Tobacco Free Nicotine Vaping Products: A Study of Health Halo Effects Among Middle School Youth

Katz, Sherri Jean; Petersen, Ashley; Cohen, Edward P.; Hatsukami, Dorothy K.

doi:10.1080/10810730.2023.2217431

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Among social media users who had never used e-cigarettes, those who viewed posts with a 'tobacco-free nicotine' warning label (vs the FDA-required label) were more likely to be susceptible to e-cigarette use. The findings are consistent with prior studies demonstrating that adolescents 35 and young adults 36 exposed to 'tobacco-free nicotine' (vs 'nicotine') descriptors or warning labels on e-cigarette imagery were more likely to be susceptible to e-cigarette use and perceived e-cigarettes as less harmful and risky. Adolescents might have interpreted a product labelled 'tobacco-free nicotine' as being free from considerable health risks.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Adolescents might have interpreted a product labelled 'tobacco-free nicotine' as being free from considerable health risks. 35 The findings suggest that adolescent perceptions of e-cigarettes were affected by their perceptions of warning labels and influencers. Regardless of the warning label condition, adolescents who had lower harm perceptions of e-cigarettes or were susceptible to e-cigarette use perceived influencers as more credible (more honest, trustworthy and knowledgeable) than adolescents with higher harm perceptions of e-cigarettes or non-susceptibility to e-cigarette use.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…This 'tobacco-free nicotine' label represents a marketing claim used to promote synthetic nicotine e-cigarettes (ie, containing nicotine not derived from a tobacco leaf) as 'cleaner' and 'higher quality' compared with regular e-cigarettes 34 or tobacco-derived nicotine. Adolescents 35 and young adults 36 exposed to e-cigarette imagery with 'tobaccofree nicotine' descriptors (compared with 'nicotine' descriptors) were more likely to report susceptibility to e-cigarette use 36 and lowered harm 36 or risk perceptions 35 of e-cigarettes. However, currently, there is no evidence that products containing synthetic nicotine have different health effects or are less addictive than products containing tobacco-derived nicotine.…”

Section: Original Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

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US adolescents’ response to nicotine warning labels in influencer e-cigarette marketing social media posts: a survey-based randomised between-subject experiment

Vassey,

Vogel,

Unger

2024

Tob Control

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BackgroundE-cigarette promotional posts with misleading nicotine warning labels on social media may lower adolescents’ risk perceptions of e-cigarettes. A between-subject experiment assessed effects of influencers’ e-cigarette promotional posts with different nicotine warning labels on adolescents’ e-cigarette harm perceptions, susceptibility to e-cigarette use and perceptions of influencer credibility.MethodsIn 2022, adolescents (N=1864, Mage=17 (SD=0.6)) were randomised to view six images and videos featuring influencers promoting e-cigarettes in one of five experimental conditions: two conditions with a ‘tobacco-free nicotine’ warning label (placed on an e-cigarette in the post or at the top of the post), two conditions with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) nicotine warning label (on an e-cigarette in the post or at the top of the post (control)) and one no-label condition. Participants rated influencers’ credibility (eg, honesty). Harm perceptions of, and susceptibility to use, e-cigarettes were then assessed.ResultsParticipants who viewed posts with the FDA warning label at the top of the post perceived influencers as more honest, trustworthy and informed than in all the other conditions. E-cigarette never-users who viewed posts with a ‘tobacco-free nicotine’ warning label pictured on an e-cigarette (compared with the FDA label at the top of a post) were more likely to report susceptibility to e-cigarette use (adjusted OR 1.79, 95% CI 1.17 to 2.73).ConclusionsAlterations of the required nicotine warning labels can make them less effective in deterring e-cigarette use behaviour. Tobacco control authorities could increase enforcement of the FDA-required nicotine warning labels and harness influencers for antitobacco messaging.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Original Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

US adolescents’ response to nicotine warning labels in influencer e-cigarette marketing social media posts: a survey-based randomised between-subject experiment

Vassey,

Vogel,

Unger

2024

Tob Control

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…An additional feature of e-cigarettes that is now often manipulated is nicotine type, based on the ratio of the R- and S-nicotine isomers: synthetic nicotine contains a mixture of both R- and S-nicotine, whereas traditional tobacco-derived nicotine contains primarily S-nicotine 15 . Despite limited research available to support their claims, many brands promote ‘tobacco-free nicotine’ as being a ‘cleaner’, ‘tastier’, and ‘less harmful’ alternative to tobacco-derived nicotine 16 , which appears to influence consumer misperception of product addictiveness, safety, and risk 17 . Data from animal studies also suggests that R-nicotine may metabolize more quickly than S-nicotine 18 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nicotine information disclosed online by e-cigarette brands popular with young people

Rykaczewski,

Tackett,

Klein

et al. 2024

Tob. Prev. Cessation

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INTRODUCTION E-cigarette use is most prevalent among adolescents and young adults – and there are often misperceptions about product risk. The purpose of this study was to determine what nicotine information is provided on e-cigarette brand websites. METHODS Based on national and local surveys, we identified 44 e-cigarette brands commonly used in the US by adolescents and young adults. For each of these brands, their associated websites were analyzed for disclosed nicotine information. Specifically, for each brand’s website, we coded whether there was information on nicotine concentration (recorded if a numerical value was provided such as ‘5% nicotine’), nicotine form (free-base, nicotine salts, or not stated), and nicotine type (tobacco-derived, synthetically derived, or not stated). Coding allowed for both lay (e.g. ‘nic salts’) as well as scientific (e.g. ‘isomers’) terms. RESULTS Of the 44 brands examined, all provided basic information on nicotine concentration (e.g. ‘5% nicotine’). However, 23% of brands did not disclose information on nicotine form (i.e. nicotine salt vs free-base), and 66% of brands did not disclose information on nicotine type (i.e. synthetic vs tobacco-derived). CONCLUSIONS Overall, these results suggest that the e-cigarette industry is not fully informing its consumers about the nicotine in their products. Given that nicotine form and type have implications for e-cigarette addiction potential, these findings highlight a public health concern. There is a need for more comprehensive national regulations for mandating product constituents and emissions disclosures.

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Tobacco Free Nicotine Vaping Products: A Study of Health Halo Effects Among Middle School Youth

Cited by 2 publications

References 16 publications

US adolescents’ response to nicotine warning labels in influencer e-cigarette marketing social media posts: a survey-based randomised between-subject experiment

US adolescents’ response to nicotine warning labels in influencer e-cigarette marketing social media posts: a survey-based randomised between-subject experiment

Nicotine information disclosed online by e-cigarette brands popular with young people

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