{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,24]],"date-time":"2026-02-24T08:01:07Z","timestamp":1771920067160,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,24]],"date-time":"2026-02-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771891200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"\n Background<\/jats:title>\n Tobacco use remains highly prevalent in China, with the emergence of a growing range of tobacco and nicotine products that vary in design and social presentation, raising questions about how these product characteristics are perceived by consumers. This study assessed the attractiveness of five tobacco products among the general Chinese public, including both non-smokers and smokers, and explored the factors influencing their perceived appeal.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n Using a self-designed attractiveness scale, an online survey was administered via smartphone to adults aged 18\u202fyears or older across six geographically representative cities in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Zhengzhou). The survey assessed the attractiveness of five tobacco products, including combustible cigarette (CC), e-cigarette (EC), heated tobacco product (HTP), oral nicotine product (ONP) and tobacco-free oral nicotine pouch (TFONP). Attractiveness ratings for different tobacco products were calculated, and mixed linear models were employed to explore associated influencing factors.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n A total of 15,601 valid questionnaires were collected, including 9,700 non-smokers and 5,901 smokers. CC had the highest familiarity score (3.97\u202f\u00b1\u202f1.04) and were perceived as having the highest health risks (4.38\u202f\u00b1\u202f0.76) and the highest addictiveness (4.22\u202f\u00b1\u202f0.87). All alternative tobacco products received significantly lower ratings on these measures compared with CC (all\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt;\u202f0.05). Total attractiveness scores were similar for CC and e-cigarettes (both 3.04) but lower for HTP\/ONP\/TFONP (range: 2.59\u20132.63; all\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt;\u202f0.05). In the multivariable Model 1, which did not include \u201cperceived health risks,\u201d smoking status showed no significant association with attractiveness (\n \u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n =\u202f0.001,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n =\u202f0.896). After incorporating this variable in Model 2, the association became modestly negative and statistically significant (\n \u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n =\u202f\u22120.06,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt;\u202f0.001). Relative to CC, e-cigarettes were associated with higher attractiveness ratings (\n \u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n =\u202f0.14), while HTP, NOP, and TFONP were associated with lower attractiveness ratings (\n \u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n =\u202f\u22120.09 to \u22120.14; all\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt;\u202f0.001). Use history exhibited the strongest association with attractiveness (\u03b2\u202f=\u202f0.56). In addition, higher \u201cfamiliarity with tobacco products,\u201d \u201cperceived social support\u201d and \u201cperceived addictiveness\u201d were positively associated with product appeal, whereas greater \u201cperceived severity of withdrawal\u201d and \u201cperceived health risks\u201d were negatively associated with appeal. Attractiveness ratings also varied somewhat across cities, and gender, age, and occupation had certain influences on the ratings.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n This study identified distinct patterns of perceived appeal across five tobacco\/nicotine product types among Chinese adults. E-cigarettes received the highest appeal ratings among non-smokers, whereas combustible cigarettes remained the most appealing among CC users. Prior product use history showed the strongest association with appeal. Perceived health risks were inversely associated with appeal and appeared to partly account for the smoking\u2013appeal association, as the association between smoking status and attractiveness ratings changed after adjustment for perceived health risks. In contrast, greater familiarity and higher perceived social support were positively associated with appeal.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1763854","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,24]],"date-time":"2026-02-24T05:19:26Z","timestamp":1771910366000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Attractiveness and determinants of different tobacco products among Chinese smokers and non-smokers: a web-based cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Ting","family":"Fei","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai New Tobacco Product Research Institute Co., Ltd.","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dawei","family":"Yan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai New Tobacco Product Research Institute Co., Ltd.","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiaomin","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai New Tobacco Product Research Institute Co., Ltd.","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yuyan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NHC Key Lab of Reproduction Regulation, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Reproductive Health Drug and Devices, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yihan","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai New Tobacco Product Research Institute Co., Ltd.","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiaonan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai New Tobacco Product Research Institute Co., Ltd.","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Guangchao","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai New Tobacco Product Research Institute Co., Ltd.","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Bingxue","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NHC Key Lab of Reproduction Regulation, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Reproductive Health Drug and Devices, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yishi","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NHC Key Lab of Reproduction Regulation, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Reproductive Health Drug and Devices, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NHC Key Lab of Reproduction Regulation, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Reproductive Health Drug and Devices, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Che","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NHC Key Lab of Reproduction Regulation, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Reproductive Health Drug and Devices, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Saijing","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai New Tobacco Product Research Institute Co., Ltd.","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"WHO global report on trends in prevalence of tobacco use 2000\u20132024 and projections 2025\u20132030","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"65","DOI":"10.18332\/tid\/162301","article-title":"The problematic use of cultural symbols on Chinese cigarette packs","volume":"21","author":"Xing","year":"2023","journal-title":"Tob Induc Dis"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"751","DOI":"10.46234\/ccdcw2025.124","article-title":"Smoking prevalence in urban and rural areas \u2014 China, 2024","volume":"7","author":"Zeng","year":"2025","journal-title":"China CDC Wkly"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e1006","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-2667(23)00242-6","article-title":"Tobacco control in 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