Why People Smoke
European Network for Smoking Prevention, 2007
Smoking prevention has been
on the agenda for health professionals and politicians, NGOs,
Why People Smoke is available from the ENSP Secretariat. The cost of € 40 also
covers postage and packaging.
Files
Why People Smoke - Introduction
pdf - 48
Kb
pdf - 74
Kb
Chapter 1
Background: Tobacco Industry and Tobacco Dependence
Gérard Dubois
Alliance Contre le
Tabac, France
Manfred Neuberger
Medizinische Universität Wien, Austria
ENSP Secretariat
Brussels, Belgium
Tobacco
industry internal documentation from as far back as 1969 provides many insights
into the reasons why people smoke. Determining why people smoke is of
considerable interest to the industry as a powerful marketing tool: it is the
key to targeting different consumer groups and designing the accompanying
marketing campaigns. Aware that different features appeal differently to
different people and observing the principle “know your market”, the industry
has designed and launched marketing campaigns directed at young people, women,
as well as different ethnic and social groups.
Roughly
speaking, factors influencing the uptake and continuation of smoking depend
most crucially on various psychological and social factors, and of course a
complex combination of these factors. These aspects are powerful in their own
right, quite apart from the nicotine dependence involved in smoking, whose
strong addictive powers have long since been proven.
Derivation of
pleasure
In the first
draft of the 1969 annual report to the Board of Philip Morris (which, incidentally,
was rejected as being ‘too technical’), it was recognised that the primary
motivation for smoking is first and foremost to “obtain the pharmacological
effect of nicotine” (1). The pharmacological effect of nicotine produces
somatic sensations characterised by pleasure, a lift or relaxation; this is a
vague, but pleasant subjective experience for smokers. Nicotine is the agent of
this pleasurable body response, and cigarettes are the instrument of nicotine
delivery. Naturally, the whole experience has varying nuances of sensations,
which complement each other and further complicate these underlying reasons. On
a physical level, the nicotine dependence quickly kicks in to make the body
feel a need for these pleasurable sensations after a few smoking experiences
and, on a psychological level, very simply put, the feeling is akin to a
‘Pavlov’s dog’-type experience, wanting more and more frequent pleasurable
experiences as a type of reward throughout the day.
Stress-relief
In addition to
pleasure, the somatic sensations created by smoking produce a feeling of
relaxation. This seems to indicate that smoking fulfils some need in persons
who are in need of stress-relief, for whatever reason. It has been noted that
smoking is more prevalent in persons under stress: it is more frequently a
habit among more arousable and more anxious persons than it is among more
tranquil people, and those whose careers entail more pressure are more
frequently smokers. It is a relief from the body’s response to stress, which
the smoker is seeking in his/her cigarette. These factors had already been
noted in Philip Morris documentation from an early stage:
Smokers, by and large,
are people who are more psychologically stressed than non-smokers. There tends
to be more turbulence within the person, and there tends to be more turbulence
impinging upon the person. (2)
This
psychological need for stress-relief in a smoker may be one element to explain
why beginning smokers persevere with the habit, given that it is initially not
a pleasurable experience for them, and force themselves
to overcome initial feelings of disgust. Beginning smokers are aware that
smoking can provide a relief from the stress in their lives and will pursue
that stress-relief ignoring the now ubiquitous health warnings: they perceive
their need for relief to be the greater need, thus outweighing the possible
health hazards or at least putting such warnings to the back of their minds.
Certainly,
Philip Morris was aware of the above factors as far back as 1969, noting the
following:
1. Cigarette smoking
is more often a habit among more responsive, more arousable, more anxious
people than among the less responsive or more tranquil people.
2. More cigarette
smoking is to be found among people whose life careers expose them to pressures
and crises.
