Grant Number:	1R01CA311862-01 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Shadel, William
Organization:	Rand Corporation
Project Title:	Harnessing the Power of Convenience Stores to Help Adults Quit Smoking
Fiscal Year:	2026

Most adult cigarette smokers are unsuccessful at quitting. Many smokers quit on their own, but most smokers do not use any of the free or low-cost evidence-based quit smoking resources available (e.g., quit lines, smartphone app, web-based services). Reaching smokers so that they remain engaged with quitting is therefore an important public health priority. Point-of-sale stores, like convenience stores, represent one high-reach and inexpensive channel that could be used to communicate with smokers about quitting smoking, and resources that are available to help. Most adult smokers make near daily trips to convenience stores to buy cigarettes and there are over 150,000 convenience stores in the US, making them a communication channel with significant reach. However, no research has examined whether convenience stores are an effective channel for communicating with smokers about quit smoking resources nor identified the advertising messaging strategies that are most effective at moving them toward use. To fill this gap, the proposed research will conduct an experimental evaluation of whether convenience store advertising can be used to increase smokers’ orientation toward quitting and what type of messaging strategies are most effective at doing so. This research will take place in the RAND StoreLab (RSL), a life-sized replica of a convenience store that was developed to experimentally evaluate how changing specific features of the retail environment influences tobacco use. In this study, adult smokers will be randomly assigned to shop in the RSL under one of five conditions, four of which promote cessation using a different messaging strategy: 1) Quitting resources only (QR); 2) Quitting resources + text warning message (QR + TW); 3) Quitting resources + a graphic health warning message (QR + GHW); and 4) Quitting resources + a supportive positive message (QR + SP). These conditions will be tested against a fifth, control condition (Status quo [SQ]) in which no posters are present and then tested against one another to evaluate which messaging strategies are most effective. Outcomes will include participants’ quit smoking intentions immediately after shopping in the RSL, and over a short follow-up, quit smoking intentions, use of quitting resources, and quit attempts. Potential mediators (negative affect, perceived smoking risks, positive affect, self-efficacy, cognitive elaboration) will be assessed as well. Nicotine dependence, motivational orientation, and orientation toward defensive processing will be assessed as potential moderators. The results of this study have the potential to provide first-look evidence about whether promoting smoking cessation at convenience stores improves smokers’ orientation toward quitting.





None