2018/04/18 by Derek Pope, Derek A Pope, Lindsey Poe +10 · 1 citation
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Medicine · #Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet #Sensory Analysis and Statistical Methods #Smoking Behavior and Cessation
paper · doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2017-054024
openalex publication_date 2018/04/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
BACKGROUND: The experimental tobacco marketplace (ETM) provides a method to estimate, prior to implementation, the effects of new products or policies on purchasing across various products in a complex tobacco marketplace. We used the ETM to examine the relationship between nicotine strength and substitutability of alternative products for cigarettes to contribute to the literature on regulation of e-liquid nicotine strength. METHODS: The present study contained four sampling and four ETM purchasing sessions. During sampling sessions, participants were provided 1 of 4 e-liquid strengths (randomised) to sample for 2 days followed by an ETM purchasing session. The nicotine strength sampled in the 2 days prior to an ETM session was the same strength available for purchase in the next ETM. Each participant sampled and could purchase 0 mg/mL, 6 mg/mL, 12 mg/mL and 24 mg/mL e-liquid, among other products, during the study. RESULTS: Cigarette demand was unaltered across e-liquid strength. E-liquid was the only product to substitute for cigarettes across more than one e-liquid strength. Substitutability increased as a function of e-liquid strength, with the 24 mg/mL displaying the greatest substitutability of all products. CONCLUSIONS: 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.