Menthol and Mint Experimental Tobacco Marketplace (ETM) Study

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Cigarette Smoking, Vaping

In brief

Menthol cigarettes comprise almost one-third of the United States (US) market share and are disproportionately smoked by racial minorities. Tobacco control policies targeting menthol flavoring in tobacco could have significant public health outcomes, especially among black smokers. One key challenge of tobacco regulation is weighing the risks and benefits of potential policies across different populations (i.e., users and non-users). Tension arises between policies intended to prevent adolescent and young adult (AYA) tobacco initiation and those intended to reduce harm among current tobacco users. The availability of menthol e-liquids may be important for encouraging menthol cigarette smokers to switch to e- cigarettes, but mint e-liquids, which are appealing to AYA, may be unnecessary to facilitate switching. Including mint e-liquids in flavor bans but allowing menthol e-liquids to remain on the market as potential substitution products for menthol smokers may be an optimal policy approach. The study team is proposing a lab study and field assessment to determine how including menthol and mint e-liquids in e-liquid flavor bans or sales restrictions affects tobacco product purchasing and use among menthol cigarette smokers. At lab sessions, participants will complete the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace (ETM) task, a behavioral economics task in which they receive account balances to an online store and can buy menthol cigarettes at escalating costs or buy e-liquids, non-menthol cigarettes, or nicotine replacement gum at fixed costs. They will complete the task under four marketplace conditions: (1) only tobacco e-liquids available, (2) menthol and tobacco e-liquids available, (3) menthol, mint, and tobacco e-liquids available, and (4) tobacco, menthol, mint, fruit, dessert. During a field assessment, product choice is validated by assessing use of products purchased during the ETM task. This proposal will inform policy-makers about the impact banning menthol and mint e-liquids will have on facilitating menthol cigarette smokers switching to e-cigarettes.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT04879225

Run by

Wake Forest University Health Sciences

People needed

66

Starts

2021-06-21

Expected to finish

2022-12-29

Last updated by the study team

2024-06-26

Who can join

Age: 21 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• 21+ years of age
• Self-report smoking at least 5 cigarettes per day for the past year
• Self-report smoking menthol cigarette brands > 80% of the time
• Breathe carbon monoxide (CO) level > 8 ppm Willingness to use other tobacco products during the study
• Speak, comprehend, and read English sufficiently to complete study procedures
• Have home access to a computer or tablet with a web camera and internet access

You may not qualify if…

• Currently seeking treatment to quit smoking
• Self-reported serious medical or psychiatric condition(s) including cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases
• Body temperature > 100.4 F
• Cold, flu or Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms including fever, cough, and runny nose in the past 30 days
• Currently pregnant, breastfeeding or intending to become pregnant for the duration of the study or unwilling to agree to use adequate protection to avoid pregnancy
• CO reading > 80 ppm
• Enrollment stratum (Non-Hispanic, white or Black/African American)

Where it is running

• Wake Forest Health Sciences — Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.