The Effect of Cigarette Price Increases on Smoking Cessation in California

Abstract

We investigated whether smoking cessation increased in California after a cigarette manufacturer's retail price increase and an increase in the state cigarette excise tax. The sample for this study was drawn from the 1996 and 1999 California Tobacco Surveys. The rate of unsuccessful and successful quit attempts and the rate of abstinence were calculated for each month of the 14-month period preceding each survey administration. We combined the monthly rates for both surveys and used multiple regression modeling to test whether the proportion of smokers reporting a quit attempt and the proportion of smokers reporting abstinence increased during the period following the price increases. We included several covariates in our models to control for factors other than the price increases that could account for any increases observed in quit attempts and abstinence. Because smokers recall quits occurring closer to the date of the survey better than quits occurring further back in time, we included a term in the models representing the number of months elapsed between the survey administration and the reported quit. We also included terms in the models representing the months before and after the over-the-counter (OTC) availability of the nicotine patch and nicotine gum in 1996 to control for the increase in smoking cessation observed following the availability of OTC nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). Lastly, in order to control for increased quits made in January as a result of New Year's resolutions, we included a term in our models for quit attempts and successful quits (abstinence) made during this month. Results of the regression analyses indicated a significantly greater proportion of smokers reported quit attempts (p < 0.05) in the months immediately following the cigarette price increases (after November 1998); however, a significant increase in abstinence was only observed from December 1998 through March 1999 (p < 0.05) relative to abstinence occurring before the price increases.

Left-digit price effects on smoking cessation motivation

“…Consistent with the health economics studies,5 6 we found a clear and robust relationship between price and cessation motivation. Moreover, this study extended the literature with several new findings.…”

“…One of the major factors in smoking cessation is the price of cigarettes 4. For example, tax increases have been shown to significantly increase quit attempts 5 6. To date, however, most of the studies on the relationship between cigarette price and smoking cessation are from the domain of applied microeconomics.…”

Price Changes Alone Are Not Adequate to Produce Long-Term Dietary Change

“…Several factors seemed important in decreasing tobacco use in the United States population. Taxation helped reduce the use of tobacco, but the largest decrease in tobacco use came immediately following tax increases (24), similar to decreased consumption noted following sharp price increases in Russia. However, tobacco control programs were also useful in decreasing tobacco use (25).…”

Complete Home Smoking Bans and Antitobacco Contingencies: A Natural Experiment

“…Taxation, media, and government restrictions on smoking in public settings have been associated with greater quit rates, lower initiation rates, and decreasing prevalence rates of smoking (Glantz, 1993;Goldman & Glantz, 1998;Levy, Mumford, & Gerlowski, 2007;Levy, Romano, & Mumford, 2005;Reed, Anderson, Vaughn, & Burns, 2008). These findings suggest that the most powerful means of reducing prevalence of smokers is culture change that includes policy regulations that increase costs and decrease smoking in public and private microenvironments.…”