Risk Beliefs and Preferences for E-cigarettes

W Viscusi

American Journal of Health Economics, 2016, vol. 2, issue 2, 213-240

Abstract: Drawing on evidence from a new nationally representative survey, this article examines several measures of risk beliefs for e-cigarettes. For both lung cancer mortality risks and total smoking mortality risks, respondents believe that e-cigarettes pose risks that are lower than the risks of conventional tobacco cigarettes. However, people greatly overestimate the risk levels of e-cigarettes compared with the actual risk levels. Risk beliefs for conventional cigarettes receive at least a two-thirds informational weight in the formation of e-cigarette risk beliefs. Public perceptions of nicotine levels of e-cigarettes are closer to the beliefs for conventional cigarettes than are their health risk perceptions. Consumers’ desired uses of e-cigarettes are more strongly related to health risk perceptions than perceived e-cigarette nicotine levels. The overestimation of e-cigarette risks establishes a potential role for informational policies.

Keywords: e-cigarettes; cigarettes; smoking; risk; Bayesian (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D80 I12 I18 K32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (23)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucp:amjhec:v:2:y:2016:i:2:p:213-240

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