Abstract
With municipalities across the US establishing minimum cigar pack size regulations, it is critical to understand what drives pack size preference. The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify reasons for cigar pack size purchase. We used Amazon’s Mechanical Turk to survey adults who had purchased cigars and reported past 30 day use. Participants responded to an open-ended item asking their reasons for purchasing their usual pack size. Responses were double-coded and categorized. Of 152 respondents, 61 used traditional cigars, 85 used cigarillos, and 36 used filtered cigars. Across all cigar types, most participants (73.7%) purchased boxes rather than singles; 5–9-packs were the most popular pack size category (19.7%), followed by 20+-packs (18.4%). We identified 16 reasons for pack size purchase across seven categories: price, consumption, social aspect, convenience, product characteristics, availability, and general preferences. Reasons varied according to whether the consumer purchased larger or smaller pack sizes. In this exploratory study to identify reasons for cigar pack size purchases, findings were consistent with those identified through tobacco industry documents and in the cigarette literature. Future research should examine the prevalence of these reasons, including as a function of demographic and use characteristics, to help inform the understanding of potential minimum cigar pack regulations.
Highlights
Cigar use remains a public health concern, with nearly 12 million adults in the UnitedStates (US) reporting past 30 day use in 2019 [1]
Industry documents highlight other reasons for cigarette pack size preferences; smaller packs are perceived as easier to carry and conceal, whereas larger packs hinder the ability for individuals to reduce their smoking and have been used by the industry to retain customers [12]
As part of a larger study examining a variety of tobacco-related behaviors, we invited Mechanical Turk (MTurk) Workers residing in the US who were over the age of 21 to complete a survey
Summary
Cigar use remains a public health concern, with nearly 12 million adults in the UnitedStates (US) reporting past 30 day use in 2019 [1]. In the US, cigar packages come in at least 12 different sizes ranging from singles to 200-packs [2]. It is well established that cigarette pack size is associated with the number of cigarettes smoked per day [3,4,5,6]; those who smoke more tend to purchase larger packs [3,4,5,6,7,8,9] It is unclear whether this reflects preference or availability, as reported consumption often aligns with standard pack size (e.g., smoke “a pack” or 20 cigarettes per day) [3,5,6]. Industry documents highlight other reasons for cigarette pack size preferences; smaller packs are perceived as easier to carry and conceal, whereas larger packs hinder the ability for individuals to reduce their smoking and have been used by the industry to retain customers [12]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
