Abstract
Every year, tobacco industries are spending millions of dollars targeting youths and non-smokers with tactful advertisements and promotion, which has impact on early initiation, increasing overall smoking rate and further upsurge the disease and early death. The study aimed to explore the tobacco industry's branding strategies that influences youth to early initiation of tobacco in Bangladesh. This study was a cross-sectional design with mixed method approach and implemented during March - December 2019. Survey was conducted using semi-structured questionnaire through face-to-face interview among 208 students in different educational institutions of the selected areas of Dhaka city as well as twenty-five (25) KIIs were conducted with different experts personnel. Descriptive and inferential analysis were performed for quantitative data. Thematic analysis was done for qualitative data. Among student respondents, 71.0% were smokers and their average age of initiation was 13.8 years. Study revealed that 21% students attended or exposed to different types of tobacco industry's (TI) promotional programs including one-to-one/group campaign (61%), corporate programs (23%), seminar (21%), career counseling (21%) and sports event (2%). Among them, 70.0% students received free promotional items, such as T-shirt, lighter, cap, wrist belt, free cigarette, etc. at these programs and 65% students were interested in the motivational speech given by the TI representatives. Three-fourths (75%) were familiar with misleading branding terms such as light, tar, full flavor, filter and menthol. The initiation age of the smoking was associated with observing the arrangement of the smoking product in the retail shop (p <0.05), attracted to cigarette stick and packet color (p<0.05) and attracted to smell/flavor (p<0.05) and attracted to role model/celebrity's smoking (p<0.05). Among retailers, 59.3% received TI assistance including showcase decoration with brand color, receiving model box and mounting board. Besides, 59.3% retailers mentioned promoting new brands to the non-user including students through promotional campaign, convince/persuasion, giving free samples, etc. TI is undertaking aggressive marketing and promoting brands targeting the youth around educational institutions that are ultimately contributing to early smoking initiation. A Strong monitoring system should be in place to stop direct and indirect branding and promotional activities.
Highlights
Tobacco is one of the most widely used addictive substances in the world, is a plant of the genus Nicotiana and native to the Americas and historically one of the half-dozen most important crops grown by American farmers as well as widely cultivated for their leaves
9.5% students knew ‘Lights/Mild/Low Tar’ which mean that Less nicotine, less tar, soft, Average Deep flavor, More Nicotine’ as a familiar branding terms and and only 6.8% students knew ‘Menthol’ as a familiar branding terms which means that Hunger, Purity, Sweetness, cooler/ smoother feeler’ was the lowest proportion of the study to find in this study. The results of this present study suggested that majority of the student were smokers (71%) and 97.3% respondents consumed different types of smoking products where cigarettes were more consuming tobacco products among them and 84% took cigarettes regularly in this study as the POS were available of their educational institutes which is an important reason behind to initiate smoking
As the state of interviewers, the tobacco company prepared lots of poster, leaflet, placard, banner, brochures with attractive color spectrum, brand name and company logo which are brought to the point of sell and retail shops to set in the shop at the eye level of the customer to attract them and related to the initiation of the customer specially youth
Summary
Tobacco is one of the most widely used addictive substances in the world, is a plant of the genus Nicotiana and native to the Americas and historically one of the half-dozen most important crops grown by American farmers as well as widely cultivated for their leaves. Branding of tobacco industry products is the marketing of nicotine-containing products or use. The tobacco industry markets cigarette smoking, but it is increasingly branding other products, such as e-cigarettes. Expenditures on nicotine marketing are in the tens of billions a year; in the US alone, spending was over US$ 1million per hour in 2016. In 2003, per-capita marketing spending was $290 per adult smoker, or $45 per inhabitant. Nicotine marketing is increasingly regulated; some forms of nicotine advertising are banned in many countries. For that the World Health Organization recommends a complete tobacco advertising ban. The tobacco industry claims not to target children or non-smokers with their advertising and promotion. This includes with the use of branding on packaging
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