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The prevalence of strong brands such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Budweiser, and Marlboro in "vice" categories has important implications for regulators and consumers. While researchers in multiple disciplines have studied the effectiveness of antitobacco countermarketing strategies, little attention has been given to how brand strength may moderate the efficacy of tactics such as excise taxes, usage restrictions, and educational advertising campaigns. In this research, the authors use a multiple discrete-continuous model to study the impact of antismoking techniques on smokers' choices of brands and quantities. The results suggest that although cigarette excise taxes decrease smoking rates, these taxes also result in a shift in market share toward stronger brands. Market leaders may be less affected by tax policies because their market power allows strong brands such as Marlboro to absorb rather than pass through increased taxes. In contrast, smoke-free restrictions cause a shift away from stronger brands. In terms of antismoking advertising, the authors find minimal effects on brand choice and consumption. The findings highlight the importance of considering brand asymmetries when designing a policy portfolio on cigarette tax hikes, smoke-free restrictions, and antismoking advertising campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a close relationship between taboo, marketing and consumption. Taboos place limits on our ability to access and make use of certain objects, services, ideas and experiences. Similarly, researching taboo topics comes with its own limitations and proscriptions and needs to be handled with care and empathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Social Research is the property of International Journal Labs and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Data shows that smoking behavior in adolescents in Indonesia is a health problem that still deserves to be considered. Data shows that the prevalence of smoking in the population aged 10-18 in 2013-2018 in Indonesia has increased, namely Riskesdas 2013 (7.2%), Riskesdas 2016 (8.8%), and Riskesdas 2018 (9.1%). Pamekasan is one of the regencies in Indonesia that has a teen smoking rate of 25.64% (Riskesdas, 2018) with outdoor cigarette advertisements that are still scattered, especially in urban areas. Purpose: Analyzing the influence of cigarette advertising in Pamekasan Regency, by emphasizing comparisons in urban areas and village areas in Pamekasan Regency.. Method: This study is an observational study. In terms of time, the study was cross-sectional because the data collection, which includes free variables and bound variables, was conducted over a period of time. Sampling through online questionnaires by random methods. Results: There is a significant influence between the role of cigarette advertising on adolescent behavior in urban areas with a value of p = 0.029 (OR 2.718 95% CI 1,110-6,652). There was no influence on adolescents in rural areas. Conclusion: A communication message that can affect adolescent smoking behavior in urban areas is cigarette advertising, regardless of how many times the frequency of exposure.

The article explains why the interagency task force model is most appropriate in addressing the lack of regulation for sports gambling advertisements in the U.S. Topics discussed include parallel marketing histories of sports gambling and cigarettes, complexity of digital advertising for sports gambling, and jurisdiction and proposed responsibilities of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Aims: To examine the effect on adolescents of exposure to different e‐cigarette advertisement themes on reported likelihood of purchasing e‐cigarettes in a hypothetical scenario. Design Between‐subjects design of four randomly assigned thematic conditions derived from a content analysis of 350 e‐cigarette advertisements: general, flavor‐ and taste‐themed, people‐ and product use‐themed or control advertisements for bottled water. Setting: Virginia, USA. Participants: Of 1360 adolescents (13–18 years old) participating, 1063 had complete data (519 current cigarette smokers, 544 tobacco‐susceptible non‐smokers). Measurements Participants completed an e‐cigarette purchase task, reporting the likelihood of buying an e‐cigarette at various prices. Indices of abuse liability included price responsiveness (whether likelihood of purchase decreased with increasing prices) and, among price‐responsive adolescents, breakpoint (highest price before definitely would not buy), maximum probability‐weighted expenditure (Omax) and price elasticity (how quickly willingness to purchase decreases as prices increase). Regressions controlled for demographics, prior tobacco ad exposure, tobacco/substance use and sensation‐seeking. Findings Prior advertisement exposure was positively associated with being price‐responsive [odds ratio (OR) = 1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.03, 1.22; P < 0.05]. Among price‐responsive adolescents (n = 579), breakpoints were 58% higher in the flavor‐ and taste‐themed condition (β = 0.46, 95% CI = <0.01, 0.92) and 75% higher in the people‐ and product use‐themed condition (β = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.10, 1.03) compared with control (Ps < 0.05). Exposure to people‐ and product use‐themed advertisements was associated with a 60% higher Omax (β = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.01, 0.93; P < 0.05). The general and people‐ and product use‐themed conditions were associated with 19% (β = −0.21, 95% CI = –0.38, ‐0.04) and 21% (β = −0.24, 95% CI = –0.42, −0.06) lower elasticity, respectively (Ps < 0.05). Conclusions: E‐cigarette advertising exposure may increase reported likelihood of purchasing e‐cigarettes, with effects differing by advertisement content. People‐ and product use‐themed e‐cigarette advertisements increased reported likelihood of purchasing in price‐responsive adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cigarette lifestyle marketing with psychographic targeting has been well documented, but few studies address non-cigarette tobacco products. This study examined how young adults respond to e-cigarette advertisements featuring diverse peer crowds - peer groups with shared identities and lifestyles - to inform tobacco counter-marketing design.Methods: Fifty-nine young adult tobacco users in California participated in interviews and viewed four to five e-cigarette advertisements that featured characters from various peer crowd groups. For each participant, half of the advertisements they viewed showed characters from the same peer crowd as their own, and the other half of the advertisements featured characters from a different peer crowd. Advertisements were presented in random order. Questions probed what types of cues are noticed in the advertisements, and whether and how much participants liked or disliked the advertisements.Results: Results suggest that participants liked and provided richer descriptions of characters and social situations in the advertisements featuring their own peer crowd more than the advertisements featuring a different peer crowd. Mismatching age or device type was also noted: participants reported advertisements showing older adults were not intended for them. Participants who used larger vaporizers tended to dislike cigalike advertisements even if they featured a matching peer crowd.Conclusion: Peer crowd and lifestyle cues, age and device type are all salient features of e-cigarette advertising for young adults. Similarly, educational campaigns about e-cigarettes should employ peer crowd-based targeting to engage young adults, though messages should be carefully tested to ensure authentic and realistic portrayals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ninth graders were randomly exposed to one of eight slice of life videotapes showing stimulus advertising (cigarette, antismoking, both, neither) and unfamiliar peers who either did or did not smoke cigarettes. The findings indicate that the cigarette advertising primed positive smoker stereotypes, which caused subjects to seek out favorable information about the peers shown smoking. Subjects' beliefs and intentions about cigarette consumption were thereby enhanced by the joint effects of advertising and peers. However, an antismoking advertisement shown in conjunction with cigarette advertising made salient negative smoker stereotypes, evoked unfavorable thoughts about peers shown smoking, and prevented cigarette advertising from promoting smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enoch Powell was appointed Minister of Health by Harold Macmillan in July 1960, before being promoted to the position of Cabinet Minister in 1962. This was seen as a political manoeuvre from a Prime Minister who was hardly well disposed towards Powell. He thus planned to both prevent him from attacking the government with his free market beliefs in the years of the implementation of the Middle Way and put him in a difficult position at the head of a costly department. Powell attempted to leave his mark on it and break with his predecessors’ policies: he intended to streamline NHS spending, while at the same time modernising and humanising the NHS through the introduction of an ambitious Hospital Plan. Powell was convinced that the NHS could be modernised. He believed that the latter should remain in the public domain but at the same time supported private health investment. This paper analyses Powell’s iconoclastic approach by using primary sources from Kew’s national archives and the Powell Papers from Cambridge. In order to enhance historiographical debates, the analysis will focus on three particular points: Powell’s handling of the cost of drugs, cigarette advertising and the fluoridation of water. These issues reveal an additional dilemma that Powell had to face: to what extent could freedom of choice be introduced into a public health service in which the State was the main driver?

