Time costs in the demand for cigarettes assessed using the cigarette purchase task-time (CPT-T)

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Economics
• Addiction Science
• Psychopharmacology

Background:

• Traditional cigarette purchase tasks (CPTs) assess demand based on monetary costs.
• The role of time as a cost in consumption decisions is often overlooked.
• A novel measure, the cigarette purchase task-time (CPT-T), is introduced to evaluate demand as a function of time costs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate the cigarette purchase task-time (CPT-T) as a measure of cigarette demand.
• To investigate the impact of time costs on cigarette consumption.
• To assess the specificity and discriminant validity of the CPT-T.

Main Methods:

• Experiment 1: Participants (N=50) completed standard CPTs across hypothetical delay conditions.
• Experiment 2: Participants (N=50) completed CPT-P across delay and CPT-T across monetary conditions.
• Experiment 3: Compared demand for cigarettes, chips, and toilet paper between smokers (n=50) and non-smokers (n=50) using CPT-T.

Main Results:

• Demand intensity decreased as time delays increased, confirming time as a cost.
• Increasing time and monetary costs reduced demand intensity and breakpoints, aligning with the law of demand.
• Smokers exhibited higher cigarette demand than non-smokers; smokers prioritized cigarettes and toilet paper over chips, indicating perceived essentiality.

Conclusions:

• Time functions as a cost in the demand for reinforcers, including cigarettes.
• The CPT-T is a valid and specific measure for assessing cigarette demand influenced by time costs.
• Findings support new theoretical frameworks for understanding substance use disorders as related to reinforcer pathology.