UC San Diego

Background: To curb smoking rates, the World Health Organizations’ Framework Convention on Tobacco Control recommends that countries ban all forms of tobacco advertising and restrict the use of certain terminology on packaging and branding. However, in many countries, including the United States, tobacco remains one of the most heavily marketed consumer goods. Through a series of studies I explore several issues pertaining to the marketing of tobacco products including: whether some brands act as “starter-brands” for young adults (Chapter 2), whether certain marketing practices make cigarettes seem “safer” (Chapter 3) or more appealing (Chapter 4) than other brands and how removing branding from packaging impacts these perceptions (Chapters 3 and 4).

Methods: This document is composed of three independent studies. The data for Chapter 2 are derived from a national survey of US adults known as the Population Assessment of Tobacco Use and Health (“the PATH study”), while the data for Chapters 2 & 3 were gathered using a web-based marketing experiment.

Results: In Chapter 2 we identified 13 sub-brands on the US market that were used more frequently by young adults than among the rest of adult smokers. Nine of these 13 sub-brands were menthol-flavored, three contained menthol “crush” capsules and two were from a new lower-cost Marlboro line called “Marlboro Black.” The second study suggested that packaging of a brand of cigarettes called Natural American Spirit conveys the brand is safer and that removing tobacco branding alters this perception. The final study suggests that the packaging of US cigarette brands differentiate in terms the perceived attractiveness of the pack, the perceived taste and harshness, and the social image they convey about their consumers and that standardized packaging both reduces these perceptions and forces brands to appear more similar in terms of these perceptions.

Conclusion: These data suggest that many US cigarette brands contain marketing features that are appealing to health-concerned smokers and young adults. The data also suggest that standardized packaging would constrain the ability of manufacturers to market to these consumer groups through their packaging.