Can Exposure to Brief Messages Correct Misperceptions?

NCT ID: NCT05129592

Last Updated: 2024-03-12

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 193 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2021-11-22
• Study Completion Date: 2022-08-01

Brief Summary

This study seeks to assess the efficacy of educational messages to correct misperceptions. A large proportion of the American population incorrectly believes that nicotine is the chemical responsible for causing cancer in tobacco products.1-3 This misconception may reduce the likelihood that established smokers who are unwilling or unable to quit tobacco product use completely will switch to less harmful non-combustible products. An online experiment will be used to test if corrective messages can reduce this misperception. The experiment will also test the effects of messages on beliefs about the relative harms of other tobacco products discussed in the message and accuracy of inferential beliefs. This will be accomplished by asking participants questions about two tobacco products that are not explicitly discussed in the messages. The experiment will test if the two components of "narrative coherence," a concept identified in previous reviews of misperception correction as effective,4-6 is effective at reducing misperceptions about nicotine. Component 1 provides an explanation for why the new information is correct and component 2 provides an explanation for how the false information came to be believed. This study will use a factorial design to test the efficacy of the component of coherence individually as well as together. Hypotheses and Research Questions:

RQ1: Will participants exposed to different corrective message conditions differ in increased accuracy of beliefs (a) that nicotine does not cause cancer, (b) regarding the relative risk of e-cigarettes compared to cigarettes, (c) regarding the relative risk of very low nicotine cigarettes (VLNC) compared to cigarettes and (d) regarding the relative risk of nicotine replacement therapy compared to cigarettes.

H1: Participants exposed to the nicotine corrective message with both components of coherence will be significantly more likely to increase accuracy of beliefs regarding the relative harms of (a) smokeless tobacco compared to cigarettes and (b) cigarillos relative to cigarettes compared to those exposed to messages with just one component or no components of coherence.

H2: Participants exposed to the nicotine corrective message with both components of coherence will be significantly more likely to increase their intention to switch completely to a noncombustible product compared to those exposed to messages with just one component or no components of coherence.

Conditions

Beliefs

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Primary Study Purpose: OTHER
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Nicotine corrective control

A factual message about nicotine that does not contain a causal explanation for what actually causes tobacco-caused disease or an explanation for why the misperception that nicotine causes cancer may have come to be believed.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Coherent corrective messages

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be randomized to one of four message conditions: condition 1 will not contain either component of the coherence; condition 2 will contain one element of coherence (a causal explanation for why the corrective information is accurate); condition 3 will contain the other element of coherence (an explanation for why the misinformation came to be believed); condition 4 will include both elements of coherence.

Nicotine corrective with causal explanation

A factual message about nicotine that contain a causal explanation for what actually causes tobacco-caused disease: tar and chemicals created in tobacco smoke when tobacco is lit on fire.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Coherent corrective messages

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be randomized to one of four message conditions: condition 1 will not contain either component of the coherence; condition 2 will contain one element of coherence (a causal explanation for why the corrective information is accurate); condition 3 will contain the other element of coherence (an explanation for why the misinformation came to be believed); condition 4 will include both elements of coherence.

Nicotine corrective with reason for misperception

A factual message about nicotine that contains an explanation for why the misperception may have come to be believed: that health messaging often discuses nicotine and tobacco-caused disease at the same time and people incorrectly make the connection that nicotine causes cancer.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Coherent corrective messages

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be randomized to one of four message conditions: condition 1 will not contain either component of the coherence; condition 2 will contain one element of coherence (a causal explanation for why the corrective information is accurate); condition 3 will contain the other element of coherence (an explanation for why the misinformation came to be believed); condition 4 will include both elements of coherence.

Nicotine corrective with both components of coherence

A factual message about nicotine that contains both a causal explanation for what actually causes tobacco-caused disease and an explanation for why the misperception may have come to be believed.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Coherent corrective messages

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be randomized to one of four message conditions: condition 1 will not contain either component of the coherence; condition 2 will contain one element of coherence (a causal explanation for why the corrective information is accurate); condition 3 will contain the other element of coherence (an explanation for why the misinformation came to be believed); condition 4 will include both elements of coherence.

Interventions

Coherent corrective messages

Participants will be randomized to one of four message conditions: condition 1 will not contain either component of the coherence; condition 2 will contain one element of coherence (a causal explanation for why the corrective information is accurate); condition 3 will contain the other element of coherence (an explanation for why the misinformation came to be believed); condition 4 will include both elements of coherence.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Are established smokers (have smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and currently smoke some or all days)
• Are 21 years of age or older (the legal age of tobacco purchase in the US)
• Have not completed the cognitive interview during message pre-testing.
• Rate their agreement with the following statement as at least 50 out of 100: "To what extent do you agree with the following statement: The substance nicotine causes cancer."
• Are registered with MTurk in the United States.
• Have completed >= 5,000 HIITs within the MTurk system
• Have a HIIT approval rating of >= 97%

Exclusion Criteria

• Are not established smokers
• Are younger than 21 years of age
• Participated in cognitive interviews during message pre-testing
• Are not registered with MTurk in the US
• Have completed < 5,000 HIITS
• Have a HIIT approval rating of <97%
• Rate their agreement with the following statement as less than 50 out of 100: "To what extent do you agree with the following statement: The substance nicotine causes cancer."

• Minimum Eligible Age: 21 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 99 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Meghan B Moran, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Locations

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Countries

United States

Provided Documents

Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Other Identifiers

00015120A

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id