Comparison of Demand and Substitution for Nicotine Pouches as a Function of Nicotine Dosage

NCT07213947 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 23725U54DA058256-02
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,360
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Smoking is a prominent public health issue. Traditional nicotine replacement therapy suffers from being a poor substitute for cigarettes. Novel tobacco products, such as nicotine pouches, show promise as potential low-harm substitutes. Investigators wish to assess the substitutability of cigarettes for nicotine pouches at different dosages and price points. This study will consist of 4000 screened participants online on the crowdsourcing software Prolific, with roughly 400 eligible participants. This study will include the use of an electronic tobacco marketplace.

Conditions

Tobacco Use; Nicotine Pouch Self-Administration

Keywords

nicotine pouch; behavioral economics; substitution; e-cigarettes; nicotine concentration

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Nicotine Pouch Demand Indices

  Behavioral demand curves will be drawn for nicotine pouch consumption as a function of price. Demand curves will be compared across dosage conditions on three indices: breakpoint (price at which consumption drops to zero) , elasticity of demand (rate of decline of consumption at any price), and intensity of demand (consumption at zero price).

  Within 1 hour of enrollment, participants are expected to have completed the full trial.

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Substitution of Nicotine Pouches for other Tobacco Products

  Within 1 hour of enrollment participants are expected to have completed the whole trial.

• Effects of Relative Rurality on Nicotine Pouch Demand and Substitution

  Within 1 hour of enrollment participants are expected to have completed the whole trial.

Study Arms (1)

Nicotine pouch purchase

EXPERIMENTAL

All participants will be experimentally manipulated by randomizing the dosage of nicotine pouches across varying pricing conditions.

Other: Nicotine Pouch Dosage

Interventions

Nicotine Pouch Dosage OTHER

All participants will be experimentally manipulated by having nicotine dosage in hypothetical purchase tasks/ experimental marketplaces altered between market groups.

Nicotine pouch purchase

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• tobacco users will be eligible for a general screener
• nicotine pouch users will be eligible for the full marketplace study
• users of the crowdsourcing website Prolific

You may not qualify if:

• non nicotine pouch user
• \<18+ years old

Sponsors & Collaborators

• William Middleton: lead
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Kentucky Turfland Medical Center, Department of Family and Community Medicine

Lexington, Kentucky, 40503, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Tobacco Use; Vaping

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior; Smoking

Study Officials

• Mikhail Koffarnus, PhD

  University of Kentucky

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Model Details: Individuals will be asked to purchase nicotine pouches across various prices. Nicotine pouch dosage will be randomly manipulated across pricing conditions. All participants will experience price and dosage changes, but in different orders.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 6, 2025
• First Posted: October 9, 2025
• Study Start: December 4, 2025
• Primary Completion: January 2, 2026
• Study Completion: January 2, 2026
• Last Updated: May 1, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)