Quisenberry Amanda J, Koffarnus Mikhail N, Hatz Laura E, Epstein Leonard H, Bickel Warren K
Addiction Recovery Research Center, Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Roanoke, VA;
Department of Pediatrics, University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Buffalo, NY.
Nicotine Tob Res. 2016 Jul;18(7):1642-8. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntv230. Epub 2015 Oct 15.
Behavioral economic studies of nicotine product consumption have traditionally examined substitution between two products and rarely examined substitution with more products. Increasing numbers of tobacco products available for commercial sale leads to more possible cross-product interactions, indicating a need to examine substitution in more complex arrangements that closely mirror the tobacco marketplace.
The experimental tobacco marketplace (ETM) is an experimental online store that displays pictures, information, and prices for several tobacco products. Smokers were endowed with an account balance based on their weekly tobacco purchases. Participants then made potentially real purchases for seven (Experiment 1) or six (Experiment 2) tobacco/nicotine products under four price conditions for conventional cigarettes while prices for other products remained constant. Smokers returned 1 week later to report tobacco/nicotine use and return unused products for a refund.
In Experiment 1 (n = 22), cigarette purchasing decreased as a function of price. Substitution was greatest for electronic cigarettes and cigarillos and significant for electronic cigarettes. Experiment 2 (n = 34) was a replication of Experiment 1, but with cigarillos unavailable in the ETM. In Experiment 2, cigarette purchases decreased as a function of price. Substitution was robust and significant for electronic cigarettes and Camel Snus.
The ETM is a novel, practical assay that mimics the real-world marketplace, and functions as a simple research tool for both researchers and participants. Across the two experiments the product mix in the ETM altered which products functioned as substitutes suggesting complex interactions between purchasing and product availability.
This article adds a novel method of collecting purchasing data that mimics real world purchasing to the existing literature. The ETM is a practical avenue by which to study both hypothetical and potentially real purchasing.
尼古丁产品消费的行为经济学研究传统上考察的是两种产品之间的替代关系，很少研究与更多产品之间的替代。可供商业销售的烟草产品数量不断增加，导致更多可能的跨产品相互作用，这表明需要在更复杂的安排中考察替代关系，这种安排能更紧密地反映烟草市场。
实验性烟草市场（ETM）是一个实验性在线商店，展示几种烟草产品的图片、信息和价格。吸烟者根据其每周的烟草购买量获得账户余额。然后，参与者在传统香烟的四种价格条件下，对七种（实验1）或六种（实验2）烟草/尼古丁产品进行潜在的实际购买，而其他产品的价格保持不变。吸烟者在1周后返回，报告烟草/尼古丁使用情况，并退还未使用的产品以获得退款。
在实验1（n = 22）中，香烟购买量随价格的升高而减少。电子烟和小雪茄的替代效应最大，电子烟的替代效应显著。实验2（n = 34）是实验1的重复，但ETM中没有小雪茄。在实验2中，香烟购买量随价格的升高而减少。电子烟和骆驼鼻烟的替代效应强烈且显著。
ETM是一种新颖、实用的分析方法，可模拟现实世界的市场，对研究人员和参与者来说都是一种简单的研究工具。在这两个实验中，ETM中的产品组合改变了哪些产品起到替代作用，表明购买行为和产品可得性之间存在复杂的相互作用。
本文为现有文献增添了一种收集购买数据的新方法，该方法可模拟现实世界的购买行为。ETM是研究假设性和潜在实际购买行为的实用途径。
