The Impact of Cigar Pack Marketing With "Natural" Themes on Young Adults

Summary

The goal of this online survey experiment is to examine the effect of "natural" descriptors and images on cigar packs among young adults (ages 18-34) who have either used cigars in the past year or are non-users who are susceptible to use. The study will compare effects of cigar pack images with or without "natural" descriptors (that explicitly say "natural" vs. imply naturalness with the word "leaf"), with or without "natural" images (such as leaves), and with or without images of cigar sticks (that are rough-cut (e.g., darker wrapper color with more visible leaf lines) vs. smooth) on product perceptions, intentions to use cigars, and recall.

Participants will be randomized to one of 18 conditions and will be shown four cigar pack images from various brands within their condition. After seeing the images, they will complete survey questions assessing product perceptions, intentions, and recall, and will complete other embedded tasks in the survey, before being debriefed about the harms of cigars.

Conditions

• Tobacco Product Beliefs and Use

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Natural Descriptor Type - Explicit

Participants will view cigar packs with descriptors which explicitly refer to "naturalness" (i.e., "natural" or "natural leaf")

BEHAVIORAL

Natural Descriptor Type - Implicit

Participants will view cigar packs which do not use the word "natural, but use "leaf" descriptors, which may implicitly refer to "naturalness"

BEHAVIORAL

Natural Descriptor Type - Absent

Participants will view cigar packs which do not use any "natural" or "leaf" descriptors

BEHAVIORAL

Natural Imagery - Present

Participants will view cigar packs which include imagery that may communicate themes of "naturalness" (e.g., images of leaves)

BEHAVIORAL

Natural Imagery - Absent

Participants will view cigar packs without imagery that may communicate themes of "naturalness" (e.g., leaves)

BEHAVIORAL

Cigar Image Type - Smooth

Participants will view cigar packs featuring an image of smooth-cut cigars on them.

BEHAVIORAL

Cigar Image Type - Rough Cut

Participants will view cigar packs featuring an image of rough-cut cigars on them.

BEHAVIORAL

Cigar Image Type - None

Participants will view cigar packs which do not show any images of cigars on them.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Cancer Institute (NCI)

  collaborator NIH

• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Olivia A. Wackowski, PhD, MPH · Rutgers University

• Michelle Jeong, PhD · Rutgers University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

34 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-08-31

Primary Completion

2026-11-30

Completion

2026-11-30