Objectives: Minimally regulated electronic cigarettes (e-cigarette) advertising may be one potential factor driving the increasing prevalence of young adult e-cigarette use. Using eye-tracking, the current study examined which e-cigarette advertising features were the most appealing to young adults as a first step in examining how to regulate e-cigarette advertising. Methods: Using a within-subjects design, 30 young adults (M_age = 20.0 years) viewed e-cigarette ads in a laboratory. Ad features or areas of interest (AOIs) included: (1) brand logo, (2) product descriptor, and (3) people. During ad viewing, eye-tracking measured participants' dwell time and time to first fixation for each AOI as well as each ad brand. Harm perceptions pre- and post-viewing were measured. Results: Participants spent the longest dwell time on people (M = 2701 ms), then product descriptors (M = 924 ms), then brand logos (M = 672 ms; ps < .001). They also fixated fastest on AOIs in that order. Participant sex significantly impacted dwell time of ad brand, and harm perceptions decreased after viewing the ads (ps < .05). Conclusions: This study provides initial evidence about which e-cigarette ad features may appeal most to young adults and may be useful when designing evidence-based policy.

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Background: Monitoring trends and perceptions of new nicotine salt-based electronic cigarettes (ECs), like JUUL, is important to identify associations with product experimentation and use. Understanding harm perceptions of these new devices will inform prevention and intervention efforts. The current study assesses perceptions of the absolute harmfulness of JUUL use in addition to comparing it to other tobacco products. Methods: Participants (N = 839, 52% male) reporting ever use of JUUL were recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk from January to March 2018. Respondents completed questionnaire items assessing demographics, co-use of non-JUUL products, JUUL use status (i.e., daily users (10.8%), non-daily users (29.4%), and triers (59.9%)), and JUUL and other tobacco products absolute harm perceptions. Results: Overall, participants rated JUUL as significantly less harmful than all other tobacco products (p < 0.001), except other ECs. Daily JUUL users rated JUUL as less harmful compared to non-daily JUUL users and JUUL triers (p < 0.05). JUUL was rated as more harmful by women compared to men (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Increased frequency of JUUL use was associated with decreased harm perceptions. JUUL was associated with reduced perceptions of absolute harm compared to most other tobacco products, except other ECs. Public health practitioners should develop public health interventions that increase harm perceptions of ECs.

Journal of Medical Internet Research - International Scientific Journal for Medical Research, Information and Communication on the Internet #Preprint #PeerReviewMe: Warning: This is a unreviewed preprint. Readers are warned that the document has not been peer-reviewed by expert/patient reviewers or an academic editor, may contain misleading claims, and is likely to undergo changes before final publication, if accepted, or may have been rejected/withdrawn. Readers with interest and expertise are encouraged to sign up as peer-reviewer, if the paper is within an open peer-review period. Please cite this preprint only for review purposes or for grant applications and CVs (if you are the author). Background: Recruitment and retention of participants are important factors in empirical studies. Methods that increase recruitment and retention can reduce costs and burden on researchers related to the need for over-recruitment due to attrition. App-based rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft are a potential means for decreasing this burden. Objective: To understand how provision of app-based rideshare services are associated with participant retention and recruitment in research. Methods: Data are presented for a study (N=42) in which rideshare services were utilized for participant transportation to and from study visits during a two-session, in-laboratory research study. Results: Retention at visit two was greater than 95% in the initial study. In a follow-up survey of the participants from the original trial, participants (N=32) reported that the rideshare service was an important reason they returned for all study visits. Participants reported whether they would prefer differing levels of additional monetary compensation or a ride from a rideshare service. When the additional compensation was less than $15, participants reported a preference for the rideshare service. Conclusions: Rideshare services may represent a relatively low cost means for increasing study retention. Specifically, findings indicate that rideshare services may not be crucial for initial participant recruitment, but for their retention in multi-visit studies.