Tobacco industry marketing and consumer harm perceptions

ABSTRACT

Tobacco industry marketing strategies, including use of natural imagery, corporate social responsibility claims, and terms such as ‘light' and ‘mild' are employed by many tobacco companies and could pose a serious risk to public health. These marketing tactics may lead to false perceptions of reduced risk and lowered harm among consumers, which has the potential to influence attitudes and behavior surrounding tobacco use. Communication theories offer insight into how consumers process tobacco marketing and how this affects tobacco use. Dual-systems processing theories, research on affect and discrete emotions, the Limited Capacity Model of Mediated Message Processing, and semiotics provide a useful lens for assessing how tobacco marketing can influence consumer perceptions of risk.

KEYWORDS:

• Tobacco marketing
• tobacco regulatory science
• risk communication

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge their team members, whose the contributions to a broader program of research on tobacco-related communication informs the thinking behind this article: Karen Baldwin, Olivia Berci, Jennifer Brown, Mary Cunningham, Anthony Ha, Victor Lin, Wendy Piedra, Yonaira Rivera, Jessica Shyong, Connie Xiao. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or the Food and Drug Administration.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Caitlin Weiger studies both global national and international tobacco control efforts, and is especially interested in tobacco marketing.

Kathryn Heley’s research explores the influence of communication, media, and related interventions on attitudes, behavior, stigma, and policy outcomes, particularly in relation to chronic, non-communicable diseases.

Meghan Bridgid Moran studies how communication, media and culture affect health outcomes, with an emphasis on tobacco control, cancer prevention and adolescent health.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported through a career development award from NIDA and FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) [K01DA037903, PI: Moran].