Search

ObjectiveCapsule cigarettes, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and heated tobacco products (HTPs) are now readily available in Guatemala. As in most countries, the point-of-sale (POS) remains an important marketing channel for the tobacco industry. Therefore, we sought to characterise the POS marketing of these products in the two largest cities in Guatemala.MethodsConvenience stores were randomly surveyed in mid and high socioeconomic status (SES) neighbourhoods in Guatemala City (n=60) and Quetzaltenango (n=15) in 2019. We adapted a previously implemented checklist to assess the availability of interior advertising of capsule cigarettes, e-cigarettes and HTP. Data entry was done in Kobo toolbox and analysis in STATA.ResultsAll stores sold conventional and flavoured capsule cigarettes, 78% e-cigarettes and 68% HTP. Most cigarette advertising was for capsule cigarettes. E-cigarettes were more likely to be sold in Guatemala City (96%) than in Quetzaltenango (13%). HTPs were only found in Guatemala City (85%), with no difference between high and medium SES neighbourhoods. Median number of ads for cigarettes and capsule cigarettes was higher in the high SES neighbourhood. Most e-cigarettes (83%) and HTP (74%) were found ConclusionWe found a high prevalence of advertising for capsule cigarettes, e-cigarettes and HTP at the POS. The POS, a crucial advertising channel for the tobacco industry, is now being used for new products and therefore needs to be urgently regulated.

Cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental studies have found a link between youth exposure to cigarette marketing and youth initiation of smoking. These decisive research findings led to regulations of cigarette marketing to youth-including no television or radio ads, prohibitions on the use of cartoons, bans on transit and billboard advertisements, and disallowing tobacco brand sponsorships of sporting events or concerts. Similar products that may cause more harm than benefits include alcohol, electronic cigarettes, and opioids. We review the evidence linking problematic use of these products with exposure to marketing and discuss standards for assessing the potential harmfulness of marketing. We next address how public health agencies might apply regulatory principles to these harmful products similar to those applied to cigarette advertising, in the advancement of public health.

Consumers make many decisions that affect their health, not only about medical care but about diet, physical activity, alcohol, and cigarettes. Some pharmaceuticals and many health-related consumer goods are heavily advertised. We explore the economics of the advertising of cigarettes—a heavily advertised product which is consumed by 36.5 million adults and which is linked to more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States. Unlike previous research on cigarette advertising, we distinguish menthol from nonmenthol advertising and we use an individual-level measure of advertising exposure. These data allow us to include rich controls for individual heterogeneity. We exploit quasi-experimental variation in advertising exposure created by sharply different supply-side variation in menthol and nonmenthol advertising. The combination of rich control variables and supply-side variation provides a credible identification strategy that addresses the potential endogeneity of advertising exposure. We find str...

Although TV advertising for traditional cigarettes has been banned since 1971, advertising for electronic cigarettes remains unregulated. The effects of e-cigarette ads have been heavily debated, but empirical analysis of the market has been limited. Analyzing both individual and aggregate data, I present descriptive evidence showing that i) e-cigarette advertising reduces demand for traditional cigarettes and ii) individuals treat e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes as substitutes. I then specify a structural model of demand for cigarettes that incorporates addiction and allows for heterogeneity across households. The model enables me to leverage the information content of both data-sets to identify variation in tastes across markets and the state dependence induced on choice by addiction. Using the demand model estimates, I evaluate the impact of a proposed ban on e-cigarette television advertising. I find that in the absence of e-cigarette advertising, demand for traditional cigarettes would increase, suggesting that a ban on e-cigarette advertising may have unintended consequences.

Calfee and Ringold’s 1992 article “The Cigarette Advertising Controversy: Assumptions about Consumers, Regulation, and Scientific Debate” (Advances in Consumer Research) rejected the prevailing view that advertising is a powerful influence that consumers are ill prepared to resist, discussed the pervasive desire to supplant consumer judgments with those of regulators, and criticized the common substitution of ad hominem attacks for reasoned arguments. In this article, I argue that scientific inquiry in the public interest must begin with a genuine respect for human autonomy, an appreciation of the fallibility of scientists and scientific inquiry, an understanding of consumer competence, and cognizance of both market and regulatory failures. We should explicitly consider the net impact of regulatory means and ends, and judge one another's assumptions, arguments, and evidence on the merits. To do anything less is to diminish the integrity and relevance of scientific research necessary to formulate p...

