Discussion
Findings differed between youths and adults in the associations between e-cigarette packaging and interest in trying e-cigarette products. Compared with fully branded packaging, green standardized e-cigarette packaging with no brand imagery was associated with decreased interest in trying the vaping products shown among youths but not adults. However, there was no significant difference in interest in trying e-cigarettes in white standardized packaging with no brand imagery compared with branded packaging among either youths or adults.For youths, our overall findings are consistent with previous studies that found that green standardized packaging of tobacco cigarettes reduces their appeal.Among adults, the level of no interest in trying any of the e-cigarette products shown was similar across branded, green standardized, and white standardized packaging; however, no interest in trying the products was significantly lower among those exposed to green standardized packaging than branded or standardized white packaging, and sensitivity analyses suggested this was due to an increase in “Don’t know” responses for green standardized packaging. Interest by product packaging also did not differ by vaping and smoking status among adults; thus, our research suggests that removing branded elements from packaging would most likely not impact adult smokers’ interest in trying vaping products. Future research should examine the association of standardized packaging with perceptions of vaping, specifically perceptions of vaping as effective smoking cessation.