• Preventive medicine · Aug 2024

    Associations of educational and marketing messages with beliefs about nicotine and reduced nicotine cigarettes.

    • Melissa Mercincavage, Olivia A Wackowski, Andrea C Johnson, William J Young, Andy S L Tan, Cristine D Delnevo, Andrew A Strasser, and Andrea C Villanti.
    • Rutgers Institute for Nicotine & Tobacco Studies, New Brunswick, NJ, United States of America; University of Pennsylvania-Rutgers University Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science, United States of America. Electronic address: melissa.mercincavage@rutgers.edu.
    • Prev Med. 2024 Aug 1; 185: 108056108056.

    IntroductionWidespread misperceptions about nicotine may have unintended effects on public health. We examined associations between existing messages about nicotine or tobacco and beliefs about nicotine and reduced nicotine cigarettes (RNC).Methods2962 U.S. 18-45-year-olds were randomized in a May 2022 web-based survey to view one of 26 text-based messages about tobacco or nicotine from three sources: ongoing research (n = 8), messages authorized by FDA for VLN cigarettes (n = 6), and FDA's "From Plant to Product to Puff" campaign (n = 12); six messages from FDA's campaign did not reference nicotine and were treated as the reference source. Analyses examined associations between messages, grouped by source and individually, with beliefs about nicotine and RNC addictiveness and harms.ResultsRelative to FDA messages that did not reference nicotine, all message sources were associated with greater odds of a correct belief about nicotine (Odds Ratios [ORs] = 1.40-1.87, p's < 0.01); VLN messages were associated with greater correct beliefs about RNC addictiveness (b = 0.23, p < .05). No campaign produced greater correct beliefs about RNC harms. At the individual level, only five messages were associated with a correct belief about nicotine (ORs = 2.12-2.56, p-values < .01), and one with correct beliefs about RNC harms (b = 1.09, p < .05), vs. the reference message.ConclusionsFew existing messages improved understanding of the risks of nicotine separately from the risks of combustible products. Communication research is needed to promote greater public understanding of nicotine while minimizing unintended effects on nicotine and tobacco use.Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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