Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Jun;40(6):683-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2011.01.019.

What do cigarette pack colors communicate to smokers in the U.S.?

Maansi Bansal-Travers  1 , Richard O'Connor, Brian V Fix, K Michael Cummings
Affiliations

What do cigarette pack colors communicate to smokers in the U.S.?

Maansi Bansal-Travers et al. Am J Prev Med. 2011 Jun.

Abstract

Background: New legislation in the U.S. prohibits tobacco companies from labeling cigarette packs with terms such as light, mild, or low after June 2010. However, experience from countries that have removed these descriptors suggests that different terms, colors, or numbers communicating the same messages may replace them.

Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to examine how cigarette pack colors are perceived by smokers to correspond to different descriptive terms.

Methods: Newspaper advertisements and CraigsList.org postings directed interested current smokers to a survey website. Eligible participants were shown an array of six cigarette packages (altered to remove all descriptive terms) and asked to link package images with their corresponding descriptive terms. Participants were then asked to identify which pack in the array they would choose if they were concerned with health, tar, nicotine, image, and taste.

Results: A total of 193 participants completed the survey from February to March 2008 (data were analyzed from May 2008 through November 2010). Participants were more accurate in matching descriptors to pack images for Marlboro brand cigarettes than for unfamiliar Peter Jackson brand (sold in Australia). Smokers overwhelmingly chose the "whitest" pack if they were concerned about health, tar, and nicotine.

Conclusions: Smokers in the U.S. associate brand descriptors with colors. Further, white packaging appears to most influence perceptions of safety. Removal of descriptor terms but not the associated colors will be insufficient in eliminating misperceptions about the risks from smoking communicated to smokers through packaging.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Marlboro and Peter Jackson packages shown in the web survey with corresponding descriptors and CIELAB values. L, lightness; A, red–green; B, blue–yellow
Figure 2
Figure 2
List created by Philip Morris U.S.A. outlining anticipated changes to descriptor terms on packs in U.S. after June 2010.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Underwood RL, Ozanne J. Is your package an effective communicator? A normative framework for increasing the communicative competence of packaging. Journal of Marketing Communications. 1998;4(4):207–220.
    1. Pollay RW, Dewhirst T. Marketing cigarettes with low machine-measured yields. In: DHHS NIoHNCI, editor. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph 13: Risks Associated with Smoking Cigarettes with Low Machine-Measured Yields of Tar and Nicotine. Bethesda, M.D: DHHS; 2001. pp. 199–233.
    1. Pollay RW, Dewhirst T. The dark side of marketing seemingly "Light" cigarettes: successful images and failed fact. Tob Control. 2002 March;11 Suppl 1:I18–I31. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Slade J. The pack as advertisement. Tob Control. 1997;6(3):169–170. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wakefield M, Morley C, Horan JK, Cummings KM. The cigarette pack as image: new evidence from tobacco industry documents. Tob Control. 2002 March;11 Suppl 1:I73–I80. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types