NCT07142668

Effects of Tax Proposals and Cigarette Availability on Tobacco Purchasing

The Impact of Availability of Conventional Cigarettes and LNCs in the Context of Innovative Tax Proposals

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 316 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 21 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study will investigate the effects of normal-nicotine versus low-nicotine cigarette availability in the context of four tax proposals (Tobacco Parity, Nicotine-Content, Harm-Reduction, and Modified Risk Tobacco Product-based taxes) on tobacco product purchasing patterns in a virtual marketplace.

Detailed description

In a within/between subjects design, the investigators will use an Experimental Tobacco Marketplace (ETM) to systematically impose four innovative tobacco/nicotine tax proposals (Tobacco Parity, Nicotine-Content, Harm-Reduction, and Modified Risk Tobacco Product-related taxes) covering a broad range of tax magnitudes. Participants will complete two control trials and one tax proposal condition, with and without the conventional cigarettes available in the marketplace. Each condition (with and without conventional cigarettes) will include five price scenarios, with tax rates increasing across scenarios by a multiplicative factor. Tobacco products are placed into three tax tiers: high-, medium-, and no-tax, according to the goals of each proposal.

Conditions

• Cigarette Smoking

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Harm Reduction Tax - Normal Nicotine Cigarettes Available	In the Harm Reduction Tax Condition, tobacco products in the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace are placed into three tax tiers: high-, medium-, and no-tax. All combustible products with high abuse liability are placed in the high-tax tier. All non-combustible products or combustible products with low abuse liability are placed in the medium-tax tier. Nicotine Replacement Therapy products are placed in the no-tax tier. The participant's preferred normal-nicotine content cigarettes are available in the marketplace. Participants complete two trials with all products offered at market price, and five trials with prices for each product increasing proportionally to tax tier.
BEHAVIORAL	Harm Reduction Tax - Normal Nicotine Cigarettes Not Available	In the Harm Reduction Tax Condition, tobacco products in the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace are placed into three tax tiers: high-, medium-, and no-tax. All combustible products with high abuse liability are placed in the high-tax tier. All non-combustible products or combustible products with low abuse liability are placed in the medium-tax tier. Nicotine Replacement Therapy products are placed in the no-tax tier. The participant's preferred normal-nicotine content cigarettes are NOT available in the marketplace. Participants complete two trials with all products offered at market price, and five trials with prices for each product increasing proportionally to tax tier.
BEHAVIORAL	Modified Risk Tobacco Product Tax - Normal Nicotine Cigarettes Available	In the Modified Risk Tobacco Products tax condition, tobacco products in the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace are placed into three tax tiers: high-, medium-, and no-tax. In this condition, all non-MRTP tobacco products are placed in the high-tax tier, MRTPs are placed in the medium-tax tier, and Nicotine Replacement Therapy products are placed in the no-tax tier. The participant's preferred normal-nicotine content cigarettes are available in the marketplace. Participants complete two trials with all products offered at market price, and five trials with prices for each product increasing proportionally to tax tier.
BEHAVIORAL	Modified Risk Tobacco Product Tax - Normal Nicotine Cigarettes Not Available	In the Modified Risk Tobacco Products tax condition, tobacco products in the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace are placed into three tax tiers: high-, medium-, and no-tax. In this condition, all non-MRTP tobacco products are placed in the high-tax tier, MRTPs are placed in the medium-tax tier, and Nicotine Replacement Therapy products are placed in the no-tax tier. The participant's preferred normal-nicotine content cigarettes are NOT available in the marketplace. Participants complete two trials with all products offered at market price, and five trials with prices for each product increasing proportionally to tax tier.
BEHAVIORAL	Nicotine Content Tax - Normal Nicotine Cigarettes Available	In the Nicotine-Content Tax Condition, products in the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace are placed into three tax tiers: high-, medium-, and no-tax. In this condition, products with greater than 3 mg nicotine per single unit are placed in the high-tax tier, products with 0.6-3.0 mg/unit in the medium-tax tier, and those with 0.5 mg/unit or less in the no-tax tier. The participant's preferred normal-nicotine content cigarettes are available in the marketplace. Participants complete two trials with all products offered at market price, and five trials with prices for each product increasing proportionally to tax tier.
BEHAVIORAL	Nicotine Content Tax - Normal Nicotine Cigarettes Not Available	In the Nicotine-Content Tax Condition, products in the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace are placed into three tax tiers: high-, medium-, and no-tax. In this condition, products with greater than 3 mg nicotine per single unit are placed in the high-tax tier, products with 0.6-3.0 mg/unit in the medium-tax tier, and those with 0.5 mg/unit or less in the no-tax tier. The participant's preferred normal-nicotine content cigarettes are NOT available in the marketplace. Participants complete two trials with all products offered at market price, and five trials with prices for each product increasing proportionally to tax tier.
BEHAVIORAL	Tobacco Parity Tax - Normal Nicotine Cigarettes Available	In the Tobacco Parity Tax condition, tobacco products in the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace are placed into three tax tiers: high-, medium-, and no-tax. In this condition, all tobacco products are placed in the high-tax tier while products that do not contain tobacco (e.g., herbal cigarettes and nicotine-free ENDS) are placed in the medium-tax tier. Nicotine Replacement Therapy products are placed in the no-tax tier. The participant's preferred normal-nicotine content cigarettes are available in the marketplace. Participants complete two trials with all products offered at market price, and five trials with prices for each product increasing proportionally to tax tier.
BEHAVIORAL	Tobacco Parity Tax - Normal Nicotine Cigarettes Not Available	In the Tobacco Parity Tax condition, tobacco products in the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace are placed into three tax tiers: high-, medium-, and no-tax. In this condition, all tobacco products are placed in the high-tax tier while products that do not contain tobacco (e.g., herbal cigarettes and nicotine-free ENDS) are placed in the medium-tax tier. Nicotine Replacement Therapy products are placed in the no-tax tier. The participant's preferred normal-nicotine content cigarettes are NOT available in the marketplace. Participants complete two trials with all products offered at market price, and five trials with prices for each product increasing proportionally to tax tier.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-08-15
• Primary completion: 2026-07-01
• Completion: 2026-07-01
• First posted: 2025-08-27
• Last updated: 2025-09-05

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States