In two experiments, the authors test rival theses regarding the effects of smoking in feature films on youths and the ability of antismoking advertising to nullify those effects. Eight hundred ninth graders watched either original movie footage with smoking or control footage with the smoking edited out. Emotional reactions were recorded during viewing, and smoking-related thoughts, beliefs, and intent were assessed afterward. The findings support the Forbidden Fruit thesis, in that smoking (versus nonsmoking) scenes positively aroused the young viewers, enhanced their perceptions of smokers' social stature, and increased their intent to smoke. However, youths' opinions were malleable, and showing them an antismoking advertisement before the film effectively repositioned the smoking from forbidden to tainted, thereby nullifying the aforementioned effects. No support was obtained for the Excitation Transfer theory, which predicts that the positive arousal evoked by movie scenes would transfer to smokers who were depicted in those scenes. The authors discuss policy implications for film content and antismoking advertising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a retrospective (1994-2003) portrayal of female models in a decade's worth of male-targeted cigarette advertising. We specifically conduct a content analysis on cigarette manufacturer-sponsored advertisements in male-oriented print magazines. We first explore the set of advertisements using a Gestalt-type analysis, which then informs a formal content analysis using a carefully developed manual and conduct quantitative analysis on key variables that emerged. Overall, we find that the portrayal of females in male-targeted cigarette print advertising largely consists of young, objectified women whose purpose is overwhelmingly decorative, primarily to endow the advertising with sexual allure and use a "sex sells" type effort at that male audience target. These female models are used to add a hedonic, pleasure-seeking, sexual meaning to cigarette consumption, are restricted in gender role to traditional notions of femininity, and rarely appear in groups. They even are assigned different roles in terms of the simple act of smoking than males in the advertisements. We also discuss implications and areas for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of French Journal of British Studies / Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique is the property of Centre de Recherches et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background. Vietnam was one of 16 countries that implemented the second round of the GATS (Global Adult Tobacco Survey) in 2015. Aims. To assess knowledge and determinants of health consequences of different types of cigarette smoking among Vietnamese adults. Methods. A cross-sectional study among adults aged 15 years combined with using 15% of the master sample from the national sampling frame of the population and housing census was conducted. Multilevel analysis using Poisson regression was undertaken. Results. Knowledge on the health consequences of cigarette smoking has not significantly improved in the GATS-2015. Adults believe that active smoking had more of an impact on health than secondhand smoking and 24.5% and 43% of them answered that smoking light and e-cigarettes, respectively, causes less harm than regular cigarettes, and 17.3% and 18.1% of adults are not aware of the difference between them, respectively. Conclusion. Household and community's role had little impact in the adult knowledge of smoking health consequences. It is necessary to disseminate information on the "other tobacco product" and to improve public knowledge on specific health consequences, to enhance household and community's role in conveying health education messages to individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A common message in e-cigarette advertising is that e-cigarettes can be used anywhere. E-cigarette advertisements often express this message implicitly (e.g., "Whenever, wherever") alongside images of e-cigarettes that physically resemble combustible cigarettes. These implicit messages and "cigalike" images may cross-cue combustible cigarette smoking cognitions and behavior. This exploratory study was a 2 (message form: implicit or explicit e-cigarette use anywhere message) by 2 (presence or absence of e-cigarette cue) experiment with U.S. adult smokers (n = 2,201). Participants were randomized to view e-cigarette advertisements that varied by study condition. Three combustible cigarette outcomes were investigated: smoking cessation intention, smoking urges, and immediate smoking behavior. Mediation analysis was also performed to investigate mechanisms of the message form effect through descriptive and normative beliefs about smoking. Compared to its explicit counterpart, the implicit e-cigarette use anywhere message evoked greater smoking urges. Participants exposed to the implicit message also perceived cigarette smoking to be more prevalent and, in turn, reported greater cessation intention. There was no evidence of e-cigarette cue or message form × cue interaction effects. Implicit e-cigarette use anywhere messages may create a predisposition towards smoking compared to their explicitly written counterparts, but whether this effect undermines cessation deserves further attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to cigarette advertising can increase the likelihood of youth smoking initiation and may encourage people who already smoke to continue. Requiring prominent, graphic warning labels could reduce these effects. We test whether graphic versus text-only warning labels in cigarette advertisements influence cognitive and emotional factors associated with youth susceptibility to smoking and adult intentions to quit. We conducted two randomized, between-subjects experiments with middle-school youth (n = 474) and adult smokers (n = 451). Both studies employed a two (graphic or text-only warnings) by two (advertisements with social cues or brand imagery) factorial design with a fifth, offset control group (social cue advertisements