3. A smoker smokes
more during the more stressful moments of his day or during stressful periods
of his life. (3)
Psycho-social
factors
However,
clearly the motive for smoking must be more deeply rooted than merely deriving
pleasure or stress-relief from smoking, as most people’s initial experience
with smoking is not pleasurable at all: so there must also be a psycho-social
motive in order to provide motivation to overcome the initial unpleasant
experiences of smoking. It would be too simple if it were only the derivation
of pleasure; further important psychological and/or social factors have to come
into play. The same 1969 Philip Morris annual report quoted above goes on to
explain:
To account for the
fact that the beginning smoker will tolerate the unpleasantness we must invoke
a psychosocial motive… Smoking a cigarette for the beginner is a symbolic act.
The smoker is telling the world, “This is the kind of person I am.” Surely
there are many variants on the theme, “I am no longer my mother’s child,” “I am
tough,” “I am an adventuress,” “I’m not a square.” Whatever the individual
intent, the act of smoking remains a symbolic declaration of personal identity. (4)
Typically such
a symbolic act of assertion of the individual’s taking control of his or her
own life and destiny occurs in youth, when the adolescent is going through
far-reaching physical and psychological changes and feels acutely the pressure
to imitate his or her own peer group, the desire not to stand out from the
crowd in any negative way. Conversely, the act of smoking may be of a more
assertive nature: it may be an act of rebellion against parents and the older
generation. Such an act of rebellion frequently serves to tell the world that
the individual is in charge of his or her own destiny, by making his/her own
choices (i.e. to smoke or not to smoke). These aspects are reflected in tobacco
industry advertising, which cleverly stress individuality, self-determination
and liberty on a subtle and subliminal level.
Youth culture
As indicated,
smoking frequently appeals to youth for a variety of reasons. The tobacco
industry knows that most tobacco consumers take up smoking during their teens
and try to quit (some successfully, some unsuccessfully) in later life. If, as
a result of the massive public health drive in recent years, a certain
percentage of its consumers cease to be consumers by successfully quitting
smoking, the industry must ensure that its customer base at the very least
remains on a steady level for purely commercial reasons: it makes good business
sense. Advertising is a powerful tool, particularly when directed at young
minds, as young people have been found to be much more responsive to
advertising than older consumers.
Tobacco advertising
encourages young people to take up smoking and serves to reinforce the social
acceptability of the habit among adults and children alike. Industry
advertising has consistently played to and exploited certain aspects of youth
culture in a very successful way: the young image, fashionable and trendy
messages, an independent and slightly rebellious nature.
Philip Morris
had identified the importance of the young smokers’ market to its Marlboro brand back in May 1975. In a
document marked ‘Confidential’ Philip Morris states:
It has been well
established by the National Tracking Study and other studies that Marlboro has
for many years had its highest market penetration among younger smokers. Most
of these studies have been restricted to people age 18 and over, but my own
data, which includes younger teenagers, shows even higher Marlboro market
penetration among 15-17 year-olds. The teenage years are also important because
those are the years during which most smokers begin to smoke, the years in which
initial brand selections are made, and the period in the life-cycle in which
conformity to peer-group norms is greatest. (5)
The industry is
acutely aware that it needs to pander to young persons’ emotional needs in
order to sell its products. The uptake of smoking is recognised as being a
rebellious activity, even a risky one. New smokers tend to smoke well-known and
popular brands, as peer group conformity is a key characteristic of this group
(6). While conformity is an essential element for new smokers, it has been
noted that this key element, which was vital in the uptake of smoking, changes
slightly with the onset of smoking. Smoking preferences therefore shift. E.
Devlin et al. noted in their 2003 study Tobacco
Marketing and Young People:
Once young smokers
have entered the market and become regular smokers, their emotional needs
change and there is a desire for brands that are different and allow them to
express their independence and individuality. (7)
The key
messages which appeal to initiated young smokers are: (1) rights of passage,
(2) distinctive and different charisma, (3) in-the-know, (4) trendy lifestyle
and (5) youthful image. They want brands that are designed specifically for
them and that reflect their needs and lifestyles. The industry has a clear
understanding of the changing needs of young people and has developed brand
marketing strategies accordingly. Young people are above all image-conscious
and are influenced much more by marketing and advertising than older groups
are.