Licensing and brand sharing arrangements, where a fee or royalty is paid for use of a name, is a common strategic consideration to provide a newly introduced product or service with an immediate and proven brand identity (table 1).1 Serving as such an example, Korean Tomorrow and Global (KT&G), which is South Korea’s leading tobacco firm, launched a new cigarette brand, Tonino Lamborghini, on 18 April 2012, where the branding resembles the legendary Italian luxury sports car maker (figure 1A,B).2 3 According to The Moodie Report , it took 1 year of negotiation to reach a brand licensing agreement and 3 years to develop the cigarette product.4 The cigarette brand was initially offered in two variants, L8 (predominantly black package) and L6 (predominantly yellow package), with reported tar deliveries of 8.0 mg and 6.0 mg, respectively. Compared with KT&G’s other product offerings, Tonino Lamborghini cigarettes have considerably higher reported tar deliveries and such product characteristics contribute to the brand’s masculine, powerful and assertive image.4–8 Tonino Lamborghini now offers additional brand variants, including ‘Ice Volt’ (figure 2), which is mentholated and has promotional claims that the product possesses ‘the thrilling taste of powerful cooling freshness,’ and ‘Ice Tornado,’ which is described as having a strong, fresh and cool flavour and …

Japan is one of the world&rsquo, s largest cigarette markets and the top heated tobacco product (HTP) market. No forms of tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship (TAPS) are banned under national law, although the industry has some voluntary TAPS restrictions. This study examines Japanese tobacco users&rsquo, self-reported exposure to cigarette and HTP marketing through eight channels, as well as their support for TAPS bans. Data are from the 2018 ITC Japan Survey, a cohort survey of adult exclusive cigarette smokers (n = 3288), exclusive HTP users (n = 164), HTP-cigarette dual users (n = 549), and non-users (n = 614). Measures of overall average exposure to the eight channels of cigarette and HTP advertising were constructed to examine differences in exposure across user groups and products. Dual users reported the highest exposure to cigarette and HTP advertising. Tobacco users (those who used cigarettes, HTPs, or both) reported higher average exposure to HTP compared to cigarette advertising, however non-users reported higher average exposure to cigarette compared to HTP advertising. Retail stores where tobacco or HTPs are sold were the most prevalent channel for HTP and cigarette advertising, reported by 30&ndash, 43% of non-users to 66&ndash, 71% of dual users. Non-users reported similar exposure to cigarette advertising via television and newspapers/magazines as cigarette smokers and dual users, however, advertising via websites/social media was lower among non-users and HTP users than among cigarette smokers and dual users (p &lt, 0.05). Most respondents supported a ban on cigarette (54%) and HTP (60%) product displays in stores, and cigarette advertising in stores (58%).

Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) advertising regulations differ across countries. This study examines how differences in e-cigarette advertising regulations influence exposure to e-cigarette advertising, and perceptions about what participants had seen and read about e-cigarettes. Data come from the ITC Four Country Survey (Canada [CA], United States [US], Australia [AU] and United Kingdom [UK]) carried out between August 2013 and March 2015 (n = 3460). In 2014, AU and CA had laws prohibiting the retail sale of e-cigarettes containing nicotine while the US and UK had no restrictions, although a voluntary agreement restricting advertising in the UK was introduced during fieldwork. Smokers and ex-smokers were asked whether in the last six months they had noticed e-cigarettes advertisements and received free samples/special offers (promotion), and about their perceptions (positive or otherwise) of what they had seen or read about e-cigarettes. Data were analyzed in 2017. US and UK participants were more likely to report that they had noticed e-cigarette advertisements and received promotions compared to CA or AU participants. For TV and radio advertisements, reported exposure was higher in US compared to UK. For all types of advertisements, reported exposure was higher in CA than AU. Overall, nearly half of AU (44.0%) and UK (47.8%) participants perceived everything they had seen and read about e-cigarettes to be positive, with no significant differences between AU and UK. Participants in countries with permissive e-cigarette advertising restrictions and less restrictive e-cigarette regulations were more likely to notice advertisements than participants in countries with more restrictive e-cigarette regulations.