with the current US Surgeon General's Warning). Graphic warnings outperformed text-only warnings in reducing visual attention to the advertisement, generating visual attention to the warning and arousing more negative affect. Graphic warnings also reduced the appeal of cigarette brands among youth relative to social cue advertisements with the Surgeon General's warnings. None of the warnings (graphic or textual) influenced health risk beliefs. Graphic warning labels on cigarette advertisements appear to have effects similar to those observed on cigarette packs in previous work, with an added benefit of reducing cigarette brand appeal among youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a multimodality theory, this study attempted to investigate the various semiotic resources utilized by a giant Indonesian cigarette company, Sampoerna, and explore how these resources communicate meanings or messages in its billboard advertisements to persuade its potential customers to buy the product. The data were analyzed using Halliday's systemic functional grammar focusing on ideational meta-function or also known as a representational function in multimodal discourse analysis. The findings revealed that the billboard advertisements were designed to persuade the audience to buy the advertised products implicitly through representational functions attained using narrative and conceptual processes. Whereas the former was realized by employing its typical sub-processes, actional and reactional processes, the latter employed its sub-processes such as classificational, analytical, and symbolic processes. Implicationally, this study has illuminated the possible application of systemic functional grammar within a multimodal discourse analysis domain to investigate implicit message(s) conveyed by an advertisement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research suggests that young adolescents' perceptions of smokers are strongly associated with smoking initiation. Thus, we experimentally investigated the effects of anti-smoking and cigarette advertising on nonsmoking youths' perceptions (evaluative judgments) of a peer who smokes. Results suggest that exposure to the anti-smoking ads made salient our seventh-grade subjects' preexisting beliefs that smokers foolishly endanger their health, which resulted in even less favorable evaluations of the smoker's common sense and personal appeal. Further, unlike subjects who saw unrelated (control) ads, those who saw the anti-smoking ads judged the smoker to be relatively immature and unglamorous. Exposure to the cigarette ads did not significantly affect scale ratings of, but resulted in more favorable thoughts about, the smoker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors test the hypotheses that parameters of advertising sensitivity for adolescents are significant and perhaps larger than those for adults. Cigarette brand shares of advertising voice are found to be significantly related to realized market shares, with advertising sensitivity being about three times larger among teenagers than among adults. This result is robust to various analytic assumptions and converges with strategic analysis, consumer behavior theory and research, econometric metanalyses, historical research, and corporate documents. The authors argue that cigarette competition between firms is predominated by the battle of brands for market share among the young, and assertions to the contrary, without supporting evidence, should be treated with scholarly skepticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reviews and tests the effect of cartoon trade characters on product recognition and attitude on a sample of children three to six years of age. High levels of product and trade character recognition were found, including that of Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man with cigarettes. The recognition of select trade characters tended to increase with the age of the child. The level of recognition and favorable attitude toward the product were positively associated with age except for cigarettes. The attitude for cigarettes and matches were negatively associated with age. Because the possibility of demand artifacts cannot be ruled out, these findings must be interpreted with caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sample of 561 persons judged the age and attractiveness of the models in 50 cigarette ads. Seventeen percent of the models were perceived, on average, to be significantly younger than 25 years of age, an apparent violation of the tobacco industry's voluntary advertising code. Cigarette ads with young persons were found to appear more often in magazines with younger audiences and for menthol brands. Regardless of viewer age, younger models were judged as more attractive than older models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of advertising on primary demand for cigarettes is investigated. By employing annual, bimonthly, and monthly observations, the consequences of temporal aggregation can be studied. Independent of the level of temporal aggregation, advertising was found to have a statistically significant impact on industry sales, although the influence diminished over time. This contradicts the findings of a well-known study by Lambin (1976), which lends support to the assumption of reciprocal cancellation of brand advertising in saturated markets. With respect to the problem of temporal aggregation, the results confirm the empirical and theoretical findings of Clarke (1976), and Bass and Leone (1983). