Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33858965›Full record

Trial reportTobacco control2023

Effects of advertising features on smokers' and non-smokers' perceptions of a reduced nicotine cigarette modified risk tobacco product.

Melissa Mercincavage, Lauren R Pacek, James Thrasher, Joseph N Cappella, Cristine Delnevo, Eric C Donny, Andrew A Strasser

Open access · greenAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Tobacco control, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 32% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Young Adults' Attention to Reduced Exposure Claims in IQOS Advertising and Associations With Product Perceptions and Use Intentions.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Impact of Visual Elements of Tobacco Packaging on Health Risk Perceptions of Youth Groups.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Article
  6. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Melissa MercincavagePsychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA melmer@upenn.edu.ORCID 0000-0003-1463-2466
Lauren R PacekPsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
James ThrasherHealth Promotion, Education, and Behavior, School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
Joseph N CappellaUniversity of Pennsylvania-Rutgers University Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Cristine DelnevoUniversity of Pennsylvania-Rutgers University Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Eric C DonnyUniversity of Pennsylvania-Rutgers University Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Andrew A StrasserPsychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey · USDuke Medical Center · USUniversity of South Carolina · US

Funding

Translational Research Support CoreP30ES013508 · NIEHS · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI A. Clementina Mesaros · 2006 to 2026
$35.3M
Tobacco Industry Marketing CoreU54CA229973 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI STRASSER, ANDREW A · 2018 to 2022
$18.8M
Mobile health interventions for varenicline adherence among HIV-positive smokersK01DA043413 · NIDA · DUKE UNIVERSITY · PI PACEK, LAUREN RENEE · 2017 to 2021
$860k
Laboratory-based Approaches to Understanding the Impact of Low Nicotine Content Cigarette Marketing on Young AdultsK07CA218366 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI MERCINCAVAGE, MELISSA · 2018 to 2022
$767k
NCI NIH HHS K07 CA218366NCI NIH HHS U54 CA229973NIDA NIH HHS K01 DA043413NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES013508
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionResearch is needed to determine the impact of marketing on perceptions and use of reduced nicotine content (RNC) cigarettes, particularly as US regulators have permitted the sale of an RNC cigarette modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) that seeks further authorisation to advertise using modified risk claims. This study examined the effects of two advertising elements (product name and disclaimer content) on perceptions of an RNC cigarette MRTP.

methodsAdult participants (n=807, 28.7% smokers, 58.2% male, 74.2% non-Latinx white) completed an online MTurk survey. Participants were randomised to view one of six RNC cigarette advertisements, using a 2×3 between-subject factorial design to manipulate product name ('Moonlight' vs 'Moonrise') and disclaimer content (industry-proposed: 'Nicotine is addictive. Less nicotine does NOT mean a safer cigarette' vs focused: 'Less nicotine does NOT mean a safer cigarette' vs no content), then completed recall and product perception questionnaires.

resultsAll participants who viewed the industry-proposed disclaimer (vs no content) perceived greater addiction risk (p's<0.05). Non-smokers who viewed this disclaimer also perceived greater health risks and held fewer false beliefs (p's<0.05). Smokers who viewed Moonlight (vs Moonrise) ads perceived lower health risks (p<0.05).

conclusionsDisclaimer content may effectively inform consumers about addiction risk of a new RNC cigarette MRTP, and further inform non-smokers about health risks. This element, however, had little effect on perceived health risks among smokers, among whom the Moonlight product name was associated with health risk misperceptions similar to the banned 'light' descriptor.

Indexed as

Smoking CessationTobacco ProductsTobacco Use DisorderAdultAdvertisingFemaleHumansMaleNicotineNon-SmokersSmokingNicotineadvertising and promotionnicotinepackaging and labelling

Identifiers

PMID33858965
PMCPMC8517036
OpenAlexW3153536603

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.