Item Details

title

Using Discrete Choice Experiments to Investigate the Influence of Context on Product Choice

author

White, Cassidy

abstract

With the intent to undermine the relative value of cigarettes and facilitate cessation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering a product standard that would limit cigarette nicotine content to very low levels. Evidence from clinical trials mimicking this scenario suggests such a standard would reduce, but not eliminate, cigarette use among people who smoke – even when alternative sources of nicotine are available (reviewed in Chapter 1). Distilling the circumstances that lead to smoking and selecting cigarettes over alternatives, even when cigarette nicotine content is very low, requires a nuanced understanding of how product features subject to regulation map onto momentary expected value. In this project, we broadly hypothesized that the relative value of cigarette and e-cigarette features are context dependent, rather than inherent or fixed. This prompted us to employ discrete choice experiment methods in a novel way. Using a relatively simple, but policy-relevant design, choice tasks were administered as repeated measures, to examine whether manipulating “external” context (Chapter 2) and “internal” context (Chapter 3) affected the extent to which product features - including product type, nicotine content, and flavor availability – shape choice between cigarette and e-cigarette options. Our findings affirm the hypothesis that shifts in nicotine product preferences (and presumably, subsequent use), can result from changes in the way relative expected value is dynamically distributed across product characteristics under different circumstances. We conclude that continuing to understand the influence of context on choice may reveal new ways to further eliminate tobacco-related harm (Chapter 4).

subject

cigarette nicotine reduction

decision making

harm reduction

nicotine

regulatory policy

tobacco

contributor

Donny, Eric (advisor)

Stanford, Terrence (committee member)

Drenan, Ryan (committee member)

Nader, Michael (committee member)

Sutfin, Erin (committee member)

date

2023-07-25T17:48:44Z (accessioned)

2023-07-25T17:48:44Z (available)

2023 (issued)

degree

Neuroscience (discipline)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/102274 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

type

Dissertation