Philip Morris International’s (PMI)’s Consumer Perception and Behavior Assessment (PBA) Studies in the USA
| Study name | Methodology | Location | Study year | Participants | Age | Materials |
| THS-PBA-02-US | Qualitative 20 focus groups (n=113) 37 individual interviews | Boston, MA Chicago, IL Charlotte, NC Phoenix, AZ | Oct–Dec 2013 | S-NITQ, S-ITQ, FS, NS* | 21+ | Nine potential ‘plain text’† messages‡ |
| THS-PBA-03-US | Quantitative (n=1713) | Chicago, IL Marlton, NJ Phoenix, AZ Atlanta, GA | Oct–Dec 2014 | S-NITQ, S-ITQ, FS, NS | LA+ | Three potential ‘plain text’† messages selected from THS-PBA-02-US |
| THS-PBA-04-US | Qualitative 28 individual interviews | Chicago, IL Phoenix, AZ | Dec 2014 | AS, FS, NS | 18+ | Five potential branded§ communication materials with claims selected from THS-PBA-02-US |
| THS-PBA-05-RRC-US | Quantitative (n=2255) | Paramus, NJ Dallas, TX St Louis, MO Los Angeles, CA | Jul 2015 | S-NITQ, S-ITQ, FS, NS | LA+ | Three branded§ communication materials with claim #1 ‘Reduced risks of tobacco-related diseases’ |
| THS-PBA-05-RRC2-US | Quantitative (n=2247) | Marlton, NJ Chicago, IL Tampa, FL Denver, CO | Sep 2015 | S-NITQ, S-ITQ, FS, NS | LA+ | Three branded§ communication materials with the claim #2—‘Reduced risk of harm’ |
| THS-PBA-05-REC-US | Quantitative (n=2272) | Framingham, MA San Diego, CA St Louis, MO Baltimore, MD | Dec 2015 | S-NITQ, S-ITQ, FS, NS | LA+ | Three branded§ communication materials with the claim #3 ‘Reduced body’s exposure to harmful and potentially harmful chemicals’ |
*Never smokers participated only in Phase 2 of THS-PBA-02-US.
†‘Plain text’ message describes the information communicated on the product.
‡The table in the PMI document says nine messages, but the file (Online Supplementary 1) for Phase 1 shows 13 messages because there are two versions of some (A1, A2, B, C1, C2, D and so on). Phase 2 tested seven messages (Online Supplementary 2).
§The branded communication materials were brochure, pack and direct mail piece with iQOS commercial name and the Tobacco Sticks as HeatSticks with the Marlboro Brand.
AS, adult smokers; FS, adult former smokers; LA, legal smoking age; NS, adult never smokers; S-ITQ, adult smokers with the Intention to quit; S-NITQ, adult smokers with no intention to quit.
Source: adapted from table 1 Overview of the Studies from PMI Research and Development51 (p. 7).