Value to smokers of improved cessation products: evidence from a willingness-to-pay survey.
The present study demonstrated the use of willingness to pay to value hypothetical new smoking cessation products. Data came from a baseline survey of participants in a clinical trial of medications for smoking cessation (N=356) conducted in New Haven, Connecticut. We analyzed individual willingness to pay for a hypothetical tobacco cessation treatment that is (a) more effective than those currently available and then (b) more effective and attenuates the weight gain often associated with smoking cessation. A majority of the respondents (n=280; 84%) were willing to pay for the more effective treatment, and, of those, 175 (63%) were willing to pay more if the increased effectiveness was accompanied by attenuation of the weight gain associated with smoking cessation. The present study suggests the validity of using willingness-to-pay surveys in assessing the value of new smoking cessation products and products with multifaceted improvements. From these data, we calculated estimates of the value of a quit. For the population studied, this survey suggests a substantial market for more effective smoking cessation treatments.
Busch
Susan
S
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine and Center for Nicotine and Tobacco Use Research at Yale, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. susan.busch@yale.edu
Falba
Tracy
T
Duchovny
Noelia
N
Jofre-Bonet
Mireia
M
O'Malley
Stephanie
S
Sindelar
Jody
J
D000328:Adult; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D005382:Financing, Personal; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D012907:Smoking / Q000628:therapy; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods*