Perceptions of packaging and plain
packaging among children and adults
Dr. Crawford Moodie
Centre for Tobacco Control Research
Institute for Social Marketing
University of Stirling
Brussels, 12th January, 2011
Study 1: An online survey
• The Tobacco Packaging Survey
ran from June to October 2010
• It involved young people aged
between 10 and 17 years old
completing an online survey
• Final sample of 658 children
Why young people choose cigarettes
How important do you think each of these things
are to young people who smoke when choosing
cigarettes?
• Price
• The make or brand
• What their friends/family smoke
• Seeing a famous person smoke that brand or
make
• The look of the cigarette pack
Why young people choose cigarettes
Percentage who thought each of the following
factors were important or very important
•
•
•
•
•
55% the price
39% what their family/friends smoke
35% what celebrities smoke
32% the brand
30% the look of the pack
Why young people choose cigarettes
• Imperial Tobacco (2010) state that ‘tobacco packaging
is not identified as a reason why young people choose
to purchase tobacco products’
• That almost one in three indicated that the look of the
pack is an important factor in choosing cigarettes
highlights that packaging does appeal to young
people.
The look of
the pack
Total
Male
30
32
Ever
Never
Female 10-13 14-17 Smoker Smoker
29
28
33
32
30
Perceptions of pack colour
Looking at these 4 differently coloured packs, which pack do
you think would have...?
• The strongest tasting cigarettes
• The weakest tasting cigarettes
• The most harmful cigarettes
• The least harmful cigarettes
Perceptions of pack colour
• 29% considered the red pack to have the
strongest tasting cigarettes
• 22% considered the red pack to have
most harmful cigarettes
• 42% considered the white pack (27%) or
the light blue pack (15%) to have the
weakest tasting cigarettes
• 33% considered the white pack (18%) or
the light blue pack (15%) to have the least
harmful cigarettes
Perceptions of pack colour
• For tobacco products, weaker lighter colours
such as white and light blue are often used to
signify ‘healthier’ products with lower tar and
nicotine levels. This “establishment of [a]
colour code” is a deliberate strategy according
to tobacco marketing documents from the UK
(The Research Business, 1996)
• That a third of young people associate pack
colour with product strength and harm
demonstrates that pack colour alone can
mislead consumers
Perceptions of plain
(non-branded) packaging
Looking at the pack shown below, do you think the
pack is...?
1
2
3
4
5
Attractive
Not attractive
Perceptions of plain
(non-branded) packaging
• Plain packs were rated as:
– cheap (51%)
– unattractive (91%)
– uncool (87%)
– a pack that young people would
not like to be seen with (88%)
Perceptions of different types of
plain packaging
This picture shows three packs. Pack 1 is a standard pack,
pack 2 is a pack which slides open and pack 3 is a thinner
pack. Which pack do you..?
1) Like the most
2) Think people of your age would be most likely to smoke?
Perceptions of different types
of plain packaging
• 25% liked the dark brown slide pack the
most, 10% the flip top pack and 7% the
superslims pack.
• 23% thought that others their age would be
most likely to smoke the flip top pack, 21%
the slide pack, and 14% the superslims
pack.
• The findings suggests that even with the
removal of branding the pack can still
function as a marketing tool
Study 2: An ecological study
• The Ecological Study ran from April to June 2010
• The study involved young adult smokers (N=48),
who were asked to transfer their cigarettes into
plain packs provided and use them every day for
two weeks. They used their normal packs for the
other two weeks
• They were asked to complete questionnaires,
assessing pack perceptions and feelings, and
smoking related behaviours, twice a week
• A sub-sample (N=18) of those who had taken part
in the study were given a post-study interview
Perceptions and feelings of packaging and smoking
• Pack Perceptions
• Plain packs were rated negatively on all pack perceptions (not stylish,
unfashionable, cheap, uncool, unattractive, poor quality, unappealing).
• Mean scores ranged from 1.35 to 2.07 for plain packs and 2.64 to 3.48
for their own packs.
• Pack Feelings
• Plain packs were associated with negative feelings (embarrassed,
ashamed, unaccepted).
• Mean scores ranged from 2.24 to 2.70 for plain packs and 3.18 to 4.20
for their own packs.
• Feelings about smoking
• Plain packs were associated with more negative feelings about smoking
(less enjoyable, less satisfying).
• Mean scores ranged from 2.53 to 2.78 for enjoyment for plain packs and
3.13 to 3.37 for their own packs. Mean scores ranged from 2.58 to 2.70
for satisfaction for plain packs and 3.13 to 3.35 for their own packs.
Perceptions of health warnings on plain packs and
avoidant behaviour and behavioural change
• Health warnings
• At weeks one and two only, warnings on plain packs were rated
as more noticeable relative to their own pack. However, overall
ratings of the salience of health warnings did not differ between
the packs.
• Behavioural change/avoidant behaviour
• Smokers were more likely to report that they had forgone a
cigarette when using the plain pack, compared with their own
pack (e.g. at week four, 30% had forgone a cigarette from the
plain pack compared with 9% from their own pack).
• When using the plain pack, smokers were more likely to: keep
the pack out of sight; cover the pack up; smoke less around
others; think about quitting. In addition, at weeks two and four,
smokers were more likely to indicate that they wanted to quit
when using the plain pack.
Perceptions and feelings of packaging and smoking
Examples of respondent comments
Pack
perceptions
Pack
feelings
Feelings
about
smoking
Even the colour of the pack just made me think, oh
God, are my lungs this colour as well? (Female, 2535, C2DE)
Not a fan, I wouldn't buy them. But then that is a good
thing then really isn't it? (Female, 25-35, ABC1)
It made me feel bad and gave me a guilty conscience
(Female, 25-35, C2DE)
With the brown pack I did feel a wee bit, not ashamed,
but I did feel different (Female, 18-24, ABC1)
It definitely did feel more horrible to actually smoke
(Female, 18-24, ABC1)
It almost didn't taste as good (Female, 25-35, C2DE)
Perceptions of health warnings on plain packs and
avoidant behaviour and behavioural change
Examples of respondent comments
Health
With the lack of advertisement, the health warning is the
warnings only thing you really notice on the packet. That stands
out (Male, 25-35, C2DE)
You notice them more because there is nothing else on
the packaging for the eye to go to...I think because you
notice them more, I think it tends to make you think
about it a bit more (Male, 25-35, C2DE)
Behaviour It did make me cut down a wee bit because see taking
change
the packet out it was quite embarrassing (Female, 1824, C2DE)
The colour puts you off, you know, makes you smoke
less (Female, 25-35, C2DE)