Focus Groups on ENDS: Device Types, User Experiences, and Product Appeal

OMB# 0910-0796 | Exp. 6/30/2018

Focus Groups on ENDS: Device types, user experiences, and product appeal

Moderator Guide

Introduction and Ground Rules (5 minutes)

MODERATOR: Welcome and thank you for participating in tonight’s discussion. My name is _________________. Tonight, I am interested in hearing your opinions about tobacco products. You have been asked to participate in tonight’s discussion because you use (or have used) some of the various tobacco products that we are going to discuss tonight.

Before we begin, I want to go over a few ground rules for our discussion tonight, which will last about an hour.

• Your participation is voluntary and you have the right to not answer any question or withdraw from the study at any time.

• If at any time you are uncomfortable with my questions, you can choose not to answer. Just let me know that you prefer not to answer.

• Everything we discuss today will be kept private to the extent allowable by law. Your name and contact information, which only the study staff knows, will not be given to anyone else, and no one will contact you after this discussion is over.

• Tonight’s discussion will be audio-recorded. The recordings will help me write the final report and will be kept in a secure location and then destroyed at the end of the study. No names will be mentioned in the final report created from these interviews.

• Behind me is a one-way mirror. Behind that are some of my colleagues. We are also videostreaming for colleagues who could not travel to be here. They’re watching to make sure that I ask you all of the questions I have for you today. Near the end of our conversation, I’m going to go into the back and see if they have any last minute questions for you.

• You were asked to bring your electronic product with you. After you signed the consent form, we took a photo of your product. You won’t need them anymore tonight, so I’d like to ask you to please make sure that they are put away for the rest of the discussion.

• Most importantly, there are no right or wrong answers. I want to know your opinions. I do not work for the people sponsoring this research and I didn’t write the questions we’re going to look at, so don’t hold back on giving me your honest opinions.

• I’m not a medical doctor or an expert on smoking or tobacco, so I can’t answer specific questions. At the end of our discussion, however, I have some materials that you can take with you if you’d like.

• Please silence your cell phones.

• Do you have any questions before we begin?

First, I’d like to go around the room and introduce ourselves. When we get to you, please let us know your first name and one thing you’d be doing if you weren’t here tonight.

1. General Discussion about Tobacco Products

[MODERATOR USE WHITEBOARD]

You’re all here tonight because you reported that you use some sort of electronic cigarette product. These products go by different names and are battery-powered.  They typically use a nicotine liquid, although the amount of nicotine can vary and some may not contain any nicotine at all. 

As many of you know, there is a whole range of different types of products and so to start, I’d like to go around the table and have you tell me what you call the device you use…[MODERATOR: make list on whiteboard. If participants say a brand name, probe once to get at the type of product]

Ok, are there other terms you’ve heard used to describe the product you use? (Have you heard other people call it something different?) [MODERATOR: make separate list on whiteboard]

Great. During our discussion, you’ll hear me use the term ‘e-cigarette’ or ‘e-cig’, and when I do, I’m referring to this whole group of products that we’ve just listed. It’s just easier if I stick to one term I can use. However, you can use whatever term you’re used to – and in fact, I’d prefer you talk about the product however you normally do.

2. E-Cigarettes – Motivations for Use, Selection of Device Type, and Language

Ok, now let’s talk a little more about your experiences with electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes).

Initiation

1. How did you first hear about e-cigarettes?

2. Describe your first experience using e-cigarettes that you can remember:

1. When was it?

2. How did you get e-cigarettes? (Purchase? Friends?)

3. What were your reactions to it? (Positive or negative; physical and non-physical)

Motivations for Use

3. What made you interested in trying e-cigarettes?

1. What was appealing about them?

2. Are you still interested in using e-cigarettes for the same reasons? Or are there new reasons you enjoy using them?

4. When you started using e-cigarettes, were you also using other tobacco products, such as cigarettes?

   1. If so, did your use of the other tobacco product(s) have anything to do with why you started using e-cigarettes?

   2. Has using e-cigarettes affected your use of other tobacco products? That is, do you use the other tobacco products more or less than you did before you started using e-cigarettes?

5. Do your friends use e-cigarettes? What do they think about them? What do they think about you using e-cigarettes?

6. Do any of your family members use e-cigarettes? Who? What do they think of e-cigarettes? What do they think about you using e-cigarettes?

Language/Nomenclature

Earlier we discussed the words you use to describe the product you use and also other names you’ve heard people use to describe these products. Now we’re going to talk a little more about the different words or terms you use or hear other people use.

[MODERATOR USE WHITEBOARD]

I’d like to match up the names of products we listed earlier with some photos I have, and put them into categories.

Here are the names of products we listed earlier.

7. Are these different types of products?

8. Are some of them different names for the same products?

9. Are there categories of products? What are they?

[Moderator arrange names of products into different categories on white board/tear sheets]

Now I’d like to match up some photos of products – where do these go?

[MODERATOR arrange photos in categories as directed by participants]

10. Any other thoughts about how these products either go together or don’t? Are there any products that are missing?

11. Next, I’d like to talk about the words you use to talk about using your e-cigarette. What do you call the act of using an e-cigarette?

12. What do you call what comes out (what you exhale) when you use an e-cig?

13. What other words do you use or have you heard used regarding e-cigarettes and using e-cigarettes?

14. What do you call people who use e-cigarettes regularly? (Is there a name for them?)

    1. Do you consider yourself a {person who uses e-cigarettes regularly}?

    2. What would you consider “regular use” of e-cigarettes? (How much? How often?)

15. If you’ve used a product that you refill, what do you call the liquid that goes in the device?

1. Do you select the amount of nicotine you use?

2. Do you know what that amount is?

3. How is it labeled on the product?

4. How do you know the right amount for you? How did you figure out what to buy?

Selection of Primary Device Type

16. Next I’d like to talk a little bit about the e-cigarette product you use most often. How did you decide on the specific type of e-cigarette product you currently use (cigalike or tank system)?

    1. Did you try other types of e-cigarettes before finding the one you use now?

    2. If so, what do you like about your current product compared to other e-cigarettes you’ve tried?

    3. Are there benefits to using your type of e-cigarette over other types of e-cigarette products?

17. In choosing your e-cigarette, what features/ qualities of the product are important to you?

    1. Is there anything about the size and feel of the product that is appealing to you?

    2. Is the availability of different types of flavors important to you in selecting your e-cigarette?

    3. Is the availability of different levels of nicotine important to you? Why/why not?

    4. Is the ability to use substances other than e-liquid (such as hash oil) in your e-cigarette important to you? Why/why not?

    5. Are there any other things about your e-cigarette you wish you could change/ improve?

18. Where do you purchase your e-cigarette product (and accessories)? Is it relatively easy for you to get what you need? (Is that important to you?)

II. Behavior, Beliefs, and Attitudes

Current Use Setting, Frequency, and Duration

19. Can you describe what the typical situation is like when you use your e-cigarette? How often do you use it?

    1. Where are you? What are you doing?

    2. Are you with other people? (Who are you with?)

    3. How would you describe how much of an e-cigarette you use? For example how many puffs or how much e-liquid/ cartridges you use in a day?

    4. When you use your e-cigarette, how long do you typically use it for? So, do you use it for a certain period of time (e.g. five minutes) or do you usually just take a few puffs at a time?

20. Do you feel comfortable using the e-cigarette in public places?

    1. Are there times or places when you avoid using an e-cigarette? If so, why?

Perceived Benefits and Planned Continued Use

21. What would you say are the benefits to using e-cigarettes?

22. Do you see yourself using e-cigarettes a year from now? What about five years from now? Why or why not?

23. Is there a point in time when you no longer see yourself using e-cigarettes? When would that be? Why?

24. Are you interested in quitting use of all products that contains nicotine? Why or why not?

NRT

25. Have you ever heard of NRT (nicotine replacement therapies)? [IF NEEDED: NRT are smoking cessation aids such as patches, gum, and lozenges)]What do you know about them?

26. In your opinion, how are e-cigarettes similar to NRTs? How are they different?

1. How do they compare in terms of health effects?

Knowledge/Perception of Relative Negative Health Outcomes

27. What have you heard about how using e-cigarettes can affect your health?

28. How do e-cigarettes compare to other tobacco products [or other substances] in terms of the health risks?

1. How do they compare to cigarettes?

2. What about nicotine? What do you know about nicotine in e-cigarettes vs. in other tobacco products?

29. Thinking about different types of e-cigarette devices—for example the kind that are similar in size and shape to regular cigarettes versus the more customizable tank systems—do you think these products have different health risks?

30. Can someone get addicted to e-cigarettes?

1. Do you consider yourself addicted to e-cigarettes? Why/Why not?

2. In terms of addiction, how does it compare with cigarettes?

3. For those of you who smoke—or used to smoke—do you feel more or less addicted to e-cigarettes than you were to regular cigarettes?

31. Lastly, let’s talk about e-liquid or e-juice that has nicotine in it. What are your concerns or questions about the safety of the e-liquid?

32. Do you worry about getting the e-liquid on your skin or in your eyes?

1. If you have children in the home, are you concerned that the e-liquid could be dangerous in any way? How so?

33. Where do you get your information about e-cigarettes; where do you hear about them? (PROBE: websites [what websites?], TV, magazines, newspaper, etc.)

Closing

I would like to thank you for coming here today and participating in this discussion. This research was sponsored by the Food and Drug Administration also known as the FDA. FDA would like to thank you for sharing your opinions as they will be very useful in helping them to understand people’s reactions and thoughts about the tobacco products we have talked about. Here is a pamphlet with information from FDA on how users can quit.

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