Removing Price Discounts from the Tobacco Retail Environment: Effects on College Students' Risk of Using Smokeless Tobacco, Little Cigars, and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Devices.

Abstract

Objective: The tobacco industry strives to keep product prices low through providing consumer-focused discounts (e.g., coupons) that can be applied at retail locations. Local communities have responded by prohibiting the distribution and/or redemption of coupons at retail locations, yet evidence that this policy diminishes product purchases and use intentions is lacking. The purpose of this experiment is to evaluate whether elimination of price discounts from retail locations influences use intentions for smokeless tobacco, little cigars/cigarillos (LCCs), and electronic cigarettes (ENDS) in young adults.

Methods: Participants were 298 college students recruited from the community. They participated in a simulated shopping task in the RAND StoreLab, a life-sized replica of a mid-sized convenience store. They were randomized into one of two conditions: Price discounts present (store tobacco posters displayed price discount information) or price discounts absent (no price discount information displayed on posters). The dependent measure was post-shopping intentions to use smokeless tobacco, LCCs, and ENDS.

Results: Exposure to the price discounts absent condition led to a lower susceptibility of using smokeless tobacco compared to exposure to the price discounts present condition (aOR = 0.48 [95% CI, 0.23, 0.98]). Experimental condition was not related to LCC use susceptibility (aOR = 1.46 [95% CI, 0.70, 3.03]) or to ENDS use susceptibility (aOR = 0.89 [95% CI, 0.40, 1.95]).

Conclusions: These results support eliminating tobacco discounts from retail locations, at least for reducing college students' desire to use some tobacco products.