Ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities in Recalled Exposure to and Self-Reported Impact of Tobacco Marketing and Promotions

Abstract

The role of tobacco marketing in tobacco use, particularly among the vulnerable ethnic and socioeconomic sub-populations is a regulatory priority of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. There currently exist both ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in the use of tobacco products. Monitoring such inequalities in exposure to tobacco marketing is essential to inform tobacco regulatory policy that may reduce known tobacco-related health disparities. We use data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Wave 1 youth survey to examine (1) recalled exposure to and liking of tobacco marketing for cigarettes, non-large cigars, and e-cigarettes, (2) self-reported exposure to specific tobacco marketing tactics, namely coupons, sweepstakes, and free samples, and (3) self-reported impact of tobacco marketing and promotions on product use. Findings indicate that African Americans and those of lower SES were more likely to recall having seen cigarette and non-large cigar ads. Reported exposure to coupons, sweepstakes and free samples also varied ethnically and socioeconomically. African Americans and those of lower SES were more likely than other respondents to report that marketing and promotions as played a role in their tobacco product use. Better understanding of communication inequalities and their influence on product use is needed to inform tobacco regulatory action that may reduce tobacco company efforts to target vulnerable groups. Tobacco education communication campaigns focusing on disproportionately affected groups could help counter the effects of targeted industry marketing.

Educational Attainment and Smoking Status in a National Sample of American Adults; Evidence for the Blacks’ Diminished Return

“…At least some of this pattern may be due to factors such as predatory marketing [ 84 ], flavoring [ 85 ], and the density of tobacco retailers [ 86 , 87 ]. Blacks may be also more sensitive to tobacco industry marketing than Whites [ 88 ]. There is evidence of predatory marketing in poor and minority neighborhoods [ 84 ].…”

E-cigarette Marketing Exposure and Subsequent Experimentation Among Youth and Young Adults

“…Non-Hispanic African American youth were more likely to report exposure to e-cigarette marketing than non-Hispanic white youth, whereas we observed an inverse relationship for young adults. We can only speculate that this pattern of results could be attributable to the media preferences, 38 specific channels of marketing exposure, 39 and tobacco marketing exposure recall and engagement 40 that are different by race and ethnicity and age. Nevertheless, additional research is needed to understand the reasons for racial and ethnic differences in exposure to e-cigarette marketing, especially among youth never tobacco users, to mitigate potential health disparities experienced by racial and ethnic minority populations.…”

Association of Educational Attainment and Race/Ethnicity With Exposure to Tobacco Advertisement Among US Young Adults

“…The outcome was the number of different tobacco advertisements [51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] that were seen by the participant in the year before the survey was conducted. A total of 20 advertisements were shown to the individuals.…”