Choosing a Cigarette Brand: Determining the Value of Countermarketing Information to Smokers Using Field Auctions

Information about cigarettes can help smokers come to an informed decision about what cigarettes to purchase. Countermarketing information can help smokers make informed decisions, but little is known about the value of this information to smokers. In this article, we use data from experimental auctions to estimate the value of countermarketing information that counters industry claims about reduced-risk cigarettes. We find that this information has significant value to smokers who have been exposed to marketing information from tobacco companies touting reduced-risk cigarettes, but we find no evidence it provides value to smokers not exposed to this marketing information.experimental auctions, field experiments, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, C93, M31,

The Value of Countermarketing Information to Smokers: Evidence from Field Auctions

Information about cigarettes can help smokers come to an informed decision about what cigarettes to purchase. Countermarketing information, which helps counter potentially biased marketing information, can fill this void, but little is known about the value of this information to smokers. In this paper, we use data from experimental auctions to estimate the value of countermarketing information to smokers. We find that countermarketing information has significant value to smokers who have been exposed to marketing information from tobacco companies, but we find no evidence it provides value to smokers not exposed to marketing informationfield auctions, value of information, cigarettes, Consumer/Household Economics, Health Economics and Policy,

The Value of Countermarketing Information to Smokers: Evidence from Field Auctions

Information about cigarettes can help smokers come to an informed decision about what cigarettes to purchase. Countermarketing information, which helps counter potentially biased marketing information, can fill this void, but little is known about the value of this information to smokers. In this paper, we use data from experimental auctions to estimate the value of countermarketing information to smokers. We find that countermarketing information has significant value to smokers who have been exposed to marketing information from tobacco companies, but we find no evidence it provides value to smokers not exposed to marketing informatio

Self-Reported Exposure to Policy and Environmental Influences on Smoking Cessation and Relapse: A 2-Year Longitudinal Population-based Study

Although most smokers want to quit, the long-term success rate of quit attempts remains low; research is needed to understand the policy and environmental influences that can increase the success of cessation efforts. This paper uses regression methods to investigate self-reported exposure to policy and environmental influences on quit attempts, maintenance of a quit attempt for at least 6 months, and relapse in a longitudinal population-based sample, the New York Adult Cohort Survey, followed for 12 months (N = 3,261) and 24 months (N = 1,142). When policy or environmental influence variables were assessed independently of other policy or environmental influence variables, many were significant for at least some of the cessation outcomes. In the full models that included a full set of policy or environmental influence variables, many significant associations became nonsignificant. A number of policies may have an influence on multiple cessation outcomes. However, the effect varies by cessation outcome, and statistical significance is influenced by model specification

Social Integration and the Mental Health of Black Adolescents

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106936/1/cdev12182.pd

E-cigarette Product Preferences among Adult Smokers: A Discrete Choice Experiment

ObjectivesIn this study, we used a discrete choice experiment (DCE) conducted August-October 2017 to examine electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) product preferences in a national sample of adult smokers (N = 1154) who were also using ENDS or had not ruled out future use.MethodsThe DCE evaluated 5 ENDS attributes: relative harm; effectiveness for helping smokers quit; nicotine strength; flavor; and price. We asked participants to choose among their own cigarettes, 2 ENDS products whose attributes varied across tasks, or none. We analyzed ENDS preferences using multinomial, nested, and mixed logit regressions.ResultsSmokers preferred ENDS that are less harmful than cigarettes, are effective in helping smokers quit, are lower priced, and are not menthol-flavored. The marginal willingness to pay for an ENDS product was $8.40 when less harmful than cigarettes,$4.13 when of unknown effectiveness in helping quitting ($13.90 when effective), and$3.37 when ENDS are not menthol-flavored. Furthermore, the overall flavor preference is driven by tobacco smokers, not by menthol cigarette smokers who do prefer menthol-flavored ENDS.ConclusionsPolicies that affect perceptions of ENDS effectiveness in promoting cessation and their relative harm may alter smokers' ENDS preferences. Regulating flavors and price also may influence adult smokers' ENDS preference

Examining the role of menthol cigarettes in progression to established T smoking among youth

