E-Cigarette Demand: Impact of Commodity Definitions and Test-Retest Reliability

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Economics
• Nicotine Dependence Research
• Consumer Product Analysis

Background:

• Behavioral economic demand studies reinforce understanding of user behavior.
• Commodity purchase tasks are efficient for measuring demand in human participants.
• Standardization challenges exist for electronic nicotine delivery systems (e-cigarettes) in marketplace definitions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To directly compare methods of operationalizing e-cigarette purchases.
• To evaluate units such as puffs, cartridges, and milliliters (mLs) of liquid.
• To assess these operationalizations using a within-subject design.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 132 participants reporting past-week e-cigarette use via crowdsourcing.
• Administered purchase tasks operationalizing units as puffs or cartridges at baseline.
• Re-administered tasks at 3-month follow-up using puffs or mLs of liquid.

Main Results:

• Puff operationalization showed the largest effect size correlations for intensity and elasticity.
• Product preferences moderated the relationship between time-to-first use and cartridge demand.
• Puff intensity and elasticity demonstrated good test-retest reliability for stable consumers but poor reliability for those with changed consumption.

Conclusions:

• Commodity definitions are highly relevant in e-cigarette purchase tasks.
• Puffs offer flexibility for studying e-cigarette demand in heterogeneous populations.
• Cartridge or mL-based tasks are more suitable for studying known subgroups.