Perceptions of branded and plain cigarette packaging among Mexican youth

Abstract

Plain cigarette packaging, which seeks to remove all brand imagery and standardize the shape and size of cigarette packs, represents a novel policy measure to reduce the appeal of cigarettes. Plain packaging has been studied primarily in high-income countries like Australia and the UK. It is unknown whether the effects of plain packaging may differ in low-and-middle income countries with a shorter history of tobacco regulation, such as Mexico. An experimental study was conducted in Mexico City to examine perceptions of branded and plain cigarette packaging among smoking and non-smoking Mexican adolescents (n = 359). Respondents were randomly assigned to a branded or plain pack condition and rated 12 cigarette packages for appeal, taste, harm to health and smoker-image traits. As a behavioral measure of appeal, respondents were offered (although not given) four cigarette packs (either branded or plain) and asked to select one to keep. The findings indicated that branded packs were perceived to be more appealing (β = 3.40, p < 0.001) and to contain better tasting cigarettes (β = 3.53, p < 0.001), but were not perceived as less harmful than plain packs. Participants rated people who smoke the branded packs as having relatively more positive smoker-image traits overall (β = 2.10, p < 0.001), with particularly strong differences found among non-smokers for the traits 'glamorous', 'stylish', 'popular' and 'sophisticated' (p < 0.001). No statistically significant difference was found for the proportion of youth that accepted when offered branded compared with plain packs. These results suggest that plain packaging may reduce brand appeal among Mexican youth, consistent with findings in high-income countries.

Keywords: low and middle-income countries; marketing; plain packaging; tobacco policy.

Fig. 1:

Difference between appeal, taste and harm index scores for ‘branded’ and ‘plain’ pack conditions, among smokers (a) and non-smokers (b). Appeal, taste and harm index scores: mean brand ratings based on overall indexes for appeal, taste and harm, where responses were coded as: ‘1’ (more appealing/better taste/less harmful), ‘0’ (no difference/don't know) or ‘−1’ (less appealing/worse taste/more harmful), and scores were summed across the 12 packages for each of the three measures to yield a score between −12 and 12. Higher scores indicate higher levels of agreement with measures of appeal, taste and harm. Asterisks indicate statistical significance between branded versus plain conditions. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Fig. 2:

Differences between positive smoker-image trait index scores for ‘branded’ and ‘plain’ pack conditions, among smokers (a) and non-smokers (b). Positive smoker-image trait index scores: an index variable was created for each of the seven positive smoker-image traits by summing the number of desirable traits endorsed by respondents across the 12 packages to yield a score between −12 and 12. An ‘overall smoker image’ index variable was created by calculating the average across each of the index variables for the seven positive smoker-image traits, across all packs. Higher scores indicate higher levels of agreement with the seven positive smoker-image traits. Asterisks indicate statistical significance between branded versus plain conditions *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.