Introduction

Between 2014 and 2015, cigarette company website spending increased by $11 million,1 and smokeless tobacco company website spending increased by $2 million.2 Furthermore, smartphone ownership has drastically increased among US adults, from 56% in 2013 to 88% in 2017.3,4 People now use smartphones more than computers to access the internet.5 Several tobacco-susceptible populations6 are particularly reliant on smartphones: 98% of young adults own smartphones,4 sexual minorities are more likely to own smartphones than their straight counterparts7 and low-income adults are more likely to access the internet exclusively with a smartphone.8 Additionally, 64% of adult smokers,9 88% of young adult smokers,988% of youth,10 and 64% of low-income adults own smartphones.8 Given the increase in tobacco industry website spending and the increase in smartphone-based internet use by several tobacco-susceptible populations, it is important to understand the content of smartphone-optimised (mobile) tobacco brand websites (ie, often simplified versions of full websites designed to be viewed on small smartphone screens).11 12 The current study describes four main features of mobile websites: age restrictions, warning label displays, brand engagement methods and purchase facilitation strategies. Since past research has not studied smartphone-optimised tobacco brand websites, we reviewed literature on tobacco websites in general.

Restricting youth access to websites of tobacco brands (brand websites) is important, as youth who engage with online tobacco marketing are more likely to initiate tobacco use, increase use frequency, progress to polytobacco product use and continue use.13 14 One potentially effective strategy to prevent youth access is to require all users to register for an account and verify their age using third-party services. A less effective (ie, easier to falsify) method is to require users to click a button on a pop-up window to affirm they are of age (click-through verification).15 Studies on restricting youth access to tobacco websites indicate room for improvement.15–19Studies of e-cigarette brand16 19 and vendor15 17 18 websites find that some have no age restrictions, very few require registration and most have click-through verification.19 Only one study has assessed age verification for websites for products besides e-cigarettes. This study assessed 12 total cigarette, cigar and smokeless tobacco websites and found that most required registering for an account.

Warnings regarding the health effects of tobacco use can serve as a source of health information, discourage initiation and promote cessation.20 Several federal laws require warnings to be displayed on packaging and advertising for tobacco products sold or distributed in the USA. 21–26 Warning requirements are currently in effect for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products.21–24 As of 10 August 2018, tobacco products including e-cigarettes and hookah must follow warning requirements.25 26 Although the law also requires warnings for cigars (and pipe tobacco),25 the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order enjoining Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from enforcing this requirement for these products until after a related court case is settled.27 Little research has described how warnings are currently displayed on tobacco brand websites. One study assessing 57 e-cigarette vendor websites (including some brand websites) found that more than two-thirds displayed some type of health warning, although they were usually difficult to see.18 Similar research on other product types is limited.

Companies selling consumer goods foster brand loyalty and promote purchase by building brand engagement (ie, the process of forming a psychological attachment with a brand).28–30 Studies show that tobacco companies provide diverse online engagement opportunities (‘touchpoints’) for tobacco users and potential users, including interactive brand websites, digital ads, emails, videos, online sweepstakes and social media.19 31–36 Each brand touchpoint can drive traffic to others, for example, between tobacco brand websites, retail websites and branded content on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.19 37 Tobacco companies email consumers in their databases as often as nine times each month to drive traffic to the brand website through coupons, games, social activities/events and sweepstakes or contests.30 38 39

Purchase facilitation strategies differ between products sold in-store and those sold online. Many e-cigarette15 and hookah40 websites sell products online. Although research describing online tobacco sales strategies is lacking, one study found e-cigarette brands use various online price promotions to facilitate purchase.41 Studies show certain web strategies can increase online purchases, such as live chat,42 free shipping43 and consumer reviews or recommendations.44 Tobacco companies not selling products online have long used coupons to facilitate in-store purchase using digital and mail coupons.19 34 37 38 45 46 The use of coupons is widespread—one study found that 40% of adult smokers had used a coupon to buy cigarettes in the past year.47 Some tobacco brands offer time-sensitive mobile coupons which are delivered to smartphones and must be used within 5 minutes of store entry.48 This is consistent with recommendations from mobile coupon marketing research.49 50 Other consumer product websites often feature store locators51; one study identified a store locator that could identify where to buy a specific cigarette brand variety.52

Methods

Results

Most e-cigarette brands (21/30) had mobile websites for consumers, while few hookah brands did (5/18). Approximately half of cigarette (10/19), smokeless tobacco (9/20) and cigar (17/43) brands had mobile websites. Results are presented in tables 1–4; below we summarise them and provide detailed examples.

Discussion

This study described features of mobile websites for leading tobacco brands. Because people increasingly access the internet via smartphone,5 it is important to understand mobile websites, particularly because they may differ from regular websites.11 12 We found that most leading e-cigarette brands had mobile websites, as did about half of leading cigarette, smokeless tobacco and cigar brands, but few hookah tobacco brands. This study adds to the literature by shedding light on the methods that tobacco companies use to restrict youth access, display warnings, engage viewers and facilitate purchase on mobile websites.

