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Index
Tobacco displays attract new young smokers
UK Government response
Tobacco display is a form of advertising
Growth of 'brand families'
Impulse Purchasing
Impact of display bans on youth smoking
Financial Impact of Point of Sale display bans
Public Opinion
Jurisdictions that have banned tobacco displays at the point of sale
ReferencesTobacco displays attract new young smokers
Since the introduction of tobacco advertising bans, tobacco companies have become increasingly reliant on displays at the point of sale to attract attention to their products and stimulate sales. The main purpose of tobacco marketing is to attract new smokers since established smokers tend to be brand loyal. Each year thousands of children and young people in the United Kingdom start smoking, with around two-thirds starting before the age of 18.(1) The younger a person starts smoking the greater the risk of getting lung cancer and other smoking related diseases.(2) Because nicotine is so addictive, only around half of all smokers manage to stop smoking before they die.(3) Research shows that Point of Sale (PoS) display has a direct impact on young people’s smoking. In 2006, almost half (46%) of UK teenagers were aware of tobacco display at PoS and those professing an intention to smoke were more likely to recall brands that they had seen at the point of sale.(4) Similarly research in Australia (5) and the USA (6) has shown that point of sale display advertising of cigarettes normalises tobacco use for children and creates a perception that tobacco is easily obtainable.
Following a consultation on the future of tobacco control, (7) the Government published a Health Bill which includes measures to protect children from tobacco including a proposal to prohibit the display of tobacco products at the point of sale.(8) The Health Bill was enacted in November 2009. The ban will be phased in over two years: larger retailers such as supermarkets will be required to remove tobacco products from public view in 2011 and small retailers by 2013.(9)
Tobacco display is a form of advertising
The main reason for prohibiting the display of tobacco products at the point of sale is to protect children and young people from the promotion of tobacco. Most forms of tobacco advertising are now banned in the UK following the implementation of the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act (TAPA) 2002. In December 2004 regulations were put in place limiting tobacco advertising at the point of sale to a single A5 sized poster, with 30% of the area taken up by a health warning. Children and young people are particularly influenced by tobacco imagery (10),(11) and the effectiveness of tobacco advertising in recruiting children to smoking is the primary reason behind legislation banning such promotion. Although the TAPA includes regulatory authority to ban displays, there are currently no regulations in place. Tobacco companies have exploited this loophole and since 2003 there has been considerable growth in the number and size of tobacco displays in many premises.(12),(13) Examples include the use of clocks and specially-designed towers to highlight specific brands. Other tactics include the use of back-lighting of gantries (shelving) and eye-catching non-standard shelving to make the brands stand out.(14) As can be seen from these images, the cigarette packs themselves are now the main form of cigarette advertising and the distinction between advertising and display has become blurred. [See also related section on Plain Packaging] The following comments highlight the importance of the pack as a communication tool:
“It is the communication life-blood of the firm... the silent salesman” (15)
“It is a promotional tool in its own right” (16)
“It is a total opportunity for communications... a carefully planned brand or information communications campaign” (17)
One way in which tobacco companies have succeeded in increasing point of sale exposure of their brands is by developing new variants of existing brands. Since 1998 brand families have grown in size by more than 50% with popular brands such as Benson & Hedges increasing brand variants from 4 in 1998 to 12 by 2008. The increase in brand variants is designed to maximise their visual impact on shop shelves.
Tobacco marketing is not primarily targeted at existing regular smokers who are extremely brand loyal. Most smokers (86%) always buy the same brand of tobacco and only 6% say their decision about what brand to buy is made on the basis of the shop display.(18) Tobacco displays do, however, prompt impulse purchases and increase sales by an estimated 12-28% (19) Young people are particularly likely to make unplanned purchases. Ex-smokers and people who are trying to stop smoking are also vulnerable to these purchases, resulting in relapse.(20) The following images are of a large tobacco promotion at a music festival in Wales which was attended by young people.