INTRODUCTION: Very little is known about how e-cigarette marketing is being perceived by youth, and the potential effect it will have on youth vaping and smoking behaviors. This limits the ability to identify youth-focused marketing efforts and to design effective policies for the regulation of e-cigarette marketing content and placement. METHODS: A sample of 417 nonsmoking youth (mean age = 15, SD = 1.3) were randomly assigned to either view four e-cigarette ads with low youth appeal, four e-cigarette ads with high youth appeal or four control ads. After exposure, participants completed covert and overt measurements of e-cigarette and tobacco cigarette attitudes and susceptibility to use. RESULTS: Youth in an e-cigarette ad condition were more likely to select an e-cigarette item in a product choice task compared to control, and had more positive e-cigarette beliefs. Contrary to hypotheses, youth in the low youth appeal condition reported greater susceptibility to trying e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes compared to control. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to any e-cigarette advertising may play a role in teens’ decision to initiate e-cigarette and tobacco cigarette use. As the Food and Drug Administration now has regulatory authority over the marketing of e-cigarettes, regulations on e-cigarette advertising are suggested. IMPLICATIONS: Teens are increasingly being exposed to e-cigarette advertising, and many places are considering e-cigarette regulations, yet we know very little about how e-cigarette advertisements might influence youth tobacco use. This study utilized a novel dataset of e-cigarette ads coded for youth appeal and presented them to a sample of 417 nonsmoking teens in a randomized controlled design to test the effect of features on youth susceptibility to initiating e-cigarette and tobacco cigarette use. The findings inform evidence-based recommendations for regulating the marketing of e-cigarettes.

The history of marketing thought reflects a concept or a set of concepts (usually called approaches, subdisciplines, or schools of thought) that have been discussed over time, usually by many researchers, to describe ideas (e.g., the ‘marketing concept’, the ‘institutional or commodity approach to marketing’, ‘marketing management’ or the ‘marketing systems school of thought’); whereas the history of marketing practice describes the actual phenomena, experiences or events that have occurred over time (e.g., the history of cigarette advertising, the development of department stores, individual companies, branding and advertising activities, and so on) (Shaw, 2011, p. 492).

Objective To assess whether crowdsourcing is a viable option for conducting surveillance of point of sale (POS) tobacco marketing practices. Methods We posted jobs to an online crowdsourcing platform to audit 194 Florida licensed tobacco retailers over a 3-week period. During the same period, trained data collectors conducted audits at the same retail locations. Data were collected on cigarette advertising, cigarette promotions and product availability (electronic cigarettes, snus and dissolvables). We compared data collected by crowdsourced workers and trained staff and computed frequencies, percent agreement and inter-rater reliability. Photographs of e-cigarettes and exterior cigarette advertisements submitted by crowdsourced workers were used to validate responses. Results Inter-rater reliability between crowdsourced and trained data collectors was moderate to high for coding exterior cigarette advertisements, product availability and some tobacco promotions, but poor to fair when coding presence of sales and interior cigarette advertisements. Photos submitted by crowdsourced workers confirmed e-cigarette availability that was missed by trained data collectors in three stores. Conclusions Crowdsourcing may be a promising form of data collection for some POS tobacco measures. Future studies should examine the cost-effectiveness of crowdsourcing compared with traditional trained data collectors and assess which POS measures are most amenable to crowdsourcing.