Background: Menthol, a flavoring compound added to cigarettes, makes cigarettes more appealing to youth and inexperienced smokers and increases cigarettes\u27 abuse liability. However, limited studies are available on menthol\u27s role in smoking progression. Methods: To assess the association between menthol in cigarettes and progression to established smoking, we used five waves of data from the Evaluation of Public Education Campaign on Teen Tobacco Cohort Study, a nationally representative longitudinal survey of U.S. youth conducted as part of “The Real Cost” evaluation. We used discrete time survival analysis to model the occurrence of two event outcomes—progression to established, current smoking and progression to established, frequent smoking—using a logit model with a menthol use indicator as the key explanatory variable. Based on this framework, we estimated the effect of prior menthol use on the odds of smoking progression. Results: In the progression to established, current smoking model, prior menthol use was significantly associated with progression [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.80, p \u3c .05, confidence interval (CI) = (1.03–3.16)]. While results were in a similar direction for the model of progression to established, frequent smoking, the association between prior menthol use and this progression model did not reach significance [aOR=1.56, CI = (0.80–3.03)]. Conclusion: The results suggest a relationship between using menthol cigarettes and progression from experi- mental to established, current smoking among youth. This study adds to a growing literature base that supports that menthol cigarettes, compared to nonmenthol cigarettes, put youth at increased risk for regular cigarette use

Changes in industry marketing of electronic nicotine delivery systems on social media following FDA's prioritized enforcement policy: a content analysis of Instagram and Twitter posts

BackgroundIn February 2020, FDA prioritized enforcement of flavored (other than tobacco- or menthol-flavored) cartridge-based electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) without premarket authorization. To explore potential marketing changes, we conducted a content analysis of brands' social media posts, comparing devices and flavors before/after the policy.MethodsWe sampled up to three posts before (November 6, 2019–February 5, 2020) and after the policy (February 6–May 6, 2020) from brands' Instagram (n = 33) and Twitter (n = 30) accounts (N = 302 posts). Two analysts coded posts for device type and flavor. We summarized coded frequencies by device, flavor, and device-flavor combination, and by platform.ResultsIn posts mentioning devices and flavors, those featuring flavored (other than tobacco- or menthol-flavored) cartridge-based devices (before: 2.5%; after: 0%) or tobacco- or menthol-flavored cartridge-based devices (before: 0%; after: 2.8%) were uncommon while any flavor disposables were most common (before: 10.8%; after: 14.6%) particularly after the policy. Half of posts featured devices without flavor (before: 50.0%; after: 50.0%) and one-fifth had no device or flavor references (before: 21.5%; after: 18.8%).ConclusionsIn the months before and after the policy, it appears ENDS brands were not using social media to market flavored (excluding tobacco- or menthol-flavored) cartridge-based ENDS (i.e., explicitly prioritized) or tobacco- or menthol-flavored cartridge-based devices (i.e., explicitly not prioritized). Brands were largely not advertising specific flavored products, but rather devices without mentioning flavor (e.g., open/refillable, disposable devices). We presented a snapshot of what consumers saw on social media around the time of the policy, which is important to understanding strategies to reach consumers in an evolving ENDS landscape

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Perceived Smoking Prevalence: Evidence from a National Survey of Teens

Prior studies show that perceived smoking prevalence is a significant predictor of smoking initiation. In this study, we examine racial/ethnic differences in perceived smoking prevalence and racial/ethnic differences in exposure to contextual factors associated with perceived smoking prevalence. We used cross-sectional time series data from the Legacy Media Tracking Surveys (LMTS), a national sample of 35,000 12- to 17-year-olds in the United States. Perceived smoking prevalence was the primary outcome variable, measured using an LMTS question: “Out of every 10 people your age, how many do you think smoke?” Multivariable models were estimated to assess the association between perceived smoking prevalence; race/ethnicity; and exposure to social contextual factors. Findings indicate that African American, Hispanic, and American Indian youth exhibit the highest rates of perceived smoking prevalence, while white and Asian youth exhibit the lowest. Minority youth are also disproportionately exposed to social contextual factors that are correlated with high perceived smoking prevalence. These findings suggest that disproportionate exposure to social contextual factors may partially explain why minority youth exhibit such high levels of perceived smoking prevalence

Medical Marijuana Laws and Teen Marijuana Use

While at least a dozen state legislatures are considering bills to allow the consumption of marijuana for medicinal purposes, the federal government has recently intensified its efforts to close medical marijuana dispensaries. Federal officials contend that the legalization of medical marijuana encourages teenagers to use marijuana and have targeted dispensaries operating within 1,000 feet of schools, parks and playgrounds. Using data from the national and state Youth Risk Behavior Surveys, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 and the Treatment Episode Data Set, we estimate the relationship between medical marijuana laws and marijuana use. Our results are not consistent with the hypothesis that legalization leads to increased use of marijuana by teenagers