Representative quotes of PREP ever triers, Chattanooga and Dallas, 2002
| How did they learn about the PREP? |
| “If I remember correctly when they [Eclipse®] first came out (to Chattanooga), when they were trying to break into the market, they had really extensive surveys and giveaways, and most of the malls around here had some sort of a booth set up where they were giving them away and if you participated in the study you got a couple of free cartons. So they were really floating around for quite some time there.” (white man) |
| “My friend had a pack [Eclipse®], so I was bumming cigarettes from my friend and that’s the only kind they had.” (African American woman) |
| “[My mother] went to[a] research[study] to try the cigarettes [Eclipse®], and they gave her a carton and she didn’t like them. She gave them to me.” (Hispanic woman) |
| Why did they first try the PREP? |
| “The price was right. They were free!” (All racial and sex groups) |
| “At the grocery store I saw them [Eclipse®]. I was trying to cut back on my smoking habit and I figured I would give it a go…[what first attracted me was] that they were smokeless and lower in tar and [I thought I could] sort of wean off Marlboro.” (white male) |
| “I smoke [PREPs] now because I am trying to quit.” (white female) |
| “They said they [Ariva®] were for people on long plane flights to ease cravings. So, I was thinking like him that I wanted to quit…and I was thinking that I could just get hooked on those for a while and wean myself off of those.” (white male) |
| “I used to work in a convenience store, and [Eclipse®] was a new product for the store and they just looked different to me and then I read that they were supposed to help you quit, and I was like, ‘okay’.” (Hispanic female) |
| “Health was the main reason (I use Eclipse®)…but (also) the fact that I got a lot more information as to the benefits of the cigarette.” (Hispanic man) |
| “I feel like they say smoking gives you cancer, smoking gives you this and does that, so at least you’d be smoking a more healthier cigarette [Eclipse®] to me.” (African American woman) |
| “It was something new, something different.” (white man) |
| “Just curious.” (African American man) |
| What did they think of PREPs at first trial? |
| “The product [Eclipse®] is not satisfying. That’s what everyone is really saying. It just doesn’t satisfy the craving of a cigarette smoker…” (African American man) |
| “[Advance Lights® tasted] horrible. It tasted like they had some kind of dirty something mixed up in there.” (African American man) |
| “It was cool that it [Eclipse®] didn’t drop ashes. I mean only the top would get red.” (African American man) |
| “It is light, real smooth.” (African American man) |
| “I enjoyed that part of it. My hands didn’t smell.” (Hispanic woman) |
| Why did they continue or discontinue PREP use? |
| “I gave a couple of packs away at work and nobody else liked them either; so I ended up throwing about seven packs away. They just didn’t do anything for me.” (white man) |
| “I have tried Omni®. The only reason I tried it was that I ran out of cigarettes, and I think they were really cheap in the market, in the store, and whoever I was bumming off of…but I will never buy them if I’ve got the money.” (African American man) |
| “Advance Lights® [will make] you want a cigarette, it will make you want a cigarette.” (African-American woman) |
| “I have smoked [Eclipse®] more than once. I work in a lot of convention centers and hotels where smoking is forbidden. And a lot of times, I’ll have those, especially in the convention centers, because you can get satisfaction from it without leaving to go outside.” (white man) |
| “Yeah. I still have the original pack at home. There are only five of them[Ariva®] missing. I bought them at least three months ago. (I use them) mostly when my kids are in the car (with me) or if it is cold outside, so I don’t have to have the windows cracked.” (white man) |
| Will you recommend PREPs to others? |
| “I didn’t like it [Eclipse®], so, I wouldn’t recommend it.” (Hispanic man) |
| “I wouldn’t recommend it [Eclipse®] to someone who wanted to quit smoking. That’s not the way to quit smoking.” (white man) |
| “If somebody wanted to stop smoking, somebody wanted to stop smelling like smoke, and you could still get some type of satisfaction, yeah, I[would recommend PREPs].” (Hispanic woman) |
| “I think the only people that are going to smoke this kind of cigarettes are the people that are starting [to smoke cigarettes].” (Hispanic man) |
| “Somebody that’s into health, healthy stuff, and running and all of that” (Hispanic man) |