Fresher with flavour: young women smokers\u2019 constructions and experiences of menthol capsule cigarettes and regular cigarettes

E Gilbert,A Ewald

doi:10.1186/s12905-021-01297-2

Abstract

BackgroundFlavour capsule cigarettes are one of the fastest growing segments of the tobacco market, and there is evidence that Australian young people are increasingly using menthol flavoured capsule cigarettes. This qualitative research examines how young women construct and experience menthol flavour capsule cigarettes as part of their smoking practices, and explores the perceived differences between menthol capsule cigarettes and regular cigarettes. Semi-structured face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted with 41 Australian young women smokers, using a constructivist grounded theory approach.ResultsFindings reveal that the perceived fresh and improved taste of menthol and the ability to customise the smoking process positively contributed to young women’s experiences of smoking menthol capsule cigarettes. In particular, menthol capsule flavour cigarettes were constructed by the young women as “fresh”, “light” and “minty”, and “popping” the menthol capsule allowed the young women to personalise their smoking experience.ConclusionThese results indicate that specific public health campaigns and legislation should be developed to counter the powerfully alluring effects and the innovative appeal of menthol capsule cigarettes.

Highlights

Australia is a global leader in the implementation of tobacco control policies [1]; pioneering the world’s first plain tobacco packaging legislation in 2012 [2, 3]
There is a wealth of well documented problematic public health concerns surrounding the use of menthol flavour cigarettes, the relative novelty of menthol flavour capsule cigarettes has meant that there is a dearth of research examining their use
There is a critical need for research in this area as menthol flavour capsules appeal to young women [19, 33], and the tobacco industry has a rich history of feminising menthol cigarettes [17, 34, 35] as well as marketing certain cigarettes as essential to women’s gender performance [36, 37]

Summary

Introduction

Australia is a global leader in the implementation of tobacco control policies [1]; pioneering the world’s first plain tobacco packaging legislation in 2012 [2, 3]. There is a critical need for research in this area as menthol flavour capsules appeal to young women [19, 33], and the tobacco industry has a rich history of feminising menthol cigarettes [17, 34, 35] as well as marketing certain cigarettes as essential to women’s gender performance [36, 37]. Flavour capsule cigarettes are one of the fastest growing segments of the tobacco market, and there is evidence that Australian young people are increasingly using menthol flavoured capsule cigarettes This qualitative research examines how young women construct and experience menthol flavour capsule cigarettes as part of their smoking practices, and explores the perceived differences between menthol capsule cigarettes and regular cigarettes. Semi-structured face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted with 41 Australian young women smokers, using a constructivist grounded theory approach

Methods

Results

Conclusion