Age verification requirements for entering tobacco websites can help prevent youth from accessing tobacco marketing content which could reduce youth tobacco use.13 14 Cigarette and smokeless tobacco websites required users to register for an account and used third parties to verify age and identity. Most e-cigarette, hookah and cigar mobile websites did not require accounts, many did not verify age before entering and those who did were limited to click throughs. This finding is consistent with studies of e-cigarette brand16 19 and vendor15 17 18 websites. Additionally, several e-cigarette websites and all hookah websites selling tobacco products did not require age-verified accounts to check out. Similarly, a 2014 study found youth could complete a purchase of e-cigarettes on many websites without age verification.55 As most youth own smartphones10 and often use them without parental supervision,56 these findings indicate a potential for youth to purchase e-cigarettes and hookah tobacco online. Indeed, FDA has sent warning letters to online e-cigarettes retailers selling to minors.57

Research finds that health warnings can prevent tobacco initiation and encourage cessation.20 Several federal laws require warnings to be displayed on packaging and advertising for tobacco products sold or distributed in the USA.21–26 On 10 August 2018, a law will require warnings for other tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and hookah.26 Although the law also requires warnings for cigars (and pipe tobacco),25 the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order enjoining FDA from enforcing this requirement for these products until after a related court case is settled.27 Although it is encouraging that cigarette and smokeless tobacco websites studied all displayed required warnings, many were not readily visible (eg, posted them above the menu, requiring consumers to scroll up). While many e-cigarette, hookah and cigar websites did not display any warnings, this could change when the aforementioned warning requirements are implemented.25 26

All tobacco websites offered multiple brand engagement opportunities, and some were similar across websites. Almost all offered consumers the option to sign up for promotional emails which have content linking back to brand websites.30 37 Many websites also offered videos; cigarette and smokeless tobacco videos centred on brand identity which could foster brand loyalty.58 Consistent with a past study,59 e-cigarette videos served informational purposes, teaching users how to use the product and highlighting product attributes. While previous studies found tobacco companies commonly offered games and sweepstakes,38 44 60 we found few mobile websites actively did.

Nearly all e-cigarette and hookah websites and about half of cigar websites were linked to external social media, primarily Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. In addition to increasing brand liking and loyalty,27 branded social media posts can drive traffic to websites.19 36 This is concerning because most youth use social media,61 and e-cigarette social media posts can diffuse to non-users.62 Thus, youth could be directed via a social media post to a brand’s website, where they could view content and potentially buy tobacco without age verification.

Almost no cigarette or smokeless tobacco websites were linked to social media. This could be because many of these companies agreed to the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement63 that restricts marketing to youth (social media is used by most youth).59 Instead of external social media, websites for these product types offered internal interaction opportunities. This is consistent with a study19 that found that cigarette websites were more likely to offer interactive features, while cigar and e-cigarette websites were more likely to link to external social media. By offering online socialisation opportunities, tobacco brands could be creating an environment for users to interact with one another without fear of rejection for tobacco use. This could be creating an ‘echo chamber’64 that could normalise tobacco use and reduce quit motivation. Given these findings, tobacco education interventions could consider establishing a strong social media presence and offer socialisation opportunities for people trying to avoid tobacco use.

Tobacco companies used a variety of strategies to encourage product purchase, some of which were common across websites. Most mobile websites offered store locators, and many store locators capitalised on smartphone technology by using geolocation data to automatically populate the list of nearby retailers. This could reduce a barrier to tobacco purchase.

For all product websites except for cigars, consumers were provided with money-saving opportunities. Consistent with past research,19 37 44 45 we found that brick and mortar store coupons were offered on all cigarette and almost all smokeless tobacco mobile websites, and they were offered on a regular basis. Consistent with marketing research recommendations,48 49 many coupons were time-sensitive and could only be activated when geolocation data confirmed the customer’s in-store presence. This is concerning, given that exposure to coupons is associated with increased intentions to purchase cigarettes among youth smokers65 and decreased quitting among adult smokers.46

Consistent with previous research,15 39 we found that nearly all e-cigarette and hookah mobile websites sold tobacco products. They offered other discounts (eg, free shipping) rather than coupons, possibly increasing purchase rates.42 E-cigarette websites used multiple strategies identified in the marketing literature as effective ways to facilitate product purchase: customer reviews, live chat, points programmes and free products.41–43 66 Overall, our results suggest that tobacco mobile websites use strategies to facilitate product purchase that are consistent with recommended marketing practices. As these strategies could re-engage people trying to quit tobacco, cessation efforts could be improved by addressing them.

Overall, we found that cigarette and smokeless tobacco websites generally tended to be more conservative than cigar, e-cigarette and hookah websites in that they had more age verification requirements, more often displayed health warnings, almost never linked to external social media and almost never sold tobacco online. One explanation for this pattern of findings could be that cigarettes and smokeless tobacco have been regulated by FDA for a longer period of time than the other products. Cigarettes and smokeless tobacco were brought under FDA’s authority by the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (FSPTCA).67 Among other things, the FSPTCA restricted marketing and sales to children and changed some tobacco health warning requirements. It was not until 2016 that FDA issued a rule68 that deemed cigars, e-cigarettes and hookah tobacco (and other products meeting the definition of a tobacco product) to be under FDA’s regulatory authority, and portions of this rule have yet to take effect.

Conclusion

About half of leading tobacco brands have smartphone-optimised websites. Cigarette and smokeless tobacco websites use more rigorous methods to prevent youth access and better displayed warnings compared with e-cigarette, hookah and cigar websites. Websites offered brand engagement options including videos, sign-up for promotional emails and socialisation opportunities. Cigarette and smokeless tobacco websites offered location-based time-sensitive coupons, while most e-cigarette and hookah websites offered other discounts. These results can inform tobacco intervention strategies, such as providing online socialisation opportunities for people trying to avoid tobacco use, and addressing how tobacco websites might re-engage people trying to quit.