The present study found that e-liquid substitutability increased with nicotine strength, at least up to 24 mg/mL e-liquid. However, the effects of e-liquid nicotine strength on cigarette purchasing were marginal and total nicotine purchased increased as e-liquid nicotine strength increased.

Reinforcer pathology is derived from the integration of two measures: (a) self-control (i.e., delay discounting), and (b) reward valuation (i.e., behavioral economic demand). Narrative theory asserts that vividly imagining oneself in a hypothetical, yet realistic, scenario can acutely alter decision making, valuation of reinforcers such as food, and how much food is consumed. The present study measured changes in reinforcer pathology for highly palatable snacks following either a negative or neutral scenario in obese individuals. Participants (N ϭ 48), with a body mass index of 30 or greater, rated their liking of 7 calorie-dense snack items and completed discounting and purchase demand tasks for their top-rated snack. Participants then read a randomly assigned hypothetical scenario (i.e., a devastating hurricane [negative] or minor storm [neutral]), completed the tasks again, and were given ad libitum access to their top 3 ranked snack foods. Results indicated that delay discounting, demand for participants' top-rated snack food, and negative affect all increased in the hurricane group compared with the minor storm group. The hurricane group also consumed more calories, even when hunger was standardized with a preload meal bar. Consistent with reinforcer pathology, these results suggest that vivid consideration of a devastating scenario constricts the temporal window and increases demand for hedonic snack foods among obese individuals.

Introduction The experimental tobacco marketplace (ETM) approximates real-world situations by estimating the effects of several, concurrently available products and policies on budgeted purchasing. Although the effects of increasing cigarette price on potentially less harmful substitutability are well documented, the effects of other, nuanced pricing policies remain speculative. This study used the ETM as a tool to assess the effects of two pricing policies, conventional cigarette taxation and e-liquid subsidization, on demand and substitutability. Methods During sampling periods, participants were provided 2-day samples of 24 mg/mL e-liquid, after which ETM purchase sessions occurred. Across two ETM sessions, conventional cigarettes were taxed or e-liquid was subsidized in combination with increasing cigarette price. The other four available products were always price constant and not taxed or subsidized. Results E-liquid functioned as a substitute for conventional cigarettes across all conditions. Increasing cigarette taxation and e-liquid subsidization increased the number of participants for which e-liquid functioned as a substitute. Cigarette taxation decreased cigarette demand, by decreasing demand intensity, and marginally increased the initial intensity of e-liquid substitution, but did not affect the functions’ slopes (substitutability). E-liquid subsidization resulted in large increases in the initial intensity of e-liquid substitution, but did not affect e-liquid substitutability nor cigarette demand. Implications 24 mg/mL e-cigarette e-liquid was the only product to significantly substitute for cigarettes in at least one condition throughout the experiment; it functioned as a significant substitute throughout all four tax and all four subsidy conditions. Increasing cigarette taxes decreased cigarette demand through decreases in demand intensity but did not affect e-cigarette substitution. Increasing e-liquid subsidies increased e-liquid initial intensity of substitution but did not affect cigarette demand. Conclusions This study extended research on the behavioral economics of conventional cigarette demand and e-liquid substitutability in a complex marketplace. The results suggest that the most efficacious method to decrease conventional cigarette purchasing and increase e-liquid purchasing may involve greatly increasing cigarette taxes while also increasing the value of e-liquid through potentially less harmful product subsidization or differential taxation.

Delay discounting, the devaluation of delayed reinforcers, is one defining behavioral economic characteristic of cigarette smokers. Attempts at abstinence by smokers that result in relapse are conceptualized in this framework as preference reversals. Despite preference reversals being predicted by delay discounting models, little research has investigated the association between discount rate and preference reversals. The present study extended this research by examining the relation between discounting and preference reversals. Because previous research indicates that cigarette smokers discount at higher rates than controls and that past and future discounting are symmetrical, the present study assessed the relation between these two processes when hypothetical money was distanced in the past and future, respectively. These assessments of delay discounting and preference reversals were adapted from Yi, Matusiewicz, and Tyson (2016) and examined in 68 smokers and 68 nonsmokers using the crowdsourcing program Amazon Mechanical Turk. Smokers discounted both past and future hypothetical money more steeply than demographically matched controls. Smokers switched preference from the smaller-sooner (SS) to the larger-later (LL) outcome more slowly than nonsmokers, consistent with smokers' steeper delay discounting. For each group, significant positive correlations between past and future discount rates and past and future preference reversals was obtained. The overall pattern of results illustrate symmetry between past and future discounting and preference reversals, respectively and that discount rate is positively associated with the timing of preference reversals. Importantly, the results confirm that cigarette smokers discount more and reverse preference from a SS to a LL reward later than controls.