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. 2016 Oct:91:132-137.
doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.08.017. Epub 2016 Aug 9.

Magazine hyped: Trends in tobacco advertising and readership characteristics, 2010-2014

Sherine M El-Toukhy  1 , Kelvin Choi  2
Affiliations

Magazine hyped: Trends in tobacco advertising and readership characteristics, 2010-2014

Sherine M El-Toukhy et al. Prev Med. 2016 Oct.

Abstract

We tracked magazine advertisements for seven tobacco products in U.S. magazines from 2010 to 2014 and examined magazine readership characteristics that are associated with advertising placement in 2014. Advertising data came from Kantar Media's Intelligence and readership data came from a 2014 Experian's nationally representative survey of 4667 adult tobacco users. At magazine level, we aggregated total and product-specific number of advertisements and expenditures by year and calculated readership demographics. We used linear and poisson regression models to examine trends in number of tobacco advertisements and expenditures and readership characteristics associated with number of tobacco advertisements in 2014. Analyses were conducted in 2015. There were 5317 tobacco advertisements with expenditures of $796 million that appeared in 322 magazines during 2010-2014. Cigarette advertisements accounted for 2928 (55%), followed by e-cigarettes (n=862, 16%), and snus (n=534, 10%). Advertisements increased by 2.79ad/year for cigarettes, 1.94ad/year for e-cigarettes, and 0.78ad/year for chewing tobacco (p<0.05). In 2014, number of advertisements was associated with select readership characteristics (p<0.05). For every 10% increase in 18-39year-old readers, advertisement rate increased by 1.48 times for cigarettes, 3.44 times for e-cigarettes, and 2.15 times for chewing tobacco. For every 10% increase in readers who earn ≤$24,999, advertisement rate increased by 1.37 times for cigarettes and 1.70 times for e-cigarettes. Magazine tobacco advertising has increased especially for cigarettes and is targeted toward certain demographic subgroups. Regulating tobacco magazine advertising should be integral to tobacco control policies.

Keywords: Advertising placement; Disparities; Magazine tobacco advertising; National trends; Readership characteristics.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of magazine advertisements for top five advertised tobacco products, 2010 – 2014
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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