Blowing the lid off: an analysis of interior cigarette pack features and marketing strategies

In the face of increasingly restrictive policies regulating how cigarette companies can advertise, the pack itself has become one of the industry’s primary promotional tools.1 2 A large body of research demonstrates that pack features, such as size, colour and descriptors, can implicitly communicate product information and influence perceptions of taste, smoking experience and health risks.1 3 4 To date, 13 countries have fully implemented ‘plain packaging’ laws to reduce the attractiveness of cigarettes, but millions around the globe are still exposed to packaging elements that may increase consumer demand. While exterior pack characteristics and their impact on product appeal have been studied previously,4 the ways in which the tobacco industry may leverage pack interiors to communicate with smokers remain obscure. Prior research has documented the ubiquity of branding on the cigarette itself—another form of marketing ‘real estate’ …