An examination of the effect on cigarette prices and promotions of Philip Morris USA penalties to stores that sell cigarettes to minors.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the potential impact of public policies to regulate price discounting strategies on retail cigarette prices and advertising. Philip Morris USA (PM USA) has a policy designed to sanction stores violating state laws banning illegal tobacco sales to minors by temporarily suspending price discounting incentives. This study examined the impact of those sanctions on retail cigarette prices and sales promotion advertising. METHOD: In November 2006, the California Attorney General's Office informed PM USA that 196 stores were found guilty of illegal underage sales. Of these, 109 stores that participated in the PM USA Retail Leaders Program were notified that their merchandising and/or promotional resources would be suspended for the month of April 2007. The remaining 87 stores were not sanctioned and served as a comparison group. Trained raters assessed advertising and prices of selected PM USA brands in these stores pre-penalty and during the penalty phase. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between sanctioned and non-sanctioned stores on median changes in price and sales promotion advertising from the pre-penalty to the penalty phase. CONCLUSION: The lack of impact on cigarette prices and advertising indicate that the PM USA policy may be flawed in its design or execution. If public policies are developed to restrain cigarette price discounting strategies, they should be crafted to ensure compliance and preclude possible compensatory actions by retailers.

An examination of trends in amount and type of cigarette advertising and sales promotions in California stores, 2002-2005.

BACKGROUND: Cigarette companies spend more of their marketing dollars in stores than in any other venue. In 2005, they spent 88% of a total of $13.1 billion to advertise and promote product sales in stores. AIM: The purposes of this study were to identify how the amount and types of cigarette advertising and sales promotions have changed in stores in California between 2002 and 2005, and to assess neighbourhood influences on cigarette marketing in stores. METHODS: Four observational assessments of cigarette advertising were conducted in approximately 600 California stores that sold cigarettes from 2002 to 2005. Trained observers collected data on the amount and type of cigarette advertising, including signs, product shelving and displays and functional items, and presence of sales promotions on these items. Longitudinal analyses were performed to estimate trends over time and identify correlates of change in the amount and type of tobacco advertising. RESULTS: The mean number of cigarette advertisements per store increased over time from 22.7 to 24.9. The percentage of stores with at least one advert for a sales promotion increased from 68% to 80%. The amount of advertising and proportion of stores with sales promotions increased more rapidly in stores situated in neighbourhoods with a higher proportion of African-Americans. CONCLUSION: The results indicate increasing use of stores to market and promote cigarette sales. Further, these increases are disproportionately accelerating in neighbourhoods with more African-Americans. Legislative strategies should be pursued to control the marketing of tobacco products and promotional strategies used to reduce prices in stores.

How do minimum cigarette price laws affect cigarette prices at the retail level?

OBJECTIVES: Half of US states have minimum cigarette price laws that were originally passed to protect small independent retailers from unfair price competition with larger retailers. These laws prohibit cigarettes from being sold below a minimum price that is set by a formula. Many of these laws allow cigarette company promotional incentives offered to retailers, such as buydowns and master-type programmes, to be calculated into the formula. Allowing this provision has the potential to lower the allowable minimum price. This study assesses whether stores in states with minimum price laws have higher cigarette prices and lower rates of retailer participation in cigarette company promotional incentive programmes. DESIGN: Retail cigarette prices and retailer participation in cigarette company incentive programmes in 2001 were compared in eight states with minimum price laws and seven states without them. New York State had the most stringent minimum price law at the time of the study because it excluded promotional incentive programmes in its price setting formula; cigarette prices in New York were compared to all other states included in the study. RESULTS: Cigarette prices were not significantly different in our sample of US states with and without cigarette minimum price laws. Cigarette prices were significantly higher in New York stores than in the 14 other states combined. CONCLUSIONS: Most existing minimum cigarette price laws appear to have little impact on the retail price of cigarettes. This may be because they allow the use of promotional programmes, which are used by manufacturers to reduce cigarette prices. New York's strategy to disallow these types of incentive programmes may result in higher minimum cigarette prices, and should also be explored as a potential policy strategy to control cigarette company marketing practices in stores. Strict cigarette minimum price laws may have the potential to reduce cigarette consumption by decreasing demand through increased cigarette prices and reduced promotional activities at retail outlets.

Reaching youth at the point of sale: cigarette marketing is more prevalent in stores where adolescents shop frequently.

OBJECTIVE: Although numerous studies describe the quantity and nature of tobacco marketing in stores, fewer studies examine the industry's attempts to reach youth at the point of sale. This study examines whether cigarette marketing is more prevalent in stores where adolescents shop frequently. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Trained coders counted cigarette ads, products, and other marketing materials in a census of stores that sell tobacco in Tracy, California (n = 50). A combination of data from focus groups and in-class surveys of middle school students (n = 2125) determined which of the stores adolescents visited most frequently. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Amount of marketing materials and shelf space measured separately for the three cigarette brands most popular with adolescent smokers and for other brands combined. RESULTS: Compared to other stores in the same community, stores where adolescents shopped frequently contained almost three times more marketing materials for Marlboro, Camel, and Newport, and significantly more shelf space devoted to these brands. CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of whether tobacco companies intentionally target youth at the point of sale, these findings underscore the importance of strategies to reduce the quantity and impact of cigarette marketing materials in this venue.

How tobacco companies ensure prime placement of their advertising and products in stores: interviews with retailers about tobacco company incentive programmes.

BACKGROUND: About 81% of cigarette manufacturers' marketing expenditures in the USA is spent to promote cigarette sales in stores. Relatively little is known about how these expenditures help the manufacturers achieve their marketing goals in stores. A better understanding of how tobacco companies influence the retail environment would help researchers and tobacco control activists to monitor industry presence in stores. OBJECTIVE: To describe the types of tobacco company incentive programmes offered to retailers, how these programmes impact the store environments, and possible visual indicators of retailer participation in incentive programmes. STUDY DESIGN: In-depth qualitative interviews with a convenience sample of 29 tobacco retailers were conducted in 2001. SETTING: USA. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The types and requirements of retailer incentive programmes provided by tobacco companies, and how participation in a programme alters their stores. RESULTS: The retailers provided insights into how tobacco companies convey promotional allowances and special offers to them and how these incentives shape the retail environment. Retailers noted that tobacco companies exert substantial control over their stores by requiring placement of products in the most visible locations, and of specific amounts and types of advertising in prime locations in the store. Retailers also described how tobacco companies reduce prices by offering them volume based discounts, "buy two, get one free" specials, and "buying down" the price of existing product. CONCLUSIONS: Tobacco companies are concentrating their marketing dollars at the point-of-sale to the extent that the store is their primary communication channel with customers. As a result, all shoppers regardless of age or smoking status are exposed to pro-smoking messages. Given the financial resources spent by tobacco companies in stores, this venue warrants closer scrutiny by researchers and tobacco control advocates.

The relation between community bans of self-service tobacco displays and store environment and between tobacco accessibility and merchant incentives.

OBJECTIVES: These studies investigated (1) the effect of community bans of self-service tobacco displays on store environment and (2) the effect of consumer tobacco accessibility on merchants. METHODS: We counted cigarette displays (self-service, clerk-assisted, clear acrylic case) in 586 California stores. Merchant interviews (N = 198) identified consumer tobacco accessibility, tobacco company incentives, and shoplifting. RESULTS: Stores in communities with self-service tobacco display bans had fewer self-service displays and more acrylic displays but an equal total number of displays. The merchants who limited consumer tobacco accessibility received fewer incentives and reported lower shoplifting losses. In contrast, consumer access to tobacco was unrelated to the amount of monetary incentives. CONCLUSIONS: Community bans decreased self-service tobacco displays; however, exposure to tobacco advertising in acrylic displays remained high. Reducing consumer tobacco accessibility may reduce shoplifting.

Engaging ethnically diverse teens in a substance use prevention advocacy program.

Teen Activists for Community Change and Leadership Education is designed to engage high school students living in low-income neighborhoods in community advocacy efforts to transform their schools and communities so they do not reinforce use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. This nine month intervention for 116 freshmen and sophomores in and near San Jose, California consisted of 30-90 minute meetings. Social cognitive constructs of sense of community, perceived self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, incentive value, policy control, and leadership competence guided the program. No changes in individual use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs were observed by the end of the program, but improvements in community involvement and self-perception of many of the constructs were observed.

Cigarette advertising and promotional strategies in retail outlets: results of a statewide survey in California.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the extent and types of cigarette advertising materials in stores and to assess tobacco company compliance with the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). DESIGN: A cross-sectional analysis of a random sample of 586 stores that sold cigarettes. SETTING: US state of California. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Trained data collectors classified cigarette advertising materials by type (signs, displays, functional items), location (interior or exterior), and placement (below 3 feet (1 m) or near candy). RESULTS: California retail outlets featured 17.2 (SD 16.1) tobacco advertising materials on average, and 94% of stores featured at least some advertising. About 85% of these were within 4 feet (1.3 m) of the counter. About 50% of the stores had ads at or below 3 feet, and 23% had cigarette product displays next to candy. In violation of the MSA, 3% of stores featured signs with cartoons and 11% had large exterior signs. CONCLUSIONS: Tobacco companies are aggressively using stores to market cigarettes. Moreover, the spirit of the MSA-to protect children from cigarette advertising-has not been realised. Future studies should monitor industry use of this venue and assess the impact of exposure to cigarette advertising materials in stores on adult smokers and youth.

Retail trade incentives: how tobacco industry practices compare with those of other industries.

OBJECTIVES: This study compared the incentive payments for premium shelf space and discounts on volume purchases paid to retailers by 5 types of companies. METHODS: Merchants were interviewed at 108 randomly selected small retail outlets that sell tobacco in Santa Clara County, California. RESULTS: Significantly more retailers reported receiving slotting/display allowances for tobacco (62.4%) than for any other product type. An average store participating in a retailer incentive program received approximately $3157 annually from all sampled product types, of which approximately $2462 (78%) came from tobacco companies. CONCLUSIONS: Future research should assess the impact of tobacco industry incentive programs on the in-store marketing and sales practices of retailers.

Community mobilization to reduce point-of-purchase advertising of tobacco products.

This project was designed to address the problem of point-of-purchase tobacco advertising through media advocacy and community mobilization. Precampaign assessment revealed a considerable amount and density of tobacco advertising and promotions in more than 100 stores sampled in San Jose, California. After sharing the results with community activists and other residents, a community mobilization campaign was instigated to capitalize on an existing sign control ordinance that limits store window coverage and sidewalk signs. Through presentations and media advocacy efforts, community residents were mobilized to file complaints with the city's code enforcement office when neighborhood stores were shown to be noncompliant with ordinance provisions. Relative to the baseline, significant reductions in campaign-related tobacco advertising variables were seen in the San Jose stores after the sign law campaign. No changes were seen in four smaller reference communities. Differences were noted between stores close to and farther away from schools. These results demonstrate that mobilization of community residents to activate enforcement of laws originally designed for other purposes can have a significant impact on one aspect of tobacco point-of-purchase advertising.