The experimental tobacco marketplace: Narrative influence on electronic cigarette substitution

Abstract

Despite promising decreases in overall smoking rates, a significant proportion of the population continues to engage in this costly behavior. Substituting e-cigarettes for conventional cigarettes is an increasingly popular harm-reduction strategy. Narratives may be one method of increasing the substitutability of e-cigarettes. Participants (N = 160) were assigned to 1 of 4 narratives that described a close friend becoming ill. In the positive narrative, participants read about a friend that became ill but learned it was only the flu. In the negative narrative, the friend became ill from smoking cigarettes; in the negative_regret narrative, the friend became ill from smoking cigarettes and explicitly expressed regret for having started smoking; and in the negative_change narrative, the friend became ill from smoking, switched to e-cigarettes, and made a full recovery. Participants then completed an experimental tobacco marketplace (ETM) in which they could purchase conventional cigarettes and alternative nicotine products, including e-cigarettes. Across ETM trials, the price of conventional cigarettes increased while the price of the alternative products remained constant. Initial purchasing of conventional cigarettes decreased and initial purchasing of e-cigarettes increased in the negative-change group compared with the other three groups. This finding was moderated by conventional cigarette dependence and perception of e-cigarette risk but not previous e-cigarette exposure. Narratives can change conventional cigarette and e-cigarette purchasing in an ETM that mimics real-world marketplaces. Narratives can be a valuable harm-reduction tool because they are cost-effective, can be widely disseminated, and can be personalized to individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Figure 1.

ETM results for each narrative group. Dotted black lines depict the Equation 1 model fit to proportion of total spent on cigarettes at each cigarette price point. x-axis is scaled in log units. Asterisks indicate a statistically significant difference from the other narrative groups.

Figure 2.

ETM results for each narrative group. Dotted lines depict the Equation 1 model fit to proportion of total spent on cigarettes at each cigarette price point. x-axis is scaled in log units. Asterisks indicate a statistically significant difference from the other narrative groups.