Blowing the lid off: an analysis of interior cigarette pack features and marketing strategies.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Giovenco DP
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8207258 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) have been gaining popularity and have emerged as a controversial tobacco product since their introduction in 2007 in the U.S. The smoke-free aspect of e-cigs renders them less harmful than conventional cigarettes and is one of the main reasons for their use by people who plan to quit smoking. The US food and drug administration (FDA) has introduced new regulations early May 2016 that went into effect on August 8, 2016. Given this important context, in this paper, we report results of a project to identify current themes in e-cig tweets in terms of semantic interpretations of topics generated with topic modeling. Given marketing/advertising tweets constitute almost half of all e-cig tweets, we first build a classifier that identifies marketing and non-marketing tweets based on a hand-built dataset of 1000 tweets. After applying the classifier to a dataset of over a million tweets (collected during 4/2015 - 6/2016), we conduct a preliminary content analysis and run topic models on the two sets of tweets separately after identifying the appropriate numbers of topics using topic coherence. We interpret the results of the topic modeling process by relating topics generated to specific e-cig themes. We also report on themes identified from e-cig tweets generated at particular places (such as schools and churches) for geo-tagged tweets found in our dataset using the GeoNames API. To our knowledge, this is the first effort that employs topic modeling to identify e-cig themes in general and in the context of geo-tagged tweets tied to specific places of interest.
| S-EPMC5540097 | biostudies-other
Project description:ObjectiveTo systematically review the literature regarding responses to commercial and public health marketing features for reduced nicotine cigarettes (RNCs) to anticipate potential industry and regulatory actions should an RNC product standard be issued.Data sourcesWe searched PubMed for English-language articles using several keywords for reduced nicotine products, cigarettes and marketing features published through 2020.Study selectionOf 4092 records, 26 studies were retained for review that met criteria focusing on responses to RNC marketing features.Data extractionSearch terms created by the research team were used for review and included independent extraction and coding by two reviewers. Coding was categorised using study design terminology, commercial and public health features in tobacco regulatory science, and their association with individual responses outlined by several message processing outcomes.Data synthesisMost studies focused on current cigarette smokers and were cross-sectional. Reactions to RNCs and attitudes and beliefs were the most common outcomes measured. For commercial features, articles generally studied RNC advertisements, products and/or descriptors. For public health features, articles studied counter-messaging (eg, warning labels) or general descriptors about nicotine or a reduced nicotine product standard. Commercial features were generally associated with favourable responses. Public health features offset favourable responses across most outcomes, though their efficacy was mixed. Contrasts in results by smoking status are discussed.ConclusionsCommercial marketing of RNCs is appealing and may need stronger regulations or communication campaigns to accurately convey risks. Opportunities exist for future research within tobacco regulatory science.
| S-EPMC8986886 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC10809498 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveTo inform international research and policy, we conducted a meta-analysis of the experimental literature on pictorial cigarette pack warnings.Data sourcesWe systematically searched 7 computerised databases in April 2013 using several search terms. We also searched reference lists of relevant articles.Study selectionWe included studies that used an experimental protocol to test cigarette pack warnings and reported data on both pictorial and text-only conditions. 37 studies with data on 48 independent samples (N=33,613) met criteria.Data extraction and synthesisTwo independent coders coded all study characteristics. Effect sizes were computed from data extracted from study reports and were combined using random effects meta-analytic procedures.ResultsPictorial warnings were more effective than text-only warnings for 12 of 17 effectiveness outcomes (all p<0.05). Relative to text-only warnings, pictorial warnings (1) attracted and held attention better; (2) garnered stronger cognitive and emotional reactions; (3) elicited more negative pack attitudes and negative smoking attitudes and (4) more effectively increased intentions to not start smoking and to quit smoking. Participants also perceived pictorial warnings as being more effective than text-only warnings across all 8 perceived effectiveness outcomes.ConclusionsThe evidence from this international body of literature supports pictorial cigarette pack warnings as more effective than text-only warnings. Gaps in the literature include a lack of assessment of smoking behaviour and a dearth of theory-based research on how warnings exert their effects.
