those who answered “A” or “B” to Q7) If you received the hypothetical Juul-based credit card, do you think you’d purchase more Juul products than normal and increase your consumption habits?
a. 37 percent of respondents answered “Yes, definitely”
b. 37 percent of respondents answered “Most likely”
c. 17 percent of respondents answered “Most likely not”
d. 4 percent of respondents answered “Definitely not”
e. 4 percent of respondents answered “Unsure/I’d rather not say.”
9. If a major tobacco manufacturing company like Altria (Marlboro) released a product very similar to Juul’s product that utilized nicotine in an electronic cigarette, would you convert to the former?
a. 22 percent of respondents answered “Yes, definitely. I would trust those companies more.”
b. 27 percent of respondents answered “Most likely”
c. 20 percent of respondents answered “Most likely not”
d. 14 percent of respondents answered “No, definitely not. Juul got there first and/or I trust them more.”
e. 17 percent of respondents answered “Unsure”
10. Do you work to include Juul-related expenses in your monthly financial budget?
a. 48 percent of respondents answered “Yes”
b. 27 percent of respondents answered “No”
c. 18 percent of respondents answered “I do not budget.”
d. 7 percent of respondents answered “I’d rather not say.”
Observations & Analysis
Juul Seems to be Saving Ex-Cigarette Smokers Some Money
Smoking of any kind, whether it be a cigarette or Juul, can become quite the expensive habit. Depending on where you live, a pack of cigarettes can cost anywhere from $5 to $13. If you live in New York and smoke a pack a day, that routine will cost you nearly $100 per week.
Juul pods, the cartridge that contains the nicotine liquid that is vaporized, go for $15.99 per pack, which contains four pods. Depending on the consumer, one Juul pod can easily be smoked in a single day.
By asking only the respondents that were previously cigarette or cigar smokers before converting to Juul, we were able to determine the financial ramifications of making the switch from more traditional nicotine products to Juul.
According to our poll participants, the average Juul pod expense per month came out to be $180, while the median value was $50. Among respondents who were previously cigarette or cigar smokers, the average expense per month on those types of products had been $238, while the median was $125.
Based on these numbers, the average Juul smoker who was previously smoking cigarettes or cigars is saving $58 per month thanks to their new habit. Of course, there are other expenses associated with Juul that can bring up the monthly cost, such as replacing a lost Juul device or a Juul USB charger, but ultimately, folks who made the switch are still likely to be saving money.
According to Juul’s website, one Juul pod is the equivalent to one pack of cigarettes. With four pods in a pack, the cost of a single pod equates to roughly $4. One would be hard-pressed to find a pack of cigarettes for $4, so it is understandable to find that Juul smokers are saving money compared to when they were smoking cigarettes.
Juul Card? Users Are Overwhelmingly Onboard
Today, you can find all different types of rewards credit cards that all come with a different rewards system. With this in mind, we posed a hypothetical scenario to our Juul-using respondents.
We asked the survey takers if they would be open to applying for a made-up Juul-based credit card that earned the cardholder rewards on all Juul-related purchases. Not surprisingly, support for such a hypothetical card was overwhelming.
A combined 75 percent of respondents indicated that they would likely apply for a Juul-based credit card that earned them rewards or points on Juul purchases. Further, 43 percent of those poll participants said they would definitely apply for such a card. Only 17 percent of respondents probably would not apply for this hypothetical card.
For a consumer product as wildly popular and prevalent as Juul is, the Juul credit card is certainly an interesting idea. Nowadays, popular consumer services like Amazon and Uber offer their own credit card that earns rewards for related purchases, so why not Juul? Of course, Juul is not on the same level as those aforementioned companies, but who really knows how popular Juul may become in the coming years?
There would be one downside to offering a Juul-based credit card: increased nicotine consumption. Amongst those respondents who would likely apply for the hypothetical card, 75 percent of them said they would also likely increase their Juul consumption due to increased number of related purchases. Moreover, half of those respondents said they would “definitely” increase their Juul consumption habits.
Nearly Half of Users Budgeting For Juul Expenses
It is usually good practice to set a monthly budget in order to juggle recurring expenses and still have some cash left over for entertainment. According to our survey results, Juul expenses have become so frequent in consumers’ everyday life that many of them are including the costs in their budgets.
We asked our survey participants if they were factoring in Juul-related expenses into their monthly budgets…
Just about half of all respondents, 48 percent specifically, indicated that they in fact budgeting for Juul-related expenses each month. With our survey data showing that the average monthly Juul expense is $180, it is definitely a good thing that a solid contingency of consumers are budgeting.
Further, when you eliminate the 180 respondents that stated they do not budget, 58 percent of budget-setting Juul users are accounting for Juul expenses in their budget each month. The results of this particular question just go to show how quickly Juul has caught on in modern-day society; it is being treated like a considerable recurring expense just like a monthly cable or utilities bill.
Methodology
All results found within this report derive from an online poll commissioned by LendEDU and conducted online by online polling company Pollfish. In total, 1,000 Americans ages 18 and up who indicated that the Juul was the sole way they consume nicotine were surveyed for this online poll. Respondents were found via screener question and Pollfish’s age filtering feature. If a respondent fit the desired specifications, they were selected at random from Pollfish’s online user panel of over 100 million. This survey was conducted over a three-day span, starting on July 19, 2018, and ending on July 21, 2018. Respondents were asked to answer all questions truthfully and to the best of their ability.
Disclaimer: LendEDU has no affiliation with Juul or any other related company. This survey was independent and commissioned entirely by LendEDU. This survey is not an endorsement for Juul or any other relatedcompany. Before using Juul or any other related product, consumers should first consult with all available resources.
See more of LendEDU’s Research