Consumer Information about the Risks of Vaping E-cigarettes: Experimental Evidence

Last registered on November 02, 2022

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Consumer Information about the Risks of Vaping E-cigarettes: Experimental Evidence
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010303
Initial registration date
October 24, 2022

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
October 31, 2022, 3:27 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
November 02, 2022, 9:56 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Cornell University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2022-10-25
End date
2022-11-01
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
A line of empirical studies in economics use information shocks to explore the role of health information in consumer demand for tobacco products and other health-related goods. We study an information shock to tobacco product demand created by an outbreak of lung injuries in the late summer and fall of 2019, which the CDC termed “E-cigarette, or Vaping, Associated Lung Injuries” (EVALI). The outbreak was covered in the media and by public health organizations in the U.S., the U.K., and globally. In other research, we use observational data from multiple sources to explore the impact of the information of the information shock on risk perceptions and on vaping and tobacco product use. We now propose a randomized controlled trial of three information interventions about vaping: a 2019 Twitter message about EVALI from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control; a 2019 Twitter message about EVALI from the U.K. Health Security Agency; and a 2019 Twitter message about the teen vaping epidemic from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A fourth control group will receive no message. The controlled trial of U.S. and U.K. subjects will be conducted through the PollFish online survey firm. The primary outcomes will be measures of subjects’ perceptions of the relative and absolute risks of vaping e-cigarettes. The secondary outcomes will be measures of subjects’ intentions about future tobacco product use.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kenkel, Donald. 2022. "Consumer Information about the Risks of Vaping E-cigarettes: Experimental Evidence." AEA RCT Registry. November 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10303-2.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We propose a randomized controlled trial of three information interventions about vaping: a 2019 Twitter message about e-cigarette, or vaping, associated lung injuries (EVALI) from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control; a 2019 Twitter message about EVALI from the U.K. Health Security Agency; and a 2019 Twitter message about the teen vaping epidemic from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A fourth control group will receive no message.
Intervention Start Date
2022-10-25
Intervention End Date
2022-11-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Subjects' self-reported perceptions of the relative and absolute risks of vaping e-cigarettes
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Subjects' self-reported intentions to quit smoking, with or without the use of e-cigarettes; and intentions to quit vaping
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We propose a randomized controlled trial of three information interventions about vaping: a 2019 Twitter message about e-cigarette, or vaping, associated lung injuries (EVALI) from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control; a 2019 Twitter message about EVALI from the U.K. Health Security Agency; and a 2019 Twitter message about the teen vaping epidemic from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A fourth control group will receive no message. The controlled trial of U.S. and U.K. subjects will be conducted through the PollFish online survey firm. The primary outcomes will be measures of subjects’ perceptions of the relative and absolute risks of vaping e-cigarettes. The secondary outcomes will be measures of subjects’ intentions about future tobacco product use.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done by Pollfish (online survey company)
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Not clustered
Sample size: planned number of observations
8000 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1000 U.S. adults age 21+, control
1000 U.S. adults age 21+, U.S. CDC message
1000 U.S. adults age 21+, U.K. Health Security Agency message
1000 U.S. adults age 21+, U.S. FDA message
1000 U.K. adults age 18+, control
1000 U.K. adults age 18+, U.S. CDC message
1000 U.K. adults age 18+, U.K. Health Security Agency message
1000 U.K. adults age 18+, U.S. FDA message
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

Documents

Document Name
CDC message group survey instrument
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
CDC message group survey instrument

MD5: 81bd59f7c178d9d584b9a95cba033f3c

SHA1: b05130c5a9eadd5c59b9d514b3fa78af7d49d181

Uploaded At: October 24, 2022

Document Name
control group survey instrument
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
control group survey instrument

MD5: 13fc7def1cef6a1f95acd481517827c9

SHA1: d81ab9f2511c6235cea87f860a2ba410495ec94d

Uploaded At: October 24, 2022

Document Name
Health Security Agency group survey instrument
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
Health Security Agency group survey instrument

MD5: 012fdae208e1168e536ad498b3de3781

SHA1: be64fe389da539200d34e3525fb55304b600aeb7

Uploaded At: October 24, 2022

Document Name
FDA group survey instrument
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
FDA group survey instrument

MD5: b7172f604e78d7ffd1bcadba8b77663e

SHA1: ef6613deba0e67a7d376fe9299a23b7e3918cfdd

Uploaded At: October 24, 2022

Document Name
Twitter message images
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
Twitter message images

MD5: 2f5baeb65c3eea75ba2e58e50235eed1

SHA1: d7d1769f3d3ce51171710ee9cdece0d5f5ff5d02

Uploaded At: October 24, 2022

IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Institutional Review Board for Human Participants, Cornell University
IRB Approval Date
2022-10-17
IRB Approval Number
IRB0146966
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials