Part Three
The Influence of Price and Promotion on Tobacco Consumption
3.1 The Committee focused on the influence of price and promotion (in all its manifestations) on young people because of their vulnerability and susceptiblity to adult influences. It is also known that almost all smokers start to smoke as children or young adults. There is concern to limit consumption and encourage cessation in adults as well as the young and there is evidence that price and promotion influence consumption among existing smokers.58
3.2 The dilemma that tobacco consumption has fallen least amongst the poorest families and the regressive effect this has on dependent children, has been discussed by Marsh and MacKay in their book “Poor Smokers”.59 Tobacco tax recovers for the Treasury 17% of the means tested benefits paid to poor smokers by the DSS (1991 figures).
3.3 The subject of price and consumption of tobacco was addressed in the British Medical Bulletin by Joy Townsend.9 She pointed out that, before the widespread publicity about the health effects of smoking in the early 1960s, there was little difference between the smoking habits of different socio-economic groups. Price has a major effect on cigarette consumption and thus on smoking related diseases, especially in low income groups. It is one of the most powerful elements in strategies for the control of tobacco and is recommended by WHO and other authoritative bodies.9 Cigarette consumption decreases by about 0.5% for a 1% increase in price adjusted for inflation; the effect is greater in low income groups9 which may be the groups least susceptible to health education messages.
3.4 Tobacco promotion helps to recruit young smokers, and this promotion occurs without manufacturers making clear the true extent of the harm the products cause and the risk of addiction.
3.5 The Committe received a detailed overview of the marketing challenges facing the UK tobacco industry from Mr Peter Haynes, Marketing Manager of Wellcome. He explained that the marketing objectives of the industry are to encourage smokers to consume more, to undermine motivation to quit, to encourage former smokers to begin again, to encourage adults to start smoking and to hope that the young will experiment and therefore become the pool of new customers. It has been suggested that the industry needs to recruit more than 300 new smokers a day to replace those who die from smoking related diseases.
3.6 The industry approaches the challenge of retention and recruitment of smokers by spending an estimated £60 - 100 million (1994) on promotion. This is described as brand strengthening. It funds a body (Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco - FOREST) to counter the anti-smoking lobbies (retention) and promotes the generic message that smoking is socially acceptable. Generic promotion is subtle and carried out by role models such as fashion models, film and pop stars and television personalities. For example, it is reported that a film star accepted $500,000 from a tobacco company in 1993 to promote its brand in five feature films including Rambo. (The Times - 13.9.94). It is not possible that such promotion would have a favourable influence on brand choice without encouraging the smoking habit.
3.7 Sports sponsorship serves two purposes - firstly promotion of the brand and secondly by subverting the argument that smoking is a health risk (by association with healthy sports role models).
3.8 Even packaging conveys a product of high quality and therefore the inference that the contents are not harmful despite the health warning.
Conclusions
3.9 Price, advertising and promotion influence cigarette consumption.
3.10 Prevalence of smoking in the UK is increasingly associated with factors of social and economic deprivation.
Recommendations
3.11 The real price of tobacco products should continue to be increased each year to reduce consumption
3.12 All forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and identifiable sponsorship should be banned.
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