ArticleNicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco2019
Reducing Nicotine Without Misleading the Public: Descriptions of Cigarette Nicotine Level and Accuracy of Perceptions About Nicotine Content, Addictiveness, and Risk.
Article in Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Regulatory Approaches and Implementation of Minimally Addictive Combusted Products.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2022Pooled it
- Independent and combined effects of very low nicotine cigarette messages and e-cigarette messages: a randomised clinical trial.Tobacco control · 2025Trial
- Effect of nicotine corrective messaging on nicotine-related beliefs in US adults: a randomised controlled trial.Tobacco control · 2025Trial
- Subjective experiences, contexts, and risk perceptions of very low nicotine content cigarettes and electronic cigarettes among people with depression and anxiety disorders who smoke.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2023Trial
- Effect of brief nicotine corrective messaging on nicotine beliefs in persons who use opioids.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2022Trial
- Educating the Public on the Health Risks of Very Low Nicotine Content Cigarettes: Results From a US-Based Convenience Sample.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2022Trial
- Reactions to graphic and text health warnings for cigarettes, sugar-sweetened beverages, and alcohol: An online randomized experiment of US adults.Preventive medicine · 2020Trial
- 'Light at the end of the tunnel': reactions to targeted and generally applicable reduced nicotine policy messages among priority populations of people who smoke.Tobacco control · 2026Article
- Article
- Assessing the Impact of Messages About Reduced Nicotine Cigar Products Among People Who Use Little Cigars and Cigarillos: Insights From a Discrete Choice Experiment.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025Article
- Targeting three United States priority populations of people who smoke with educational nicotine messages using curiosity-eliciting strategies.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Public Perceptions of Very Low Nicotine Content on Twitter: Observational Study.JMIR formative research · 2024Observational
- Associations of educational and marketing messages with beliefs about nicotine and reduced nicotine cigarettes.Preventive medicine · 2024Article
- Messaging about very low nicotine cigarettes (VLNCs) to influence policy attitudes, harm perceptions and smoking motivations: a discrete choice experiment.Tobacco control · 2024Article
- Assessing the general public's view of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing and their interpretation of DTC website disclaimer messages.European journal of human genetics : EJHG · 2023Article
- Youths' Perceptions of Nicotine Harm and Associations With Product Use.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2023Article
- Reducing Misperceptions About Very Low Nicotine Content Cigarettes: Insights From Adults Who Smoke.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2022Article
- 'It brings light to what you really put into your body': a focus group study of reactions to messages about nicotine reduction in cigarettes.Tobacco control · 2022Article
- Perceptions of Nicotine Reduction Policy in the United States: A Qualitative Study.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2022Article
- Do Smokers' Perceptions of the Harmfulness of Nicotine Replacement Therapy and Nicotine Vaping Products as Compared to Cigarettes Influence Their Use as an Aid for Smoking Cessation? Findings from the ITC Four Country Smoking and Vaping Surveys.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
significanceThe public incorrectly believes very low nicotine content (VLNC) cigarettes are less carcinogenic than current cigarettes, a belief associated with lower motivation to quit under a VLNC standard. We examined how different descriptions of the nicotine level in VLNC cigarettes affect the accuracy of the public's perceptions about nicotine content, addictiveness, and cancer risk.
methodsParticipants were a national convenience sample of 1353 US adults (22% smokers). In an online experiment, we randomized participants to a VLNC description using (1) concise language; (2) a percentage; (3) an interpretation; (4) a percentage and interpretation; (5) a percentage and a pictograph; or (6) a percentage, interpretation, and pictograph; or to a control description using (7) FDA's "minimally or nonaddictive" phrasing. We assessed accuracy of perceived nicotine content, addictiveness, and cancer risk compared to current cigarettes.
resultsCompared to control, the percentage description resulted in more accurate perceptions about nicotine content (76% vs. 49% accuracy) and addictiveness (44% vs. 34%), but less accurate perceptions about cancer risk (56% vs. 68%; all ps < .05). Adding interpretation or pictographs to the percentage description did not increase accuracy. The concise language description reduced accuracy of perceived nicotine content and addictiveness but increased accuracy of cancer risk (all ps < .05).
conclusionsStating that 95% of nicotine would be removed more accurately conveyed the nicotine content and addictiveness of VLNC cigarettes. However, descriptions that better conveyed nicotine content and addictiveness misled people about cancer risk. IMPLICATIONS: Implementation of a VLNC standard should include plans for a communication campaign that conveys that VLNC cigarettes will be less addictive but equally toxic to smoke. Stating the percent reduction in nicotine is likely to more clearly communicate reduced addictiveness but may also exacerbate risk misperceptions. VLNC communication requires further study to ensure the public accurately understands a VLNC standard.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.