Given that “sin” products must navigate different regulatory environments, it is important to compare cigarette advertising across cultures. Using text analysis, this study examined the message strategies and the ideological beliefs in cigarette advertising in American and Ukrainian magazines within the context of their different regulatory environments. The messages across the two countries differed in their use of creative appeals to ego, social needs, and sensory pleasure as well as their adherence to regulation. Many of the Ukrainian campaigns were reminiscent of earlier American campaigns and offer unique comparisons of cultures that are at different places historically, economically, and ideologically.

In early 2014, the nation's largest cigarette maker, Altria1 (formerly Phillip Morris Companies) announced the national launch of their MarkTen e-cigarette. Nu Mark, an Altria company, is behind the design and marketing of the brand.2 Altria is the last major tobacco company to join the estimated $2 billion market for e-cigarettes,3 following Lorillard's acquisition of the blu e-cigarette brand in 20124 and RJ Reynold's introduction of Vuse5 in 2013. Using Competitrack, an advertising service that systematically collects data related to all top market US advertisements, we reviewed e-cigarette advertising expenditures for the year 2014 and examined the top two highest spending brands for the year (MarkTen and blu). Competitrak monitors advertising over 22 media sources, including network TV, national newspapers, cinema, radio and online, and includes advertisements and associated metadata of the media channel, channel-specific details and estimated expenditures for placement of ads.6–9 For online advertisements, Competitrack monitors …

Cigarette advertising for youth brands delivered sufficient impressions to reach youths at high reach and frequency levels during the 1993–2002 period. However, a precipitous drop in such advertising is also found at the end of the period. The authors reconcile the findings with those of previous studies and examine the efficacy of guidelines that have been used to evaluate cigarette advertising in publications with high youth readership.

Objective: Recently, the tobacco industry has focused marketing efforts on young adults through bar and club promotions, such as advertising and distribution of free cigarettes in these settings. This study estimates the fraction of the California young adult population that might be exposed and potentially influenced by these efforts. Design and participants: Data were from 9364 young adult (18-29 years) respondents to the cross sectional population based 2002 California Tobacco Survey. As background, we analysed social smoking (only smoke with other smokers), and enjoyment of smoking while drinking. Our main focus was on bar and club attendance, what was observed in bars and clubs, and how this might differ according to respondents' risk for future smoking. Results: Social smokers comprised 30.0 (2.2)% of all current smokers, including experimenters. Nearly three quarters (74.5 (2.3)%) of current smokers/experimenters said they enjoyed smoking while drinking. About one third (33.8 (1.2)%) of all young adults said they attended bars and clubs at least sometimes; attendance was significantly higher among smokers and those at risk for future smoking. Close to 60% (57.9 (2.2)%) of bar and club attenders reported seeing cigarette advertising and promotions in these settings. Again, smokers and those at risk were more likely to report seeing such advertising and promotions in these settings. Conclusions: About 20% of all young adults and about 30% of those at risk for future smoking (including current smokers) were exposed to tobacco advertising and promotions in bars and clubs. These California results may be conservative, but nonetheless indicate that the group potentially influenced is sizable.

The 2002 trial that assessed the constitutionality of Canada's Tobacco Act involved new evidence of industry tactics in the 1990s, including the use of lifestyle advertising of sponsorships and the marketing of a new product that was falsely claimed to be “less irritating.” The author provides highlights from the legislative background, the document production, the trial testimony, and the judge's decision.

Krugman and King (2000)studied 14 magazines containing cigarette advertisements. Assuming one insertion in each of the magazines, they found that approximately 66.1% of teens would be reached by these magazines an average of 2.1 times. The current study shows that 41.4% of teens likely would see one or more of a typical cigarette brand's advertisements in these publications, and 2.7% would see three or more. Therefore, reducing cigarette advertising in these magazines would be likely to have little effect on teen smoking.

A survey of over 1,700 Hong Kong adolescents indicates that their smoking-related behaviors are related to their exposure to cigarette advertising, promotional products, and movies. American media and tobacco firms dominate these industries, resulting in strong preferences for American cigarette brands, particularly Marlboro. As a correlational study, this research does not, of itself, address the issue of causality. However, these findings do add one more dimension to a growing body of literature that cumulatively suggests a causal relationship between exposure to tobacco advertising and promotion and youth smoking.The author wishes to thank Dr. Judith Mackay, director of the Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control, Hong Kong, and executives of the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (HKCOSH) for their help in this project.

