ABSTRACTObjective To understand how British American Tobacco(BAT) and Philip Morris (PM) researched the role andpopularity of cigarette gifting in forming relationships amongChinese customs and how they exploited the practice topromote their brands State Express 555 and Marlboro.Methods Searches and analysis of industry documentsfrom the Legacy Tobacco Documents Librarycomplemented by searches on LexisNexis Academicnews, online search engines and information from thetobacco industry trade press.Results From 1980e1999, BAT and PM employedChinese market research firms to gather consumerinformation about perceptions of foreign cigarettes andthe companies discovered that cigarettes, especiallyprestigious ones, were gifted and smoked purposely forbuilding relationships and social status in China. BAT andPM promoted their brands as gifts by enhancingcigarette cartons and promoting culturally themedpackages, particularly during the gifting festivals ofChinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival to tie theirbrands in to festival values such as warmth, friendshipand celebration. They used similar marketing in Chinesecommunities outside China.Conclusions BAT and PM tied their brands to Chinesecigarette gifting customs by appealing to social andcultural values of respect and personal honour.Decoupling cigarettes from their social significance inChina and removing their appeal would probably reducecigarette gifting and promote a decline in smoking.Tobacco control efforts in countermarketing, largegraphic warnings and plain packaging to make cigarettepackages less attractive as gifts could contribute todenormalising cigarette gifting.
http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/20/4/e3.full.html
January 30, 2011
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