Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Sep 13;20(1):132.
doi: 10.1186/s12954-023-00864-0.

Perceptions, intentions, and actual use of a consumer nicotine gum

Cheryl K Olson  1 , Neil Sherwood  2 , Maia Berkane  3 , Karin Gilligan  4 , Willie J McKinney Jr  4
Affiliations

Perceptions, intentions, and actual use of a consumer nicotine gum

Cheryl K Olson et al. Harm Reduct J. .

Abstract

Background: Little is known about perceptions, use intentions, and behaviors of adults regarding nicotine gum that is marketed and regulated as a consumer product rather than as a medicinal nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).

Methods: Survey data were collected from a Qualtrics online panel (N = 1000) of adults who had never used a consumer nicotine gum, recruited based on smoking behavior, and from current and former purchasers of one commercially available nicotine gum product (LUCY Chew and Park), recruited via emails to a customer database (N = 500). In addition to descriptive cross-sectional analyses, logistic regression was used to estimate the probability of intent to try and of product appeal among these different groups.

Results: Among online panel respondents, individuals who smoked with and without plans to quit showed high intention to try the product (odds ratios 15.6 [95% CI 9.3, 27.6] and 9.8 [95% CI 5.8, 17.3] respectively, compared to people who formerly smoked) and persons who had never smoked showed low intentions to try. These results stood regardless of flavor. Among current and former purchasers of the study product, 43.4% of persons who had smoked cigarettes regularly indicated they were motivated to try the product "to help me quit smoking." Only 0.6% of young adult consumers of the nicotine gum (aged 21-30) had not tried tobacco products previously.

Conclusions: Consumer nicotine gum does not appear to attract those who have never used a tobacco product and the results for young adults suggest minimal appeal to youth. The study product was used primarily by individuals who currently smoke and/or use e-cigarettes but who wished to quit or reduce consumption. These results suggest that a consumer nicotine gum may reduce harm by substituting for higher-risk products such as combustible cigarettes.

Keywords: Harm reduction; Nicotine gum; Perception and intention studies; Tobacco.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CO has received consulting fees from companies to provide summaries of or advice on behavioral science research, including JUUL and Altria. NS has received consulting fees from a number of companies to provide advice and manage projects relating to tobacco product regulatory science. MB has received consulting fees from financial companies to validate their risk models. MB has family ties with one of the LUCY shareholders. KG has received consulting fees from a number of companies to manage projects relating to U.S. FDA applications. WM has received consulting fees from companies in various industries for advice on product regulatory science programs that determine product risks and support U.S. FDA applications.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Product description and package image
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Positive age group appeal: by smoking behavior and flavor (online panel)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Positive personal appeal: by smoking behavior and flavor (online panel)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Positive intention to try: by smoking behavior and flavor (online panel)
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Positive age group appeal: by age group and flavor (online panel)
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Positive personal appeal: by age group and flavor (online panel)
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Positive intention to try: by age group and flavor (online panel)
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Perceived health risks of cigarettes: A Never smoked, B formerly smoked, C smokes—intends to quit, D smokes—no intent to quit, E all subgroups combined
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Perceived health risks of the study product: A never smoked, B formerly smoked, C smokes—intends to quit, D smokes—no intent to quit, E all subgroups combined
Fig. 10
Fig. 10
Consumer nicotine gum survey: intentions for dual use and quitting
Fig. 11
Fig. 11
Consumer nicotine gum survey: reports of smoking cessation experiences
Fig. 12
Fig. 12
Consumer nicotine gum survey: reports of vaping cessation experiences
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Reitsma MB, Kendrick PJ, Ababneh E, Abbafati C, Abbasi-Kangevari M, Abdoli A, et al. Spatial, temporal, and demographic patterns in prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The Lancet. 2021;397(10292):2337–2360. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rosen LJ, Galili T, Kott J, Rees V. Beyond, "Safe and Effective": the urgent need for high-impact smoking cessation medications. Prev Med. 2021;150:106567. - PubMed
    1. Zeller M, Hatsukami D. Strategic dialogue on tobacco harm reduction G. The strategic dialogue on tobacco harm reduction: a vision and blueprint for action in the US. Tob Control. 2009;18(4):324–332. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hatsukami DK, Carroll DM. Tobacco harm reduction: past history, current controversies and a proposed approach for the future. Prev Med. 2020;140:106099. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Harm Reduction International. What is harm reduction? https://hri.global/what-is-harm-reduction/. Accessed 28 Jul 2023.

Publication types