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antismoking forces hailed the ban on cigarette advertising in the broadcast media as a major victory in their campaign against the tobacco industry. Expectations were that this legislation would reduce the percentage of smokers in the population and the number of young adults adopting the smoking habit. But the percentage of adult smokers actually rose slightly following the ban. In light of this fact, a natural question is, "What exactly has been the effect of the ban?" This paper attempts to provide information relevant to this question by examining trends in cigarette advertising expenditures and cigarette consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the controversy surrounding the advertising of tobacco and alcohol products concerns the impact on young people. Eye tracking was used to determine how a large sample of adolescents attend to print ads for cigarettes, beer, and other products. In particular, the time spent viewing the ads, the percentages attending to mandated and voluntary warning messages, and the time spent viewing those messages were analyzed. The two cigarette ads had similar mandated warnings but produced very different results, thus demonstrating the importance of conducting warnings research in the context in which the warnings will be used. Finally, preliminary results based on eye tracking indicate that in the beer ad, the voluntary message encouraging responsible drinking had limited warning value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author assesses young children's abilities to recognize cigarette brand advertising symbols and to identify adults as the appropriate target market for cigarettes. She used nonverbal measures in interviews with children three to eight years of age to assess how recognition of cigarette brand advertising symbols is related to age, cognitive developmental level, children's affect toward cigarettes, children's evaluation of cigarettes, and children's ability to identify adults as the appropriate target market for cigarettes. The results show that recognition of cigarette brand advertising symbols increases with age, as does overall recognition of brand advertising symbols in general. Regardless of age, cognitive developmental level, or recognition scores, children reported not liking cigarettes, believing cigarettes are "bad for you" and finding children to be an inappropriate target market for cigarettes. Findings are discussed in terms of social science and public policy, and in terms of the implications for cognitive development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The final issue of the Journal of Advertising for 1993 contains a series of editorials about tobacco advertising. The series is keyed by Jean Boddewyn with responses from Lawrence Soley and Richard Pollay. Certainly the issue raised by Boddewyn concerning the appropriate venue for this type of research has been discussed and challenged in that series. However, the response from Pollay goes beyond the issue of where smoking/advertising related research should be published. The Pollay editorial raises additional issues for debate and contains some "facts" which call for correction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ethnic segmentation of the cigarette market is currently controversial, but not a new phenomenon. A census of 540 cigarette ads from 1950-1965 Ebony magazines, compared to a matched sample from Life, reveals segmented and segregated advertising toward black consumers. The ads in Ebony eventually featured black models almost exclusively, primarily professional athletes. Despite endorsements from black athletes and musicians also famous to white audiences, none of these appeared in the Life ads. On average, the segregated advertising was two to three years tardy in offering filtered products to black consumers, suggesting that appeals to black pride were not without prejudice. Potential reasons for these historical results are discussed, as are current practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of new warning labels presenting information on specific research on the hazards of smoking recently has been developed by policy makers. The overall objective of the new series is to generate a response of belief in the risks of smoking and, ultimately, to influence smoking behavior. This investigation explores the perceived believability of the warning label information among young adults and suggests a number of implications from the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The movement to curb the advertising of alcoholic beverages is growing and continuing to propose various methods of regulating or eliminating alcoholic beverage advertising. This outcry is similar to the movement to curb cigarette advertising which culminated in banning cigarette advertising from the broadcast media. This paper examines (1) the issues surrounding the ban on cigarette advertising and the implications of that decision, (2) the issues surrounding alcoholic beverage advertising, and (3) the implications of the cigarette advertising ban for alcoholic beverage advertising. Based upon the analysis, the final section describes consumer, industry, and government strategies for responding to the controversy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why does the cigarette smoker continue to smoke in face of torrents of data indicating the potential dangers of this habit? Conversely, why did the mere whisper of danger cause cranberry sales to plummet? The magic defenses consumers employ to insulate their favorite vices from unwanted fearful data are examined in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternative econometric models of advertising-sales relationships for cigarettes were evaluated by 5 methods of estimation and 4 ways of specifying dependent variables. The criteria were the adjusted square of the multiple correlation coefficient and mean absolute percentage error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates the application of simultaneous equation regression methods in analyzing limited time series data for sales and advertising. In testing a model with sales and advertising relationships for filter and nonfilter cigarette brands, we could not reject a model in which the advertising elasticity for filter brands is substantially greater than that for nonfilter brands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented which discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the validity of activity-tracking devices, the trends in advertising cigarettes, and the influence of ecology on workplace sedentary attitude of employees.