Photography by Brendan Cook
Impact of display bans on youth smoking
Jurisdictions that have enforced tobacco point of sale bans as part of a range of tobacco control measures have seen a decrease in smoking prevalence among young people. In Iceland the prevalence of daily smoking among 15 year olds fell from 18.6% in 1999 prior to the cigarette display ban to 13.6%% in 2003, two years after the law came into effect and has continued to fall thereafter.(21)
In Canada, research by the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey shows that banning point of sale displays in a growing number of provinces has coincided with a fall in smoking prevalence rates amongst 15 to 19 year olds – from 22% in 2002 to 15% in 2007.(22)
Financial Impact of Point of Sale display bans
Those opposing a ban on the display of tobacco argue that it will have an adverse financial impact on retailers. For example, the Association of Convenience Stores estimates that it will cost retailers £1850 to implement point of sale regulations. However, the costs to retailers could be significantly less if money currently spent by the tobacco industry on in-store shelving and display was used to help retailers comply with any new regulations. The tobacco industry has a strong interest in ensuring the viability of retail outlets and data from Canada show that cigarette manufacturers have continued to make payments to retailers despite the display bans. In fact the data show that in some provinces tobacco industry payments to retailers increased after the laws were implemented.(23)
There is already majority public support for a ban on the display of tobacco products where they are sold. A YouGov survey commissioned by ASH found that 59% of respondents in England said they were in favour whilst just 16% were against the measure. (14)
Jurisdictions that have banned tobacco displays at the point of sale
Three countries (Iceland, Thailand and Ireland), 12 (out of 13) Canadian provinces and territories, the Australian states of Tasmania and Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory, and the British Virgin Islands have adopted laws to prohibit the visible display of tobacco products at point of sale. Iceland was the first country to implement a tobacco display ban in 2001. The Canadian province of Saskatchewan followed suit in 2002 although this law was challenged by the tobacco industry and was struck down. It was reinstated on appeal in 2005 prompting other provinces to also implement display bans. Thailand implemented its law prohibiting tobacco product displays in 2005. Ireland’s law is due to come into effect in July 2009, the ACT in 2010, followed by Victoria and Tasmania in 2011. Other jurisdictions that are considering tobacco product display bans include New Zealand and in Australia the states of New South Wales, Northern Territory and Queensland.
(1) Smoking and drinking among adults, 2006. General Household Survey 2006. ONS, 2008
(2) Smoking and the Young. Royal College of Physicians, London, 1992
(3) Aveyard P and West R. Managing smoking cessation. BMJ 2007; 335: 37-41
(4) Point of Sale Display of Tobacco Products. The Centre for Tobacco Control Research. University of Stirling, 2008
(5) Wakefield M, Germain D, Durkin S and Henriksen L. An experimental study of effects on schoolchildren of exposure to point-of-sale cigarette advertising and pack displays. Health Educ. Res. 2006; 21: 338-347
(6) Henriksen L et al. Effects on youth of exposure to retail advertising . J Appl Soc Psychol. 2002;32:1771-89
(7) Consultation on the future of tobacco control. Department of Health, London, 2008
(8) Health Bill 2009. Part 3 – ‘Improving public health’ contains measures to strengthen tobacco control.
(9) Ban on tobacco displays announced. BBC 9 Dec. 2008
(10) Pierce JP, Gilpin E, Burns DM, et al. Does tobacco advertising target young people to start smoking? Evidence from California. JAMA.1991; 266:3154–3158
(11) Lovato, C et al. Cochrane Review: Impact of tobacco advertising and promotion on increasing adolescent smoking behaviours. The Cochrane Library, Issue 2, 2004
(12) Sandford, A. Implementation of the Tobacco Point of Sale Regulations in the United Kingdom. Presentation made at the 13th World Conference on tobacco or Health, July 2006
(13) MacGregor, J. Tobacco Advertising at the Point of Sale. The Trading Standards Experience. MacGregor Consulting Ltd., July 2006
(14) Beyond Smoking Kills. Action on Smoking and Health, London, 2008
(15) Underwood R L, Ozanne J. Is your package an effective communicator? A normative framework for increasing the communicative competence of packaging. J Market Commun 1998: 4: 207-20
(16) Palmer A. The product. Principles of Marketing. Oxford University Press 2000
(17) Mawditt N. Putting pack opportunities into the frame. World Tobacco 2006: 212: 36-7
(18) Cancer Research UK. BRMB Omnibus survey: smokers’ attitudes to branding and point of sale displays. Cancer Research UK, 2008.
(19) Feighery EC et al. Cigarette advertising and promotional strategies in retail outlets: results of a statewide survey in California. Tobacco Control 2001; 10(2): 184-188
(20) Wakefield M. The effect of retail cigarette pack displays on impulse purchase. Addiction. Nov 2007
(21) The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD).
(22) Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey 2007. Health Canada.
(23) Tobacco manufacturer payments to retailers to display tobacco products and signs, Canada 2001- 2006. Canadian Cancer Society, 2008.
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