Tobacco Industry Advertising and Promotion in Retail Outlets
Retail sale outlets have long been an important component of tobacco company marketing strategies.
Tobacco retailers serve as the tobacco companies’ major communication channel to reach present and future customers.
The store environment exerts a unique influence to promote tobacco use as a desirable social norm because tobacco is both advertised and sold.
Since the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) of 1998, the retail environment has taken on greater importance to the tobacco companies. The MSA imposed restrictions on tobacco advertising in traditional venues such as magazines and billboards.
The retail outlet, however, was left largely unchanged by the MSA. Only two provisions directly affected adverting in retail outlets:
- a limit on the size of exterior storefront signs (either outside the store or inside the store window facing outwards) to no more than 14 square feet (1.3 square meters) and
- a ban on the use of cartoon in all advertising.
Since the adoption of the MSA, significant increases in the amount of tobacco advertisements and sales promotion activities have been observed at retail outlets.
The Impact
Tobacco company in-store advertising serves many traditional advertising functions including promoting a particular brand, conveying a positive image of a product, and increasing purchases of a particular product.
Cigarette advertising also increases smokers’ daily consumption by cueing smokers to light up, reduces current smokers resolve to quit or consider quitting, and encourages former smokers to resume smoking by reminding them of their favorite brand every time they visit a store.
The advertising message is conveniently delivered in the same place where customers can easily purchase the product. In-store advertising prompts impulse buying. In order to increase sales, tobacco companies provide incentives to retailers to place their products in locations that maximize sales.
In-store advertising of tobacco products also entices children and young people to begin smoking and conveys the impression that cigarettes are readily available and that smoking is normal, even desirable.
Three of four teenagers shop at convenient stores at least once a week and are routinely exposed to retail tobacco advertising. Whether or not children are exposed to more in-store tobacco advertising than adults, they are more likely than adults to notice and to remember the tobacco advertising, further reinforcing the normative impact of tobacco advertising on youth. Finally, youth are more likely to attempt to purchase cigarettes from stores that display tobacco advertising.
Actions to Address the Problem
To address the problem of tobacco advertising in the retail environment we need to denormalize and deglamorize tobacco use and counter tobacco company marketing and promotion of tobacco products.