Cigarette warning pictures are one of the most effective smoking cessation policies, and this is an effective way to promote smoking cessation by conveying the risk of smoking through pictures. However, the recent advertisement of new cigarettes in retail stores has potentially increased tobacco purchase intention by weakening the effect of the warning picture. Therefore, this study examined the problems of the new cigarette advertisement method by analyzing the effect of this method on cigarette warning pictures. For this purpose, 275 men and women were surveyed nationwide, and this study compared the cognitive and emotional effects, and purchase intentions of the new cigarette advertisements with existing advertisement methods through MANCOVA. The results show that the new cigarette advertising method affects the emotions, cognitions, and purchase intentions related to the cigarette warning pictures and have adverse effects on the original purpose of the cigarette warning pictures. This implies that regulatory standards and institutional arrangements are necessary for effective new cigarette advertising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes retail marketing for menthol cigarettes and its relationship with neighborhood demographics in a national sample of tobacco retailers in the United States. Mixed-effects models were used to examine three outcomes: menthol cigarette exterior advertising, menthol cigarette price promotions, and the pack price of menthol and non-menthol cigarettes. Thirty-eight percent of retailers displayed at least one menthol advertisement on the store exterior and 69% advertised price promotions. Retail advertising was more common in neighborhoods in the second (OR = 1.5 [1.1, 2.0]) and fourth (OR = 1.9 [1.3, 2.7]) quartiles of Black residents as compared to the lowest quartile. Menthol advertising was more prevalent in the third (OR = 1.4 [1.0, 1.9]) and lowest (OR = 1.6 [1.2, 2.2]) income quartiles as compared to the highest quartile. Price promotions for Newport were more common in neighborhoods with the highest quartile of Black residents (OR = 1.8 [1.2, 2.7]). Prices of Newport were cheaper in neighborhoods with the highest quartiles of youth, Black residents, and lower-income households. Policies that restrict the sales and marketing of menthol cigarettes are needed to address disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To assess the validity of a standard measure of smoking susceptibility for predicting cigarette and e-cigarette use in a sample of early adolescents in Argentina and Mexico. Materials and methods. A school-based longitudinal survey was conducted in 2014-16 among secondary students. We analyzed students who were never smokers of regular cigarettes or e-cigarettes at baseline and who completed both surveys. The main independent variable was smoking susceptibility. Multilevel logistic regression models were used, adjusting for sociodemographic and personal variables, social network use of cigarettes and exposure to advertising. Results. In the adjusted analysis, smoking susceptibility independently predicted cigarette initiation (Argentina: AOR 2.28; 95%CI 1.66-3.14; Mexico: AOR 2.07; 95%CI 1.74-2.45) and current smoking (Argentina: AOR 3.61; 95%CI 2.48-5.24; Mexico: AOR 1.69; 95%CI 1.29-2.22); however, it only predicted e-cigarette initiation in Mexico (Mexico: AOR 1.29; 95%CI 1.02-1.63). Conclusion. Smoking susceptibility was a valid measure to predict future cigarette smoking in this sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among adolescents, low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with greater exposure to tobacco cigarette advertising and cigarette use. However, associations among SES, e-cigarette advertising and e-cigarette use are not well understood. This study examined exposure to e-cigarette advertisements as a mediator of the relationship between SES and adolescent e-cigarette use. Adolescents (N = 3473; 51% Female) from 8 high schools in Connecticut completed an anonymous survey in Spring 2015. Mediation analysis was used to examine whether the total number of sources of recent e-cigarette advertising exposure (e.g., TV, radio, billboards, magazines, local stores [gas stations, convenience stores], vape shops, mall kiosks, tobacco shops, social media) mediated the association between SES (measured by the Family Affluence Scale) and past-month frequency of e-cigarette use. We clustered for school and controlled for other tobacco product use, age, sex, race/ethnicity and perceived social norms for e-cigarette use in the model. Our