Measuring Smokers’ Preferences for Low-Nicotine Cigarettes: Evidence from a Field Experiment

From a field experiment to estimate consumer preferences for reduced-nicotine cigarettes, our results suggest younger adult smokers who want to quit smoking are most likely to purchase low-nicotine cigarettes. Hard core smokers, however, revealed no demand for these cigarettes. * Corresponding author. Address: RTI International, 3040 Cornwallis Rd., Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. [email protected], 919-316-3748, fax 919-541-6683 ** The authors are graduate student, Department of Economics, Iowa State University; Research Economist, RTI International; Stroock Distinguished Professor of Natural Resource Management and Conservation, Department of Economics and Finance, University of Wyoming; and Research Analyst, RTI International. Partial funding of this project came from the University of Wyoming. The authors thank James Nonnemaker and Brett Loomis for helpful comments on the survey design, Matthew Farrelly for helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper, Tony Albino for helping us obtain cigarettes for use in the experiment, and the managers of the 2 Hy-Vee stores in Ames, IA that let us use their facilities.