ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2018
A fMRI study on the impact of advertising for flavored e-cigarettes on susceptible young adults.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Sweet Flavors and the Addictive Potential of E-Cigarettes: A Systematic Narrative Review.European addiction research · 2026Pooled it
- Impact of e-cigarette advertising, promotion, and sponsorship on cognition and behavior: a systematic review of public responses.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- The Role of Nicotine and Flavor in the Abuse Potential and Appeal of Electronic Cigarettes for Adult Current and Former Cigarette and Electronic Cigarette Users: A Systematic Review.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2022Pooled it
- Examining the impact of e-cigarette advertisement exposure with fruit flavour features among US young adults of varying tobacco-use statuses.Tobacco control · 2026Article
- Effect of Advertising Exposure on Responses of Young Non-e-Cigarette Users to Banning Flavors in China: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2025Article
- From Smoking to Vaping: The Motivation for E-cigarette Use at the Neurobiological Level-A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025Article
- The impact of e-cigarette product characteristics on attitudes and use susceptibility: an experimental study.Health promotion international · 2025Article
- "Ice" flavor elements in E-cigarette images: Influence on liking and intention to use among youth who are at risk of E-cigarette use.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Vaping and Smoking Cue Reactivity in Young Adult Nonsmoking Electronic Cigarette Users: A Functional Neuroimaging Study.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025Article
- Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Advertisement Trends After US Federal Policy Changes.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Examining the flavor descriptors of e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and nicotine pouches in the Philippines: Regulatory challenges and opportunities.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Concerns Over Vuse e-Cigarette Digital Marketing and Implications for Public Health Regulation: Content Analysis.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Youth attention, perceptions, and appeal in response to e-cigarette advertising features: A focus group study.Preventive medicine reports · 2024Article
- Altered insular functional activity among electronic cigarettes users with nicotine dependence.Translational psychiatry · 2024Article
- The Scientific Basis for the Regulation of Flavors in Tobacco Products.Annual review of clinical psychology · 2024Review
- Using Eye tracking to Examine Young Adults' Visual Attention to E-cigarette Advertising Features and Associated Positive E-cigarette Perceptions.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2024Article
- Young Adults' Exposure to and Engagement With Tobacco-Related Social Media Content and Subsequent Tobacco Use.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2024Article
- Visual attention and recall of flavored cigarillo package elements among young adults: A randomized control trial.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Explicit and implicit effects of gaming content on social media on the behavior of young adults.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Associations Between Noticing E-Cigarette Advertising Features and E-Cigarette Appeal and Switching Interest Among Young Adult Dual Users.Substance use & misuse · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundE-cigarettes are sold in flavors such as "skittles," "strawberrylicious," and "juicy fruit," and no restrictions are in place on marketing e-cigarettes to youth. Sweets/fruits depicted in e-cigarette advertisements may increase their appeal to youth and interfere with health warnings. This study tested a brain biomarker of product preference for sweet/fruit versus tobacco flavor e-cigarettes, and whether advertising for flavors interfered with warning labels.
methodsParticipants (N = 26) were college-age young adults who had tried an e-cigarette and were susceptible to future e-cigarette use. They viewed advertisements in fMRI for sweet/fruit and tobacco flavor e-cigarettes, menthol and regular cigarettes, and control images of sweets/fruits/mints with no tobacco product. Cue-reactivity was measured in the nucleus accumbens, a brain biomarker of product preference. Advertisements randomly contained warning labels, and recognition of health warnings was tested post-scan. Visual attention was measured using eye-tracking.
resultsThere was a significant effect of e-cigarette condition (sweet/tobacco/control) on nucleus accumbens activity, that was not found for cigarette condition (menthol/regular/control). Nucleus accumbens activity was greater for sweet/fruit versus tobacco flavor e-cigarette advertisements and did not differ compared with control images of sweets and fruits. Greater nucleus accumbens activity was correlated with poorer memory for health warnings.
conclusionsThese and exploratory eye-tracking findings suggest that advertising for sweet/fruit flavors may increase positive associations with e-cigarettes and/or override negative associations with tobacco, and interfere with health warnings, suggesting that one way to reduce the appeal of e-cigarettes to youth and educate youth about e-cigarette health risks is to regulate advertising for flavors.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.