UNC Tobacco Convenience Store

UNC Tobacco Convenience Store Study

The main purpose of this trial is to evaluate the impact of a menthol cigarette ban accompanied by a quit smoking campaign on tobacco purchasing behavior. Investigators will conduct a randomized clinical trial with ~1,185 US adults (ages 21+ years) who currently smoke menthol cigarettes.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Health Behavior
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Menthol ban + campaign; Behavioral: Menthol ban; Behavioral: Control

Detailed Description

This trial aims to determine whether a quit smoking campaign amplifies the impact of a simulated menthol cigarette ban. The trial will enroll ~1,185 adults ages 21 years and older who currently smoke menthol cigarettes. Participants will attend 2 in-person study visits at our experimental store, spaced approximately 1 week apart. The store will be stocked with a variety of tobacco products, food, non-alcoholic beverages, and household goods. At the first visit, participants will provide written informed consent and will be randomized to 1 of 3 trial arms, described further below. At both study visits, participants will shop for items in the store and complete computer surveys. Researchers will record in-store purchases and other self-reported measures will be assessed via the computer surveys. In between the in-person study visits, participants will receive ads via text message based on their trial arm.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 1185
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • North Carolina
    • Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, 27609
      • Recruiting
      • UNC Mini Mart
      • Principal Investigator: Marissa Hall, PhD
      • Contact: UNC Mini Mart Office UNC Mini Mart; Phone Number: 919-966-0233; Email: minimartstudy@unc.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Are ages 21 years and older
• Smoke cigarettes currently (i.e. currently smoke some days or every day and have smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime)
• Smoke menthol cigarettes
• Purchased menthol cigarettes in a store in the past month
• Read and speak English
• Can complete a survey on a computer without help
• Can receive images by text message
• Can attend 2 in-person appointments involving shopping tasks and computer surveys

Exclusion Criteria:

• Are pregnant
• Are breastfeeding
• Enrolled currently in another research study about quitting smoking

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Other: Control	Behavioral: Control; Menthol cigarettes and flavored little cigars and cigarillos will be available for purchase in the store. Participants will receive control ads about a neutral topic (i.e., password security) via text message. These ads will also be displayed inside the store during the shopping tasks.
Experimental: Menthol ban + campaign	Behavioral: Menthol ban + campaign; Menthol cigarettes and flavored little cigars and cigarillos will not be available for purchase in the store. Participants will receive quit smoking campaign ads via text message. These ads will also be displayed inside the store during the shopping tasks.
Experimental: Menthol ban	Behavioral: Menthol ban; Menthol cigarettes and flavored little cigars and cigarillos will not be available for purchase in the store. Participants will receive control ads about a neutral topic (i.e., password security) via text message. These ads will also be displayed inside the store during the shopping tasks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Purchasing any combustible tobacco products	Measured using purchase data for combustible tobacco products, defined as any cigarettes or little cigars and cigarillos. Response options are "No" (coded as 0) and "Yes" (coded as 1).	Assessed 2 times approximately 1-week apart, starting on the day of enrollment.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Expenditures on combustible tobacco products	Measured using purchase data for combustible tobacco products, defined as any cigarettes or little cigars and cigarillos. This measure is in US dollars, ranging from $0 to $70.	Assessed 2 times approximately 1-week apart, starting on the day of enrollment.
Purchasing any non-combustible tobacco products (substitution effects)	Measured using purchase data on whether participants bought any non-combustible tobacco products, defined as any e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, or nicotine pouches. Response options are "No" (coded as 0) and "Yes" (coded as 1).	Assessed 2 times approximately 1-week apart, starting on the day of enrollment.
Attempted to quit smoking	Measured using 1 survey item: "In the last week, did you stop smoking cigarettes for 1 day or longer because you were trying to quit smoking?" Response options are "No" coded as 0) and "Yes" (coded as 1).	Assessed 1 time, approximately 1 week after enrollment.
Forgoing cigarette use	Measured using 2 survey items (e.g., " In the last week, how often have you stopped yourself from having a cigarette because you wanted to smoke less?"). The 5-point response scale ranges from "Never" coded as 0, to "10 or more times", coded as 10. Researchers will average responses to the 2 survey items to create a scale score. Higher scores indicate greater frequency of forgoing cigarettes.	Assessed 1 time, approximately 1 week after enrollment.
Intentions to quit smoking	Measured using 3 survey items (e.g., "How interested are you in quitting smoking cigarettes in the next 4 weeks?"). The 4-point response scale ranges from low intentions (coded as 1) to high intentions (coded as 4). Researchers will average responses to the 3 survey items to create a scale score. Higher scores indicate greater intentions to quit smoking.	Assessed 2 times approximately 1-week apart, starting on the day of enrollment.
Injunctive norms for quitting smoking	Measured using 3 survey items (e.g., "People who are important to me think I should quit smoking."). The 5-point response scale ranges from "Strongly disagree" (coded as 1) to "Strongly agree" (coded as 5). Researchers will average responses to the 3 survey items to create a scale score. Higher scores indicate greater injunctive norms for quitting smoking.	Assessed 2 times approximately 1-week apart, starting on the day of enrollment.
Reactance towards cigarette options	Measured using 3 survey items (e.g., "I was annoyed by the cigarette options in the Mini Mart."). The 5-point response scale ranges from "Strongly disagree" (coded as 1) to "Strongly agree" (coded as 5). Researchers will average responses to the 3 survey items to create a scale score. Higher scores indicate greater reactance toward cigarette options.	Assessed 2 times approximately 1-week apart, starting on the day of enrollment.
Reactance towards ads	Measured using 3 survey items (e.g., "The ads annoyed me."). The 5-point response scale ranging from "Strongly disagree" (coded as 1) to "Strongly agree" (coded as 5). Researchers will average responses to the 3 survey items to create a scale score. Higher scores indicate greater reactance toward ads.	Assessed 2 times approximately 1-week apart, starting on the day of enrollment.
Stigma from cigarette options	Measured using 1 survey item (i.e., "How much did the cigarette options in the Mini Mart make you feel judged by other people for smoking?"). The 5-point response scale ranges from "Not at all" (coded as 1) to "A great deal" (coded as 5) to create a scale score. Higher scores indicate greater stigma from cigarette options.	Assessed 2 times approximately 1-week apart, starting on the day of enrollment.
Stigma from ads	Measured using 1 survey item (i.e., "How much did the ads make you feel judged by other people for smoking?"). The 5-point response scale ranges from "Not at all" (coded as 1) to "A great deal" (coded as 5). Higher scores indicate greater stigma from ads.	Assessed 2 times approximately 1-week apart, starting on the day of enrollment.
Targeted benefits of quitting smoking	Measured using 6 survey items (e.g., "If you were to stop smoking, how likely would you be to get more quality time with loved ones?"). The 5-point response scale ranges from "Not at all likely" (coded as 1) to "Extremely likely" (coded as 5). Researchers will average responses to the 7 survey items to create a scale score. Higher scores indicate greater targeted benefits of quitting smoking.	Assessed 2 times approximately 1-week apart, starting on the day of enrollment.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Collaborators: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA); Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• Investigators: Study Director: Marissa G. Hall, PhD, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 20, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 4, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 4, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): March 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 27, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 23, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Health Behavior
• Other Study ID Numbers: 24-0398; U54DA060049 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No