Dataset Information

The problematic use of cultural symbols on Chinese cigarette packs.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

China is the world's largest tobacco-consuming nation. With minimal packaging regulations, the Chinese tobacco industry can use many appeals to promote their products, including calling upon traditions and culture to make positive connections between consumers and harmful products. We analyzed the nature and extent of cultural appeals on Chinese cigarette packs.

Methods

A total of 610 unique cigarette packs were collected in 2017 from five major Chinese cities (Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Kunming, and Chengdu) following a systematic protocol. Two trained independent coders knowledgeable about Chinese culture and language coded the packs in accordance with a specially developed codebook encompassing important Chinese cultural symbols. The prevalence of identified elements was determined and interpreted.

Results

Overall, 60.7% (n=370) of the analyzed Chinese cigarette packs in our sample contained at least one culturally specific appeal. The most common cultural appeals included written arts (n=131; 21.5%), celebratory red as the primary pack color (n=119; 19.5%), visual arts (n=70; 11.4%), and special occasions (n=60; 9.9%). There was a diverse range of cultural appeals present on the packs.

Conclusions

Cultural appeals are common on Chinese tobacco packaging, with over 60% of all analyzed packs containing at least one culturally specific element. With China's packaging policies requiring health warning labels to occupy only 35% of the pack, the tobacco industry is allowed plenty of package space to incorporate cultural elements among other appeals. A plain and standardized packaging policy would eliminate the ability for Chinese tobacco companies to use cultural appeals on their cigarette packs.

SUBMITTER: Xing E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10193528 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The problematic use of cultural symbols on Chinese cigarette packs.

Xing Emily E Dai Zheng Z Madar Alena A Welding Kevin K Smith Katherine Clegg KC Cohen Joanna E JE

Tobacco induced diseases 20230519

<h4>Introduction</h4>China is the world's largest tobacco-consuming nation. With minimal packaging regulations, the Chinese tobacco industry can use many appeals to promote their products, including calling upon traditions and culture to make positive connections between consumers and harmful products. We analyzed the nature and extent of cultural appeals on Chinese cigarette packs.<h4>Methods</h4>A total of 610 unique cigarette packs were collected in 2017 from five major Chinese cities (Beijin ...[more]

PMID: 37215192

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundTobacco companies include on the packaging of their products URLs directing consumers to websites that contain protobacco messages. Online media tend to be underregulated and provide the industry with an opportunity to present users with protobacco communication.ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to document the content of websites that were advertised on tobacco packs in 14 low- and middle-income countries.MethodsWe purchased tobacco packs from 14 low- and middle-income countries in 2013 and examined them for the presence of URLs. We visited unique URLs on multiple occasions between October 1, 2016 and August 9, 2017. We developed a coding checklist and used it to conduct a content analysis of active corporate websites to identify types of protobacco communication. The coding checklist included the presence of regulatory controls and warnings, engagement strategies, marketing appeals (eg, description of product popularity, luxury/quality, taste), corporate social responsibility programs, and image management. We coded brand websites separately and also described social media and other website types.ResultsWe identified 89 unique URLs, of which 54 were active during the search period. We assessed 26 corporate websites, 21 brand websites, 2 nontobacco websites, and 5 social media pages. We excluded 2 corporate websites and 14 brand websites due to limited accessible content or incomplete content. Corporate social responsibility was discussed on all corporate websites, and marketing appeals were also common. Corporate websites were also more likely to include more nonspecific (12/24, 50%) than specific (7/24, 29%) health warnings. Promotions (6/7, 86%) and sociability appeals (3/7, 43%) were common on brand websites. The small number of social media webpages in our sample used gendered marketing.ConclusionsURLs appearing on tobacco packs direct consumers to websites where users are exposed to marketing that highlights the "positive" contributions of tobacco companies on corporate websites, and extensive promotions and marketing appeals on brand websites and social media pages. It is essential that marketing regulations become more comprehensive and ban all protobacco communication, a policy that is in line with articles 5.3 and 13 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. For countries that already ban internet tobacco advertising, enforcement efforts should be strengthened. Tobacco companies' use of URLs on packs may also be compelling for plain packaging advocacy, where all branding is removed from the pack and large graphic health warning labels are the only communication on the tobacco packaging. Future research should consider including tobacco websites in marketing surveillance.

Project description:IntroductionSocial interactions are a key mechanism through which health communication efforts, including pictorial cigarette pack warnings, may exert their effects. We sought to better understand social interactions elicited by pictorial cigarette pack warnings.MethodsA controlled trial randomly assigned US adult smokers (n = 2149) to have their cigarette packs labeled with pictorial or text-only warnings for 4 weeks. Smokers completed surveys during the baseline visit and each of the subsequent 4 weekly visits.ResultsSmokers with pictorial warnings on their packs had more conversations throughout the trial compared to those with text-only warnings (8.2 conversations vs 5.0, p<.01). The highest number of conversations occurred during the first week. Smokers with pictorial warnings were more likely than those with text-only warnings to discuss the health effects of smoking, whether the warnings would make them want to quit and whether the warnings would make others want to quit (all p < .05). Smokers were more likely to describe pictorial warnings as scary, gross, or depressing and gloomy during conversations than text-only warnings (all p < .05).ConclusionsPictorial warnings sparked more conversations about the warnings, the health effects of smoking, and quitting smoking than text-only warnings. These social interactions may extend the reach of pictorial warnings beyond the targeted smoker and may be one of the processes by which pictorial warnings have impact.ImplicationsHealth communication can influence behavior by changing social interactions. Our trial characterized social interactions about pictorial cigarette pack warnings with a large longitudinal sample in a real-world setting. Understanding these conversations can inform the United States and other countries as they improve existing warnings and help tobacco control policy makers and health communication theorists understand how social interactions triggered by warnings affect smoking.

Dataset Information

The problematic use of cultural symbols on Chinese cigarette packs.

Introduction

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

The problematic use of cultural symbols on Chinese cigarette packs.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets