As an expert in marketing, the strategies of marketing and advertising of the Plain Packaging have impact in the fact that young people start to smoke?
Packaging is a very important form of marketing for tobacco companies. The cigarette pack is visible in shops, in the home and in the street – smokers carry their pack with them everywhere. Now that other forms of advertising have been prohibited, the pack is one of the few ways in which tobacco companies can attract new smokers, to replace the smokers who die or give up every year. We know from research that children and young people are very aware of cigarette packs, and that they find them attractive. The new ‘superslim’ packs are very appealing to young girls – they tell us in research studies that the packs are like ‘perfume’ or ‘make-up’ or ‘chocolate’. We know from large-scale, longitudinal studies that appreciation of tobacco marketing, including packaging, is independently associated with increased uptake of smoking by young people.
The University of Stirling has carried out studies in this regard?. If the answer is Yes, what have been, broadly speaking, the results?
The Institute for Social Marketing at the University of Stirling has carried out many studies in this area. One of the most important was a ‘systematic review’ of all the evidence from around the world on the potential effects of plain packaging. We found that plain packaging can have three benefits. First of all, it can reduce the attractiveness of cigarette packs and of smoking in general. There is very strong evidence, from nearly 30 studies, that when people are shown plain packs and branded packs, they find the plain packs less ‘stylish’, less ‘cool’, less tempting. They also believe that cigarettes in plain packs will be poorer quality.
Second, there is quite strong evidence that when cigarettes are in plain packs, people pay more attention to the health warnings. They recall the warning better, and they find it more credible. One study used technology to assess people’s eye movements when looking at a pack, and found that they looked more at the warning on a plain pack compared with a branded pack.
Third, cigarette companies use light colours and words such as ‘smooth’ or ‘fine’ to deceive smokers into thinking that some cigarettes are ‘safer’ than other cigarettes. We know from research studies that some people choose to smoke cigarettes which they believe to be ‘safer’ so that they will feel less guilty about smoking. However, there is no such thing as a safe cigarette. Our review found evidence that when cigarettes were shown in plain packs in dark colours, there was less confusion: people understood the harmfulness of cigarettes more clearly. In summary, the review concluded that there was evidence that plain packaging would reduce the appeal of smoking, particularly among young people, and that plain packaging would make smokers more aware of the health effects and harmfulness of smoking. You can read the findings of the review here:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0075919
December 1 marked 2 years of Plain Packaging in Australia and countries such as Ireland, United Kingdom, France and Finland have announced that they will carry out this measure, why take so long to put it into practice?
With many tobacco control measures, such as the prohibition of smoking in public places, there are many years of discussion before one country takes the first step. When Australia led the way, there was a lot of interest in the effects of the policy. The early evidence from Australia shows that: (1) there have been more calls to the ‘Quitline’ (the smoking cessation service) since plain packaging was introduced; (2) sales of tobacco have fallen; and (3) more smokers are thinking about quitting. These results have given other countries the confidence to adopt plain packaging.
In particular, the United Kingdom was one of the first countries to announce it, but the Government of David Cameron fails to present it at the Parliament. Why the delay of this measure which has the consensus of the population and the support of the British Medical Association (BMA)?. Perhaps due to pressure from the industry?
It is possible there has been some influence from industry in the UK, I don’t know. However, the UK government has agreed to implement plain packaging in principle, and is currently consulting on the details of the legislation. If the UK government does not implement plain packaging, then the government in Scotland has stated that it will introduce plain packaging independently of the UK.
Do you think that there should be a joint strategy in Europe to implement measures such as Plain Packaging?
Yes, we have seen from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that countries in Europe are more effective when they work together to combat the effects of the powerful tobacco industry.
The Cameron Government proposed a ban on smoking in cars, which phase is that measure?
This is progressing as part of a Children and Families Bill passed by our House of Commons. The regulation development is the next step which we expect to commence in 2015. The law would be implemented after the regulations have been agreed. The measure is also under discussion in Scotland where it currently forms part of a public consultation on future tobacco control measures.
Thank you very much for your collaboration!.
Martine Stead
Martine Stead has been Deputy Director of the Institute for Social Marketing at the University of Stirling, Scotland, UK, since 2004, and has worked as a researcher at the Institute since 1992. The Institute is the UK’s leading research centre into marketing and health, and in 2013 was awarded the prestigious ‘Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher Education’ for its research into protecting children’s health from commercial marketing. With the team at the Institute, Martine Stead has conducted major studies into the effects of food marketing, alcohol marketing and plain packaging of cigarettes.
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