sample recently had seen advertisements via 2.1 (SD = 2.8) advertising channels. Mediation was supported (indirect effect: β = 0.01, SE = 0.00, 95% CI [0.001, 0.010], p = 0.02), such that higher SES was associated with greater recent advertising exposure, which, in turn, was associated with greater frequency of e-cigarette use. Our study suggests that regulations to reduce youth exposure to e-cigarette advertisement may be especially relevant to higher SES youth. Future research should examine these associations longitudinally and evaluate which types of advertisements target different SES groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding factors associated with youth e-cigarette openness and curiosity are important for assessing probability of future use. We examined how e-cigarette harm perceptions and advertising exposure are associated with openness and curiosity among tobacco naive youth. Findings from the 2015 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) were analyzed. The 2015 NYTS is a nationally representative survey of 17,711 U.S. middle and high school students. We calculated weighted prevalence estimates of never users of tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars/cigarillos/little cigars, waterpipe/hookah, smokeless tobacco, bidis, pipes, dissolvables, e-cigarettes) who were open to or curious about e-cigarette use, by demographics. Weighted regression models examined how e-cigarette harm perceptions and advertising exposure were associated with openness using e-cigarettes and curiosity about trying e-cigarettes. Among respondents who never used tobacco products, 23.8% were open to using e-cigarettes and 25.4% were curious. Respondents that perceived e-cigarettes cause a lot of harm had lower odds of both openness (OR = 0.10, 95% CI = 0.07, 0.15) and curiosity about e-cigarettes (OR = 0.10, 95% CI = 0.07, 0.13) compared to those with lower harm perception. Respondents who reported high exposure to e-cigarette advertising in stores had greater odds of being open to e-cigarette use (OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.03, 1.44) and highly curious (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.01, 1.53) compared to those not highly exposed. These findings demonstrate that youth exposed to e-cigarette advertising are open and curious to e-cigarette use. These findings could help public health practitioners better understand the interplay of advertising exposure and harm perceptions with curiosity and openness to e-cigarette use in a rapidly changing marketplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Online cigarette dealers have lower prices than brick-and-mortar retailers and advertise tax-free status.1-8 Previous studies show smokers search out these online alternatives at the time of a cigarette tax increase.9,10 However, these studies rely upon researchers' decision to consider a specific date and preclude the possibility that researchers focus on the wrong date. The purpose of this study is to introduce an unbiased methodology to the field of observing search patterns and to use this methodology to determine whether smokers search Google for "cheap cigarettes" at cigarette tax increases and, if so, whether the increased level of searches persists.Methods: Publicly available data from Google Trends is used to observe standardized search volumes for the term, "cheap cigarettes". Seasonal Hybrid Extreme Studentized Deviate and E-Divisive with Means tests were performed to observe spikes and mean level shifts in search volume.Results: Of the twelve cigarette tax increases studied, ten showed spikes in searches for "cheap cigarettes" within two weeks of the tax increase. However, the mean level shifts did not occur for any cigarette tax increase.Conclusion: Searches for "cheap cigarettes" spike around the time of a cigarette tax increase, but the mean level of searches does not shift in response to a tax increase. The SHESD and EDM tests are unbiased methodologies that can be used to identify spikes and mean level shifts in time series data without an a priori date to be studied. SHESD and EDM affirm spikes in interest are related to tax increases.Implications: • Applies improved statistical techniques (SHESD and EDM) to Google search data related to cigarettes, reducing bias and increasing power • Contributes to the body of evidence that state and federal tax increases are associated with spikes in searches for cheap cigarettes and may be good dates for increased online health messaging related to tobacco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]