The Influence of the US FDA Authorized Modified Exposure Claim on Heuristic Processing of Tobacco Risk Information and Marketing Message Among Young Adults

The US FDA has authorized several modified risk tobacco products (MRTPs), permitting marketing claims around modified exposure (i.e. lower exposure to harmful substances compared to cigarettes). We propose that this FDA authorization may serve as a heuristic cue, influencing how people visually attend to the U.S. Surgeon General's warning to discourage tobacco use and perceive MRTPs and their marketing messages among young tobacco users and non-users. We conducted a 3 (claims: FDA-authorized modified exposure claim vs. the claim only vs. no claim) ×2 (tobacco use status: users vs. non-users) between-subjects factorial experiment with 88 young adults. Eye-tracking and survey data were collected during and after showing a one-minute commercial video for an MRTP, which included the claim and the warning. Participants exposed to FDA-authorized modified exposure claims spent significantly less time looking at the warning and reported greater intent to try the product than the other conditions. While visual attention to the warning did not differ significantly between tobacco users and non-users, tobacco users reported higher interest and intent to try the product. Additionally, there was a significant interaction effect between the claim condition and tobacco use; tobacco users rated the risk of a MRTP significantly lower than non-users only when exposed to the FDA-authorized claim. Our findings support scholarly concerns about the negative impact of FDA-authorized marketing claims for newer tobacco products on young people. Modified exposure claims endorsed by the FDA can reduce attention to risk information, making young people more receptive to tobacco marketing.