Behavioral economic substitution between conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes differs as a function of the frequency of e-cigarette use.

BACKGROUND: Models measuring the interactions between consumption of conventional cigarettes and electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) in the marketplace are becoming vital forecast tools as the popularity of e-cigarettes increases and policy on tobacco products changes. Behavioral economics, which involves the integration of psychology and consumer demand, can be used to measure individuals' purchase behavior under different marketplace conditions. Our goal was to measure hypothetical conventional cigarette and e-cigarette purchasing among smokers with varying e-cigarette use patterns.
METHODS: Daily cigarette smokers were recruited using Amazon Mechanical Turk, an online crowdsourcing tool. Participants were asked about their frequency of e-cigarette use and to complete hypothetical single and cross-commodity purchase tasks.
RESULTS: Frequency of e-cigarette use differentially affected how individuals consumed both conventional and e- cigarettes in different hypothetical marketplace conditions. The present study demonstrates four main findings: 1) the demand for conventional cigarettes was the lowest in those with greater frequency of e-cigarette use, 2) the demand for e-cigarettes was the highest in those with greater frequency of e-cigarette use, 3) when both products were available together, daily e-cigarette users purchased more e-cigarettes, but e-cigarettes served as a substitute for cigarettes in all groups regardless of frequency of use, and 4) the demand for conventional cigarette demand was lower in frequent e-cigarette users when e-cigarettes were concurrently available.
CONCLUSIONS: Together, these data suggest that price and marketplace conditions will impact purchasing behavior of conventional and e-cigarettes users heterogeneously. Therefore, frequency of use patterns should be considered when implementing novel policies and/or marketplace changes.