Focused on the liberalization of Asian cigarette markets (Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and Thailand), this paper aims to provide an historical analysis of this process driven by the US government and US cigarette companies, and discusses changes in cigarette advertising and promotional environments as a result of market liberalization. Specifically, this paper addresses three major areas: first, it discusses the process and development of cigarette market opening of three Asian countries Japan, Taiwan, and Korea) and the role of the US government in this process. Second, it examines the outcome of this liberalization, including major marketing strategies employed by US cigarette companies in those markets. Third, by comparing Thailand's market opening process separately with three other markets, this paper discusses what other countries can do with the global public health community to protect public health in terms of the regulation of cigarette advertising and marketing activities.

Since the late 1980s targeting has been attacked and even questioned within the business community as a result of cigarette advertising of the Uptown and Dakota brands. However, no consistent evaluation criteria have emerged. This paper proposes two concepts as ethical criteria for evaluating targeting of cigarette advertising: “vulnerability of the segment” and “disproportionality of negative effects” in consumption. Applying these concepts with respect to Blacks in the Uptown case and to other high-risk groups as well, it is concluded that targeting vulnerable segments is untenable. Accordingly, corporate social and industry policymakers as well as decisionmakers in community organizations and anti-smoking groups should give greater priority to ethical standards in deciding future courses of action regarding the targeting of cigarette advertising.

The authors examine the content of magazine advertising for cigarettes, beer, and nonalcoholic beverages from July 1996 to July 1997. A total of 476 advertisements (239 unique advertisements) from 12 different magazines were content-analyzed. In light of the ongoing debate and recent proposals over the regulation of tobacco and alcohol advertising aimed at young people, the purpose was to answer two principal questions: (1) whether the advertisements for cigarettes and beer contain more cartoons and animated characters than do advertisements for nonalcoholic beverages and (2) whether the presence of human models in an advertisement's visuals is an adequate way to operationalize a lifestyle advertisement. The authors also replicate and extend previous research regarding the amount and type of extrinsic appeal or lifestyle advertising found in these product categories. Significantly more lifestyle content appeared in cigarette advertisements than in nonalcoholic beverage advertisements. Furthermore, a disproportionate number of cartoon characters in cigarette advertisements appeared in magazines with a higher share of younger readers, consistent with policy concerns regarding the use of such cartoon characters to appeal to youth markets. Also, 8.8% of advertisements that were classified as lifestyle advertisements did not contain recognizable human models. An implication of this finding is that the original tobacco settlement proposal to eliminate lifestyle content of cigarette and beer advertisements simply by eliminating models was inadequate to achieve its intended purpose.

The tobacco industry indicates that it does not advertise in magazines that reach a high percentage of young people. To avoid reaching teens, current tobacco industry practice is to use circulation data to assess the number of young people who receive a magazine. Results from the reported study demonstrate that using circulation data is not an accurate method for estimating the size of the teenage audience. The authors analyze readership data from 1998 and construct specific media schedules to examine the extent to which teenagers are reached by popular consumer magazines that contain cigarette advertising. Results reveal that tobacco marketers routinely reach a high percentage of teenagers 12–17 years of age when placing advertisements in popular consumer magazines.

The Joe Camel advertising campaigns had little or no effect on smoking by youths or adults beyond shifting brand shares among younger smokers. The advertisements appear to have wielded substantial influence on the larger political and legal environment, however. This influence was transmitted first through the lens of pronouncements by the public health community, including the Food and Drug Administration, which helped shape public opinion toward the view that cigarette advertising causes smoking. This, in turn, provided essential support for the unprecedented wave of litigation that engulfed the industry and has relied primarily on nonpublic industry documents rather than market data. The extent of Joe Camel's indirect influence has not been quantified but appears to have been substantial.