Effect of Gender on the Behavioral Economics of Cigarette Smoking

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between gender and behavioral economics of cigarette smoking, specifically with regard to the use of chewing gum as a substitute reinforcer for smoking. The influence of menstrual cycle was also investigated. Participants included 25 students from a college in Oklahoma for the first segment of the study and 10 college students for the second segment. All participants were smokers. Participants completed the Fagerstrm Test for Nicotine Dependence and a hypothetical purchasing paradigm. Participants in the second segment also completed a questionnaire concerning menstrual cycle. Own-price and cross price elasticities were computed for all commodities presented to participants. Both men and women decreased their consumption of cigarettes as price of cigarettes increased. ANOVA revealed that men and women displayed significantly different patterns of chewing gum consumption. Simple effects analyses determined that women's consumption of chewing gum differed across changing costs of cigarettes, while men's consumption did not. Data concerning menstrual cycle was analyzed using t-tests. Women's consumption of cigarettes was similar across the luteal and follicular menstrual phases. There was no significant difference in the pattern of chewing gum use between these two phases.