| S-EPMC4636492 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionWith tightened regulations on cigarette marketing and decreased smoking, the major tobacco companies quickly shifted their marketing expenditures in recent decades to maintain profits. We investigated cigarette marketing expenditures in the United States from 1975 through 2019 to examine the trends in cigarette marketing expenditures over the past 45 years.Aims and methodsCigarette marketing expenditure data were obtained from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cigarette reports, 1975-2019. Based on individual expenditure categories included in the FTC reports, we created seven aggregate categories for marketing expenditures: Retail; Print; Out of home; Free tobacco products and gifts; Sports, public entertainment, and sponsorships; Telephone and digital; and Other. Dollar amounts and percentages by category were examined to assess trends in marketing expenditures.ResultsCigarette marketing expenditures increased since 1975 and peaked in 2003 at $21.1 billion (adjusted dollars); afterward, they declined dramatically until 2010 and remained stable at around $9 billion through 2019. While all other expenditures decreased, retail expenditures increased, comprising more than 50% of expenditures in 1988 and reaching about 98% in 2019. In the retail category, tobacco companies spent the most on promotional allowances, coupons, and retail-value-added bonuses between 1988 and 2003, after which price discounts dominated retail spending.ConclusionsOverall, cigarette marketing expenditures peaked in 2003 and retail first became the leading category in 1988. Tobacco companies adapted their marketing strategies in retail and allocated most of their retail spending on price discounts since 2003 to lower cigarette prices.ImplicationsThe major US tobacco companies directed the bulk of their vast spending on the retail environment since 1988. Moreover, they have dramatically shifted their marketing strategies within the retail category from cigarette advertising before 2003 to customer-directed price discounts since then. This shift may imply a change in focus from recruiting new smokers to retaining current smokers, in response to tax increases and government regulations. Accordingly, restrictions on price-related promotions in retail and nontax strategies should be implemented to counter tobacco companies' marketing efforts in retail.
| S-EPMC9048889 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background:Pictorial warnings on cigarette packs are a cost-effective policy-level intervention for smoking cessation; however, little research has examined changes in the impact of warnings over time, especially shortly following the first exposure to pictorial warnings. We sought to characterize the trajectories of responses to pictorial cigarette pack warnings soon after first exposure. Methods:Participants were 2149 adult smokers in North Carolina and California, United States. In 2014-2015, we randomized smokers to have pictorial (intervention) or text-only (control) warnings on their cigarette packs for 4 weeks. Weekly surveys assessed psychosocial and behavioral outcomes. Results:After 1 week, smokers in the intervention arm reported higher levels of most outcomes, compared with the control arm. Over subsequent weeks, smokers in both trial arms had decreases in thinking about the harms of smoking (? = -0.046), positive (? = -0.036), and negative (? = -0.042) smoking reinforcement attitudes, and increases in quit intentions (? = 0.070) and cigarette forgoing (? = 0.137) (all p < .05). Only negative affective reactions decreased more in the intervention versus control condition (pinteraction < .01). Conclusions:The impact of pictorial cigarette pack warnings on emotions and cognitions may wane over time. In contrast, quit intentions and cigarette forgoing may continue to increase, at least during the initial period after introduction. Rotation of pictorial warnings may help prevent warning wear-out. Implications:Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality and warnings on cigarette packs are a cost-effective policy-level intervention. Prior studies reporting on cigarette pack warning "wear out" have been limited by being short-term single-session experimental studies. Ours are the first study to experimentally examine the trajectories of several outcomes after first exposure and report that the impact of pictorial cigarette pack warnings on emotions and cognitions may wane over time while quit intentions and cigarette forgoing may continue to increase. Trials Registration:ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02247908; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02247908.
| S-EPMC5991219 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveTobacco butts are the most littered item worldwide and pose a critical environmental and public health hazard. Given the positive impact of required graphic warnings on smoking, we sought to assess the impact of a policy requiring cigarette pack anti-littering messages on smokers' littering intentions.MethodsWe randomly assigned US adult smokers (n = 719) to receive labels on the side of their cigarette packs for three weeks: anti-littering messages or messages about chemicals in cigarette smoke.ResultsAnti-littering messages elicited higher intentions to refrain from littering in the next month compared to chemical messages (p < .05). Anti-littering messages also led to increased knowledge about cigarette butts being the most common form of litter, the number of conversations about littering, and thinking about the proper disposal of cigarettes (all p < .05). Finally, smoking from packs labeled with anti-littering messages led to fewer weeks littering from car windows compared to packs labeled with chemical messages (p < .05), but did not affect completely refraining from littering cigarette butts. Mediators of the messages' impact on littering intentions were thinking about proper cigarette butt disposal and perceived message effectiveness (both p < .05).ConclusionsPolicies requiring anti-littering messages on cigarette packs would raise awareness about the problem of cigarette butt litter and bolster intentions to not litter.
