Brief reportCigarette Price-Minimization Strategies by U.S. Smokers
Section snippets
Background
Increases in cigarette prices have been shown to prevent smoking initiation, increase rates of smoking cessation, and reduce the overall consumption of cigarettes.1, 2, 3, 4 The most effective way for governments to increase cigarette prices is to increase excise taxes.1, 2, 3 However, rather than quitting or reducing their cigarette use, some smokers may react by using price-minimization strategies (i.e., finding ways to save money on cigarettes), thereby reducing the public health impact of
Methods
Data used for this analysis are restricted to 14,891 current smokers who participated in the NATS from October 2009 through June 2010 and who reported values to questions related to cigarette consumption and price paid. The NATS, a stratified landline and cell phone–based survey of tobacco use among non-institutionalized U.S. adults (aged ≥18 years) conducted by the CDC, was designed to assess the prevalence of and factors related to tobacco use at both the national and state levels.
The
Results
At least 55.4% of U.S. adult smokers used one or more price-minimization strategies in the previous year (Table 1). Among the five price-minimization strategies, the most frequently used were purchasing generic brands and purchasing cigarettes by the carton (25.0% and 24.3%, respectively). Making use of coupons or other price-related promotions (19.8%) were somewhat less common. More than 7.0% had purchased cigarettes from Indian reservations in the previous year, and 1.2% had purchased
Discussion
At least 55.4% of U.S. adult smokers engaged in legal activities that reduced the price they paid for cigarettes, and smokers who engaged in these activities paid a substantially lower price than those who did not. Consistent with evidence on the impacts of price-minimization strategies on the pass-through rates of cigarette excise taxes,17, 18, 19 these results suggest that rather than quitting in reaction to a cigarette excise tax increase, price-sensitive smokers may have low-priced
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2019, Preventive MedicineCitation Excerpt :As such, particularly following tax increases, price sensitive smokers engage in a variety of price-minimization strategies made available to them by the tobacco industry, including the redemption of coupons (Choi and Boyle, 2018; Hyland et al., 2005; Xu et al., 2013). In the US, approximately 12% of adult nonsmokers, and 35% to 49% of adult smokers receive direct marketing coupons and price promotions, primarily for cigarettes (Choi et al., 2013; Choi et al., 2018a; Choi et al., 2018b; Lewis et al., 2004a), and nearly 20% to 40% of adults smokers redeem coupons when purchasing tobacco products (Choi et al., 2013; Lewis et al., 2004a; Lewis et al., 2015; Xu et al., 2013). Rates of coupon redemption for cigarettes are staggering high at 70%–80% among adult smokers who receive direct mail from tobacco companies (Choi et al., 2013; Lewis et al., 2015).
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