Preference among research cigarettes with varying nicotine yields

Cigarette smokers (N = 18), primarily women, chose, under double blind conditions, among three research cigarettes with nicotine yields of 0.17, 0.89 and 2.02 mg. Choices were made daily for 12 days following an initial 24-hour forced exposure to each cigarette type. Each subject developed a clear and stable preference for one cigarette type. Of 211 total choice opportunities analyzed, 46% were for the highest nicotine yield cigarette, 29% were for the medium yield, and 25% of the total dose selections were for the low yield cigarettes, suggesting a weak effect of dose. Across subjects, however, the preferences which developed were not significantly related to nicotine yield: low and medium yield cigarette were each preferred by 5 subjects; the remaining 8 subjects came to prefer the high yield cigarette. There was no consistent relationship between nicotine yield of the preferred experimental cigarette and that of the subjects' usual brand. In general, the cigarette choice data are consistent with the behavior of smokers in nonlaboratory settings who also tend to develop stable brand preferences. Specifically, within the range of cigarettes evaluated in this study, nicotine yield is not a strong determinant of cigarette type/brand preference.