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Abstract

Objective
The rapid increase in the use of e-cigarettes may facilitate the cessation of tobacco use, but may also introduce a new pathway to becoming addicted to nicotine. Our objective was to examine how e-cigarette users and young nonusers respond to product characteristics.

Methods
We conducted a discrete choice experiment that included choices over three products (vape pods, heated tobacco sticks, cigarettes) with four attributes: on-product health warnings, plain packaging for vape pods, nicotine concentration allowable in vape pods, and price, among residents of Alberta, Ontario, and Québec. Conditional logit regressions were used to estimate the relative effects that differing attribute levels had on respondents choosing a product they would most likely buy (or try if nonusers) and the product they believed would pose the least risk to their health.

Results
Relative to the weakest policies (i.e., no on-product warnings, branding on vape pod packaging, no restrictions on nicotine concentration, and lower prices), respondents preferred options without on-product warnings, lower prices, and lower nicotine concentration in vapes. On-product warnings were particularly salient and appeared to work synergistically. Among nonusers and users, a warning on all three products increased the predicted probability (Pr) of choosing ‘none’ from Pr 0.50 (95% CI 0.47, 0.53) to Pr 0.65 (95% CI 0.63, 0.68) and from Pr 0.10 (95% CI 0.09, 0.12) to Pr 0.18 (95% CI 0.16, 0.21), respectively.

Conclusion
On-product warnings (separate from traditional warnings on the package) may reduce experimentation and use of e-cigarettes and cigarettes, while higher prices may reduce use.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© The Author(s) 2026. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Publisher Keywords:	Tobacco, Cigarette smoking, Electronic nicotine delivery systems, Vaping, Product packaging, Product labeling, Price, Discrete choice experiment, Stated preferences, Alberta, Ontario, Québec, Canada
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform J Political Science > JA Political science (General) R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Departments:	School of Policy & Global Affairs School of Policy & Global Affairs > Department of Economics
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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