Grant Details
Grant Number: |
5R01CA261639-03 Interpret this number |
Primary Investigator: |
Shadel, William |
Organization: |
Rand Corporation |
Project Title: |
The Impact of Standardized Tobacco Product Packaging on Young Adults in the Retail Environment |
Fiscal Year: |
2024 |
Abstract
Tobacco packaging influences tobacco use behavior. Branded package characteristics like color and artwork are
designed to command attention and to prompt consumers to have more favorable cognitions about a product’s
flavor and its potential harms; and more favorable cognitions are related to increased tobacco use intentions
and behavior. Standardizing tobacco packages is designed to diminish the favorable cognitions brought about
by branded packages. In its most comprehensive form, standardized packages have a uniform drab color with
the brand name and variant appearing in a uniform font size, type, and color in the same location on each
package; no colors or artwork are permitted. By removing elements of packaging that influence perceptions of
product flavor, safety, and tobacco product users, the hope is that the resulting packages will lose their
influence on consumers. A comprehensive approach to standardizing tobacco product packaging is not
possible in the United States because such an action would impinge on the tobacco industry’s First
Amendment-protected commercial free speech rights and devalue longstanding trademarks. A more narrowly
focused version of a standardized packaging regulation will be needed in order for it to be legally implemented
in the US; for example, standardizing the color of a portion of tobacco packages while permitting the display of
branded information on other parts of packages (i.e., partial color standardization). The proposed study will
experimentally evaluate the extent to which partially standardizing the color of tobacco packaging influences
tobacco use intentions among young adults who have varying levels of tobacco use experience. The retail
environment is an important context in which to study standardized packaging because hundreds of branded
tobacco product packages are prominently displayed on the tobacco power wall in this environment, and
exposure to package-dense tobacco power walls influences use intentions. To model use intentions as a
function of packaging standardization in a controlled retail setting, this research will utilize the RAND
StoreLab (RSL), a life-sized replica of a convenience store. A condition that displays tobacco packages that
have partial color standardization will be tested against two comparison conditions in a between-subjects
design. Young adults will be randomized to shop in the RSL in one of three conditions (conditions are
described by the percent of package surface area allocated to standardized color relative to trademark (®)
branding). The partial color standardization condition will display packages that are 50% color
standardized/50% ® branded. The two comparison conditions are: (1) 100% standardized/0% ® branded
(fully standardized) and 0% standardized/100% ® branded (fully branded). Tobacco use intentions will be
the dependent variable. Mediators (e.g., attention; perceived flavor and harms) and moderators (i.e., level of
tobacco use) will also be tested. The results have the potential to provide first evidence of how partial color
standardization influences important tobacco use outcomes.
Publications
Doing more with less: A proposal to advance cigarette packaging regulations in the United States.
Authors: Shadel W.G.
, Martino S.C.
, Setodji C.M.
, Dunbar M.
, Jenson D.
, Wong J.C.
, Falgoust G.
.
Source: The International Journal On Drug Policy, 2024 Feb; 124, p. 104308.
EPub date: 2024-01-06 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 38184903
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