Class Year
2021
Document Type
Student Research Paper
Date of Creation
Fall 2020
Department 1
Management
Abstract
Electronic cigarette use has risen drastically in recent years among teens and young adults. Rates of conventional cigarette use have decreased, while rates of electronic cigarette use are on the rise. Knowledge and perceptions of the risks and benefits of conventional and electronic cigarettes greatly impacts adolescents and young adults’ decisions to use these products. Published literature explores the issues of social norms, intertemporal choice, present bias, prospect theory, and hyperbolic discounting as means to explain the way in which young populations perceive risk and risky behavior. Research suggests that children and young adults believe that e-cigarettes are safer, less addictive, less risky, and more socially acceptable than conventional cigarettes. In addition to these findings, this study found that smokers are more likely to engage in risky behavior in general, and throughout the coronavirus pandemic. According to the World Health Organization, individuals who smoke are more likely to experience complications once contracting the coronavirus disease. This study calls for the need to educate frequent smokers, of both electronic and conventional cigarettes, about their individual risk factors in light of the recent pandemic.
Copyright Note
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
Stranick, Allison H., "The Intersection of an Epidemic and Pandemic: Smoking, Risk-Taking, and COVID-19" (2020). Student Publications. 912.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/912
Comments
Written for OMS 405: Irrational Behavior