The Influence of Educational and Mental Health Vulnerabilities on Risk Perceptions of Reduced Nicotine Cigarettes

Author

Seraphina Fecher, The University of VermontFollow

Date of Completion

2024

Document Type

Honors College Thesis

Department

Psychological Science

Thesis Type

College of Arts and Science Honors, Honors College

First Advisor

Eric Thrailkill

Second Advisor

John Green

Keywords

Smoking, VLN cigarettes, regulatory science, vulnerable populations, tobacco marketing

Abstract

The 22^nd Century Group Inc. has introduced their VLN cigarettes to the market, a brand of low nicotine-content cigarettes that could help curb addiction for people who smoke. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved them to be marketed as modified risk tobacco products. This project is concerned with whether this label might influence perceptions of this product within the smoking population, potentially contributing to false beliefs regarding the effects VLNs have on human health. In particular, the goal was to determine how marketing may impact at-risk populations with a greater tendency to smoke, namely users with a mental health comorbidity and users with low educational attainment. Participants were shown advertisements for VLNs and then responded to survey questions assessing their perceptions and attitudes. Responses were compared based on the presence or absence of a vulnerability.Results indicated that participants from the at-risk samples under study were more likely to falsely believe that VLNs have an addictive value similar to full-yield cigarettes. Neither at-risk group showed significantly more false beliefs regarding the toxicity of VLNs. Additionally, participants from these vulnerable populations were more likely to have negative evaluations of VLNs, reporting less intent to use them in the future. These findings can be used to inform policies surrounding low nicotine-content cigarettes as policymakers consider how these cigarettes are viewed by and marketed to vulnerable populations.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Fecher, Seraphina, "The Influence of Educational and Mental Health Vulnerabilities on Risk Perceptions of Reduced Nicotine Cigarettes" (2024). UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses. 629.
https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/hcoltheses/629