Department of Communication, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Department of Health Promotion, Education and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
Tob Control. 2022 Sep;31(5):649-654. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2020-056312. Epub 2021 Apr 16.
In 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a proposed regulation to lower nicotine in cigarettes to minimally addictive levels to help smokers quit. We sought to explore effective message strategies communicating about nicotine reduction in cigarettes across the different key audiences that the regulation is most likely to influence.
We designed four types of messages: efficacy messages, risk messages, a message about alternative sources of nicotine and a compensation message. Sixteen virtual focus groups were conducted in Atlanta and San Francisco in April-May 2020. Data were analysed in NVivo 12.0 using a thematic analysis approach.
Exclusive smokers were receptive to both efficacy messages and risk messages. Dual users were the only group that was open to resorting to alternative sources of nicotine. Former smokers were critical of these messages as promoting the new kinds of cigarettes and potentially encouraging initiation and relapse of smoking. Non-smokers felt that efficacy messages downplayed the risks of smoking and did not scare people away from smoking. Presenting information that very low nicotine cigarettes (VLNCs) still contain harmful chemicals made smokers question continued smoking in the absence of nicotine and view VLNCs as harmful.
Messages communicating about nicotine reduction in cigarettes might help to motivate smokers to quit and can correct the misperceptions that VLNCs are less harmful. The FDA should consider specific target audiences and use different messages that complement each other in communicating about this regulation.
2017 年，美国食品和药物管理局（FDA）宣布了一项拟议法规，将香烟中的尼古丁含量降低到最低成瘾水平，以帮助吸烟者戒烟。我们试图探索在该法规最有可能影响的不同关键受众中，传达关于香烟中尼古丁减少的有效信息策略。
我们设计了四种类型的信息：功效信息、风险信息、关于尼古丁替代来源的信息和补偿信息。2020 年 4 月至 5 月，在亚特兰大和旧金山进行了 16 个虚拟焦点小组。使用 NVivo 12.0 软件对数据进行分析，采用主题分析方法。
纯吸烟者对功效信息和风险信息都持接受态度。双重使用者是唯一愿意诉诸尼古丁替代来源的群体。前吸烟者对这些信息持批评态度，认为这些信息宣传了新型香烟，并可能鼓励吸烟的开始和复发。非吸烟者认为功效信息淡化了吸烟的风险，并没有吓阻人们远离吸烟。提出的信息表明，极低尼古丁香烟（VLNCs）仍然含有有害化学物质，使吸烟者质疑在没有尼古丁的情况下继续吸烟，并将 VLNCs 视为有害。
传达关于香烟中尼古丁减少的信息可能有助于激励吸烟者戒烟，并纠正 VLNCs 危害较小的误解。FDA 应考虑特定的目标受众，并在传达这项法规时使用相互补充的不同信息。
