How does nicotine gum work?

Right now I'm using nicotine gum to stop smoking. I find it strange because I don't get the same effect from the gum as from smoking previously. However, it has been a month since I stopped and I have very few cravings. I'm a very skeptical person and I'm wondering what your thoughts are on nicotine gum? Is it partially a placebo effect? I'm not complaining at all because It's great to not be smoking. I just find it strange that I don't get the old "buzz" like i did from the nicotine in smoke, yet the gum helps curve the cravings.

It's only a tool to ease the symptoms of nicotine addiction.

It won't give you a "nicotine high" as a cigarette would, it just supplies your body with nicotine over a certain period of time so that you don't withdraw

Nicotine gum is not a placebo, it actually does contain actual nicotine (either 2mg or 4mg depending on the strength you bought). The nicotine helps to curb your cravings.

Perhaps you don't feel the same effect as smoking due to psychology. Chewing gum is nothing like the actions involved in smoking; you don't light up, inhale, exhale. You no longer hop in your car and light up, or immediately after a meal, or when you have a drink at the bar, etc. You no longer have the hand to mouth motion, etc.

Also, the gum doesn't contain all the ingredients found in cigarettes: tar, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, benzene. Maybe you miss one of those?

(I'm a trying to be ex-smoker myself, and am presently adorned with 'The Patch' and also have a packet of Nicorette gum).