Health warnings on vapes changed people's choices, but there was a catch
Study finds on-product health warnings on vapes reduced their appeal, but higher vape prices pushed users toward cigarettes.Summary
A discrete choice experiment surveyed 1,839 Canadian e-cigarette nonusers (aged 16-29) and 1,122 current e-cigarette users in Alberta, Ontario, and Québec, asking them to choose among JUUL vape pods, IQOS heated tobacco sticks, and du Maurier cigarettes under varying conditions: health warnings, plain versus branded packaging, nicotine strength, and price. Warnings printed directly on products generally reduced preferences for nicotine products and increased the predicted probability of choosing none of the options (from 0.50 to 0.65 among nonusers and 0.10 to 0.18 among users when all products carried warnings). Warnings also shifted risk perceptions and did not increase predicted cigarette preferences, contradicting manufacturers' claims that tighter vaping rules would drive people to smoke. Lower nicotine strength made vape pods more appealing to most respondents, while plain packaging had little effect. Price effects were smaller: a 40% vape price increase modestly reduced users' preference for vape pods but increased preferences for heated tobacco and cigarettes, whereas higher cigarette prices did not change vape preferences. The authors note limitations, including that stated intentions may differ from actual behavior and that only 31% of users named JUUL as their usual brand. They suggest combining warnings and higher prices with information campaigns about relative health risks to reduce vaping experimentation and use in Canada.
(Source：News-Medical.net)
