Comparison of the Substitution Between Different Tobacco/Nicotine Products as a Function of Tobacco-user Type

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Nicotine Vaping
Cigarette Smoking

Interventions: Other: All nicotine/ tobacco products at market price
Other: Nicotine vaping products at 1/2 market price
Other: Nicotine vaping products at 2x market price
Other: Heated tobacco products at 1/2 market price.
Other: Heated tobacco products at 2x market price.
Other: Nicotine pouch products at 1/2 market price.
Other: Nicotine pouch products at 2x market price.

Registration Number: NCT05177848

Lead Sponsor: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Brief Summary: This study will investigate the relative appeal (abuse liability) of novel tobacco products, how the appeal is modulated by relative price, user type, and how novel products may substitute for one another.

Detailed Description: An important aim of tobacco control is to reduce demand for the most harmful products. Therefore, a priori knowledge of substitutability across novel and widely used tobacco products may forecast the impact of policies on product switching. This study will use a novel method, the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace (ETM), to characterize the relative substitutability and appeal (abuse liability) of tobacco products (e.g., conventional cigarettes, nicotine vaping products \[NVP\], heated tobacco products \[HTP\], and nicotine pouch products \[NPP\]), and how the appeal is modulated by relative price and user type. Exclusive cigarette smokers and dual cigarette/NVP users, stratified by age, will complete multiple scenarios in the ETM.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 58

Inclusion Criteria

Provide informed consent
Be at least 21 years of age or older
Provide a breath sample for measuring carbon monoxide (CO ≥ 8 ppm)
Stable tobacco use patterns for at least three months
Be willing to sample NVPs, HTPs, and NPPs
For exclusive cigarette smokers: smoke at least 10 cigarettes daily and do not use NVPs regularly (no more than 9 times in the last month)
For dual cigarette/NVP users: smoke at least 5 cigarettes daily and use NVPs for at least 3 times in a week (report use of closed nicotine salt system)

Exclusion Criteria

Have plans to move out of the area
Have a serious or unstable physical or mental health condition
Taking a tobacco cessation medication or medication that interferes with nicotine metabolism, motivation or reinforcement
Report concrete, immediate plans to alter/quit using their usual nicotine products at the beginning of the study

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: CROSSOVER

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Exclusive cigarette smokers	Nicotine vaping products at 2x market price	Exclusive cigarette smokers will be recruited and will be exposed to all of the conditions described in the intervention section.
Exclusive cigarette smokers	Nicotine vaping products at 1/2 market price	Exclusive cigarette smokers will be recruited and will be exposed to all of the conditions described in the intervention section.
Exclusive cigarette smokers	Heated tobacco products at 1/2 market price.	Exclusive cigarette smokers will be recruited and will be exposed to all of the conditions described in the intervention section.
Exclusive cigarette smokers	Nicotine pouch products at 1/2 market price.	Exclusive cigarette smokers will be recruited and will be exposed to all of the conditions described in the intervention section.
Exclusive cigarette smokers	Heated tobacco products at 2x market price.	Exclusive cigarette smokers will be recruited and will be exposed to all of the conditions described in the intervention section.
Exclusive cigarette smokers	All nicotine/ tobacco products at market price	Exclusive cigarette smokers will be recruited and will be exposed to all of the conditions described in the intervention section.
Exclusive cigarette smokers	Nicotine pouch products at 2x market price.	Exclusive cigarette smokers will be recruited and will be exposed to all of the conditions described in the intervention section.
Dual cigarette/ nicotine vaping product users	All nicotine/ tobacco products at market price	Dual cigarette and nicotine vaping product users will be recruited and will be exposed to all of the conditions described in the intervention section.
Dual cigarette/ nicotine vaping product users	Nicotine vaping products at 1/2 market price	Dual cigarette and nicotine vaping product users will be recruited and will be exposed to all of the conditions described in the intervention section.
Dual cigarette/ nicotine vaping product users	Nicotine vaping products at 2x market price	Dual cigarette and nicotine vaping product users will be recruited and will be exposed to all of the conditions described in the intervention section.
Dual cigarette/ nicotine vaping product users	Heated tobacco products at 1/2 market price.	Dual cigarette and nicotine vaping product users will be recruited and will be exposed to all of the conditions described in the intervention section.
Dual cigarette/ nicotine vaping product users	Heated tobacco products at 2x market price.	Dual cigarette and nicotine vaping product users will be recruited and will be exposed to all of the conditions described in the intervention section.
Dual cigarette/ nicotine vaping product users	Nicotine pouch products at 1/2 market price.	Dual cigarette and nicotine vaping product users will be recruited and will be exposed to all of the conditions described in the intervention section.
Dual cigarette/ nicotine vaping product users	Nicotine pouch products at 2x market price.	Dual cigarette and nicotine vaping product users will be recruited and will be exposed to all of the conditions described in the intervention section.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Nicotine/Tobacco Products Substitution	1 day	Participants will complete purchasing trials in an Experimental Tobacco Marketplace (ETM) with cigarettes increasing in price. Other product prices in the ETM will depend on the experimental condition. The degree to which other nicotine/tobacco products substitute for conventional cigarettes as a function of novel product (e.g. nicotine vaping products, heated tobacco products, nicotine pouch products) prices will be assessed. To obtain estimates of substitution of price-constant products in the different ETM conditions, the investigators will use ordinary least squares regression to model the relationship of the price-manipulated product to predict total quantity purchased of the price-constant product.
Cigarette Demand	1 day	Participants will complete purchasing trials in an Experimental Tobacco Marketplace (ETM) with cigarettes increasing in price. Other product prices in the ETM will depend on the experimental condition. The degree to which other nicotine/tobacco products substitute for conventional cigarettes as a function of novel product (e.g. nicotine vaping products, heated tobacco products, nicotine pouch products) prices will be assessed. To obtain dependent measures of demand, participants' purchasing of the price-manipulated commodity in the ETM task will be fit to a modified exponential equation to quantify the relationship between the price of each commodity and purchasing: Q=Q0\*10k(exp(-αQ0C)-1) where Q is purchasing of the commodity, C is the price, Q0 is the derived initial purchasing without cost constraints (demand intensity), k is the span of the function in logarithmic units, and α is the demand elasticity.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method

Trial Locations

Locations (1): Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
🇺🇸
Roanoke, Virginia, United States
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
🇺🇸Roanoke, Virginia, United States