Google Searches for 'Cheap Cigarettes' Spike at Tax Increases: Evidence from an Algorithm to Detect Spikes in Time Series Data

Abstract

Heat-not-burn tobacco products (HNB), including Reynolds Americans (RA) Eclipse and Revo and Philip Morris Internationals (PMI) Heatbar, are devices that heat tobacco to 500F, producing an inhalable aerosol. Since 1988, tobacco companies have perennially introduced HNB and marketed them as healthier than conventional cigarettes. These claims, refuted by researchers,1 failed to lure consumers. Each reincarnation of HNB was commercially unsuccessful, and most HNB productswere discontinued shortly after their introduction.