The Experimental Tobacco Marketplace II: Substitutability and sex effects in dual electronic cigarette and conventional cigarette users

Abstract

Aim The aim of the current study was to evaluate tobacco product purchasing in the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace (ETM) among male and female smokers who also use e-cigarettes. We hypothesized a high substitution profile for e-cigarettes and that males would purchase more Snus than females. Methods The ETM is an online market used in clinical abuse liability research to mimic real-world purchasing patterns. Tobacco products, including each participant’s usual choice of conventional and e-cigarettes, were presented along with a price and description of nicotine content. Participants were endowed with an account balance based on the number of cigarettes and e-cigarettes consumed per week. Each participant was exposed to four ETM sessions in random order during which the price of conventional cigarettes was manipulated. Results Cigarette consumption decreased as price increased. A mixed factor three-way ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of price (i.e., more alternative products were purchased at higher cigarette prices), product (i.e., more e-cigarettes were purchased than gum, lozenges, and Snus), and sex (i.e., males purchased more than females). A significant three-way interaction indicated that males purchased more e-cigarettes, Snus, and dip than females at higher cigarette prices. Conclusion This study suggests that the user profile of cigarette smokers is associated with behavioral economic measures of alternative product substitution and indicates that the evaluation of nicotine replacement products should be considered for both males and females separately.

The Experimental Tobacco Marketplace: Demand and Substitutability as a Function of Cigarette Taxes and e-Liquid Subsidies

“…As in prior ETM studies, 9,23 for each participant, linear regressions were applied to fixed price, alternate product purchasing data as a function of log-transformed cigarette prices to estimate substitutability, represented here by the slopes of the fixed-price alternate purchasing functions, and initial intensity, represented here by the y-intercepts of the fixed-price alternate purchasing functions across the four tax conditions and, separately, across the four subsidy conditions. Product substitution was thus demonstrated if a product function's slope was statistically significantly greater than 0, with higher slopes indicating greater substitutability.…”

“…To address the current complexity of the tobacco marketplace, better understand the substitutability of a broad range of alternate products simultaneously, and help inform tobacco policy, we have developed and tested the experimental tobacco marketplace (ETM). 9,[21][22][23] The ETM is an online, Amazon-like store that displays photos, prices, and information for each of several available nicotine and tobacco products. To date, three laboratory studies using real outcomes in the ETM have consistently illustrated that alternate product substitutability for conventional cigarettes is modifiable depending on consumer characteristics 23 and the number and type of other alternate products available.…”

“…9,[21][22][23] The ETM is an online, Amazon-like store that displays photos, prices, and information for each of several available nicotine and tobacco products. To date, three laboratory studies using real outcomes in the ETM have consistently illustrated that alternate product substitutability for conventional cigarettes is modifiable depending on consumer characteristics 23 and the number and type of other alternate products available. 9 Furthermore, e-cigarettes or e-liquid generally demonstrate the highest substitutability of all potentially less harmful alternate products tested to date in the ETM.…”

“…9 Furthermore, e-cigarettes or e-liquid generally demonstrate the highest substitutability of all potentially less harmful alternate products tested to date in the ETM. 9,22,23 A recent ETM study identified both the initial intensity and substitutability of e-cigarettes increased dose dependently with e-liquid nicotine strength, where 24 mg/mL e-liquid demonstrated the highest overall substitutability. 21 The next step is to use the ETM to estimate the effects of other nicotine/tobacco control policies and regulations on purchasing.…”

Technology‐based contingency management and e‐cigarettes during the initial weeks of a smoking quit attempt

“…These similarities could facilitate substitution of smoking with vaping. Indeed, several studies suggest that ECs may function as a substitute for cigarettes in laboratory settings (Grace, Kivell, & Laugesen, ; Johnson, Johnson, Rass, & Pacek, ; Pope et al, ; Quisenberry, Koffarnus, Epstein, & Bickel, ; Quisenberry, Koffarnus, Hatz, Epstein, & Bickel, ; Snider, Cummings, & Bickel, ; Stein, Koffarnus, Stepanov, Hatsukami, & Bickel, ), and a small number of randomized controlled studies suggest that vaping may promote smoking cessation (Adriaens, Van Gucht, Declerck, & Baeyens, ; Bullen et al, ; Caponnetto et al, ). Another reason to favor a transition to ECs for smokers is that ECs contain fewer toxicants and carcinogens than cigarettes (Goniewicz et al, ; Shahab et al, ).…”