What Influences Cannabis Purchasing Decisions? Perspectives from Cannabis Retail Employees and Customers in Washington State

Abstract

Introduction:

More adults can legally purchase cannabis in the United States than ever before. However, there is limited understanding as to how cannabis consumers make decisions about what products to purchase. Further insight is needed to guide policies that balance public health with profitable business strategies.

Methods:

Respondents were cannabis consumers participating in the legal adult-use market in Washington State. They were recruited through flyers posted in cannabis retail stores. Both the online survey and flyer were created by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board and the Department of Health. Respondents answered questions on demographics, cannabis use patterns, and cannabis retail store employment status. Respondents also rated the importance of 10 different attributes when making a cannabis purchase: company/brand name, strain/cultivar name, production method, cost, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol or terpene profile, perceived positive effects, perceived negative effects, flavor, and appearance/look. Linear regressions were conducted to predict the importance of each attribute by gender, age, cannabis use patterns, and cannabis retail employee status.

Results:

There were 437 survey respondents. All respondents were legal adult cannabis users and 137 reported they were employed at a cannabis retail store. Several group differences emerged. For example, cannabis retail employees rated THC concentration as less important (β = −1.67, p < 0.001) but brand name (β = 1.30, p < 0.001) and product appearance (β = 0.81, p = 0.001) as more important than nonretail employees. More frequent users rated cultivar/strain name (β = 0.50, p < 0.001), production method (β = 0.43, p < 0.001), price (β = 0.26 p = 0.01), and product appearance (β = 0.49, p < 0.001) as more important than less frequent users.

Conclusions:

Differences in purchasing decisions by subgroups have important public health, economic, and policy implications. For example, results showed that retail employees place less emphasis on THC relative to their nonemployee counterparts. If retail employees were to emphasize to customers about the attributes they focus on when purchasing cannabis (e.g., product appearance), this could help redirect market demand away from higher-THC products.