Standardised cigarette packaging may reduce the implied safety of Natural American Spirit cigarettes. Issue Volume 27:Issue e2(2018) (18th December 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Leas, Eric Craig; Pierce, John P; Dimofte, Claudiu V; Trinidad, Dennis R; Strong, David R
• Is Part Of: Tobacco control. Volume 27:Issue e2(2018)
• Page Start: e118
• Page End: e123
• Publication Date: 2017-12-18
• Subjects: advertising and promotion -- harm reduction -- packaging and labelling; Tobacco use -- Prevention -- Periodicals; Tobacco use -- Periodicals; Smoking -- Law and legislation -- Periodicals; Smoking -- prevention & control -- Periodicals; Tobacco Use Disorder -- prevention & control -- Periodicals; Tobacco -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 613.85
• DOI: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2017-053940
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0964-4563

Abstract

Abstract : Background: Over two-thirds of Natural American Spirit (NAS) smokers believe their cigarettes might be 'less harmful', but toxicological evidence does not support this belief. We assessed whether standardised packaging could reduce the possibility of erroneous inferences of 'safety' drawn from NAS cigarette packaging. Methods: US adult smokers (n=909) were recruited to a between-subject survey experiment (3 brands×3 packaging/labelling styles) through Amazon Mechanical Turk and rated their perception of whether a randomly assigned cigarette package conveyed that the brand was 'safer' on a three-item scale (Cronbach's α=0.92). We assessed whether NAS packs were rated higher on the 'implied safety' scale than two other brands and estimated the effect that plain packaging (ie, all branding replaced with a drab dark brown colour) and Australian-like packaging (ie, all branding replaced with a drab dark brown colour and a graphic image and text on 75% of the pack surface) had on perceptions of the NAS cigarette package. Results: Smokers' ratings of the standard NAS pack on the implied safety scale (mean=4.6; SD=2.9) were 1.9 times (P <0.001) higher than smokers' ratings of a Marlboro Red pack (mean=2.4; SD=2.3) and 1.7 times (P <0.001) higher than smokers' ratings of a Newport Menthol pack (mean=2.7; SD=2.4). These perceptions of implied safety were lower when plain packaging was used (Cohen's d=0.66; P <0.001) and much lower when Australian-like packaging was used (Cohen's d=1.56; P <0.001). Conclusion: The results suggest that NAS cigarette packaging conveys that its cigarettes are 'safer' and that such perceptions are lower with standardised packaging, both with and without warning images.