Importance of Various E-Cigarette Device and E-Liquid Characteristics by Smoking Status among Young Adults Who Vape

Abstract

Background

E-cigarette product characteristics are known to influence appeal among young adults. Understanding which characteristics appeal to individuals with (vs. without) a history of combusted tobacco use is essential for developing effective tobacco control policies.

Methods

Anonymous, self-report data were collected from young adults (18-30 years) who had used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days (n = 295) online via Prolific from September-October 2019. Using a visual analogue scale (range: 0-100), participants rated the importance of ten e-cigarette device and nine e-liquid characteristics. Adjusted linear regression models were used to evaluate the association of combusted tobacco use status (never, former, current) with mean rating scores for each of the nineteen characteristics.

Results

The most important e-cigarette device characteristics were price (Mean = 81.1; [SD = 17.9]), size (Mean = 75.5 [SD = 20.9]), and hit strength (Mean = 73.8 [SD = 20.4]) while the most important e-liquid characteristics were flavor (M = 85.1 [SD = 16.3]), price (M = 80.9 [SD = 18.4]), and nicotine level (M = 77.8 [18.9]). Differences by combusted tobacco use status were observed for device brand, temperature/voltage, customizability, color, and popularity, with the highest ratings generally observed among those concurrently using combustible tobacco products. For e-liquids, differences by use status were observed for flavor, price, and bottle type. Notably, those concurrently using combusted products rated flavor as less important than those with no history of combustible tobacco use (B=-5.01[95%CI=-9.97, −0.05]).

Conclusions

The self-rated importance of e-cigarette device and e-liquid attributes varies by combustible tobacco use status among young adults which may be used to inform regulatory decisions regarding e-cigarette product characteristics.

Keywords:

• E-cigarettes
• tobacco regulatory science
• young adults

Declaration of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose.

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by grant number U54CA180905 from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), grant number K01DA042950 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse at NIH, grant number R01CA226917 from NIH/NCI, and grant 27-IR-0034 from the Tobacco Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP). The funder had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data; or preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.