| S-EPMC8893237 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:Our randomized trial found that pictorial cigarette pack warnings elicited more quit attempts than text-only warnings. PURPOSE:In the current study, we sought to identify psychological mechanisms that explain why pictorial cigarette pack warnings change behavior. METHODS:In 2014 and 2015, we recruited 2,149 adult smokers in NC and CA, USA. We randomly assigned smokers to receive on their cigarette packs for 4 weeks either a text-only warning (one of the USA's current warnings on the side of cigarette packs) or a pictorial warning (one of the USA's proposed text warnings with pictures on the top half of the front and back of cigarette packs). RESULTS:Pictorial warnings increased attention to, reactions to, and social interactions about cigarette pack warnings (all p < .05). However, pictorial warnings changed almost no belief or attitude measures. Mediators of the impact of pictorial warnings included increased attention, negative affect, social interactions, thinking about the warning and harms of smoking, and intentions to quit (all p < .05). Analyses also found that pictorial warnings led to greater avoidance of the warnings, which was associated with more quit attempts (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS:Pictorial warnings increased quit attempts by eliciting aversive reactions and by keeping the message vividly in smokers' minds. Contrary to predictions from several theories of health behavior, the warnings exerted little of their influence through changes in beliefs and attitudes and none of their influence through changes in risk perception. We propose the Tobacco Warnings Model based on these findings. CLINICAL TRIAL INFORMATION:ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02247908; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02247908.
| S-EPMC6265120 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Introduction. Retail settings are major channels for the tobacco industry to market commercial tobacco products. However, few studies have examined marketing strategies on Tribal lands. The resulting evidence is important, especially given that American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth and adults have the highest smoking prevalence of any racial/ethnic group in the United States. In this study, we examined cigarette, e-cigarette, and vape/vaporizer availability, advertising, and price-reducing promotions in retail settings on and within a 1-mile radius of Tribal lands in California. Method. Trained AI/AN community health representatives (n = 8) conducted store observations (n = 96) using a checklist adapted from the Standardized Tobacco Assessment for Retail Settings observation tool. Chi-square analyses were performed to look for potential differences in availability, exterior advertising, and price promotions for cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and vapes between stores. Results. All stores sold cigarettes and over 95% sold menthol cigarettes. Nearly 25% of stores on Tribal lands were located inside a casino, and 40.4% of stores on Tribal lands offered a Tribal member discount. Stores within a 1-mile radius of Tribal lands sold significantly (p < .01) more e-cigarettes (69.8%), including flavored e-cigarettes (53.4%), compared to stores on Tribal lands (37.7% and 28.3%, respectively). Price promotions for cigarettes were significantly (p < .01) more common in stores located within a 1-mile radius of Tribal lands (46.5%) than stores on Tribal lands (22.6%). Discussion. To our knowledge, this study is the first to use store observations to examine cigarette and e-cigarette availability, advertising, and price promotions in retail settings on and near California Tribal lands. We recommend future studies build on our initial efforts to take an AI/AN Tribal community-engaged approach in assessing and documenting tobacco marketing practices on and near Tribal lands. Tribal governments can consider tobacco policies to help reduce smoking disparities and advance health equity for their communities.
| S-EPMC7521133 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundObservational evidence suggests that cigarette pack size - the number of cigarettes in a single pack - is associated with consumption but experimental evidence of a causal relationship is lacking. The tobacco industry is introducing increasingly large packs, in the absence of maximum cigarette pack size regulation. In Australia, the minimum pack size is 20 but packs of up to 50 cigarettes are available. We aimed to estimate the impact on smoking of reducing cigarette pack sizes from ≥25 to 20 cigarettes per pack.MethodA two-stage adaptive parallel group RCT in which Australian smokers who usually purchase packs containing ≥25 cigarettes were randomised to use only packs containing either 20 (intervention) or their usual packs (control) for four weeks. The primary outcome, the average number of cigarettes smoked per day, was measured through collecting all finished cigarette packs, labelled with the number of cigarettes participants smoked. An interim sample size re-estimation was used to evaluate the possibility of detecting a meaningful difference in the primary outcome.ResultsThe interim analysis, conducted when 124 participants had been randomised, suggested 1122 additional participants needed to be randomised for sufficient power to detect a meaningful effect. This exceeded pre-specified criteria for feasible recruitment, and data collection was terminated accordingly. Analysis of complete data (n = 79) indicated that the mean cigarettes smoked per day was 15.9 (SD = 8.5) in the intervention arm and 16.8 (SD = 6.7) among controls (difference - 0.9: 95%CI = - 4.3, 2.6).ConclusionIt remains unclear whether reducing cigarette pack sizes from ≥25 to 20 cigarettes reduces cigarette consumption. Importantly, the results of this study provide no evidence that capping cigarette pack sizes would be ineffective at reducing smoking. The limitations identified in this study can inform a more efficient RCT, which is urgently required to address the dearth of experimental evidence on the impact of large cigarette pack sizes on smoking.Trial registrationhttps://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN34202533.
| S-EPMC8286601 | biostudies-literature