Quoting industry
documents E. Devlin et al. state by way of conclusion:
These documents
highlight that young people smoke primarily for emotional reasons – smoking is
an ‘image style statement’ and has the potential to ‘add to credibility’ and
young people choose those brands that will provide recognition within their
peer group. (8)
Indeed, these
statements demonstrate that the tobacco industry has undertaken considerable
research into understanding young people’s life-styles, needs and values and
what they are looking for in certain brands in order to meet these needs.
Gender-specific characteristics
The tobacco
multinationals have in fact conducted extensive research into female smoking
patterns, as opposed to male smoking patterns, and have intentionally modified
product design to appeal to the female target group. Statistically speaking,
women are more likely to consume “light”, slimmer and longer cigarettes. In
fact, women use nicotine more as a means of reducing stress and of controlling
body weight than men do. It has also been established that the association
between smoking and depression is more pronounced among women than it is among
men. Many studies demonstrate that marketing strategies for female brands have
reinforced the association of smoking with certain attributes such as
liberation, glamour, success and a slim figure.
An internal British American Tobacco document dated
2000 noted that men and women smoke for very different reasons: with males a
key aspect associated with smoking was ‘satisfaction’ (i.e. the effect of
nicotine delivery), while women smoked more for ‘sensory pleasure’ (i.e. taste
and enjoyment) (9). Add to this the fact that women tend more to smoke in
emotionally stressful situations and as a means of relieving ‘nervous irritation’,
while men tend more to smoke in order to relieve boredom and fatigue (10). In
1976 British American Tobacco concluded that women were even more motivated to
smoke, smoked more for reasons of insecurity and exhibited more neurotic traits
(11). Thus we see some very different motivations for smoking emerging –
information which is useful for product design and marketing strategy.
Carpenter et
al. note in the introduction to their study that:
…the tobacco industry
has conducted extensive research on female smoking patterns, needs and product
preferences, and has intentionally modified product design for promotion of
cigarette smoking among women. Cigarette manufacturers responded to changing
female trends by focusing on social and health concerns as well as promoting
dual-sex brands that also featured traditional female style characteristics. (12)
In a memo
entitled The Female Smoker Market,
Lorillard recognised that it was working women who are the most loyal smokers,
as opposed to women who are home-makers, which reflects the aspect of
cigarettes as a form of stress-relief:
A cigarette positioned
for the working woman, to relax and steady her nerves when the tension is
mounting by serving a socially acceptable tranquilizer, deserves investigation. (13)
The top reasons
for female smoking have been defined by tobacco industry documents as follows:
(1) weight control, (2) femininity and thinness, (3) peer pressure and popular
acceptance, (4) neuroticism, (5) health, (6) alternate flavours, (7) social acceptability,
(8) cosmetics, (9) smoking enjoyment, (10) confidence and (11) sensory
perception (14).
Weight control
The cowboy
image of the Marlboro Reds
advertisements is a quintessentially American male role model: rugged and
freedom-loving against the backdrop of the ‘Big Country’. But the industry has
also successfully exploited product marketing specifically targeted at young
women’s preoccupations with their weight. This in another
indication of the importance of female smokers to tobacco companies’ economies.
Indeed, whole brands have been targeted entirely at women smokers, and
especially young women, in an attempt to boost smoking uptake.
Philip Morris
launched its brand Virginia Slims in
1968 and marketed it to young, professional women. By using the word ‘slim’ in
the brand name, marketing was suggesting to the twenty-something woman a slim,
svelte image very firmly embedded in the typically female preoccupation with
weight control.
Indeed the
significance of the weight control element for continued smoking has been
acknowledged in industry documents. Lorillard wrote in June 1973 in: The Female Smoker Market:
Several reasons have
been proposed to explain why more women than men are either unwilling or unable
to stop smoking… One is the greater concern women have that if they stop
smoking they will gain weight. This fear undoubtedly prevents many women from
desiring to stop smoking. (15)
In conclusion,
it can only be stressed that the reasons why people smoke are manifold, complex
and interlinked. There is considerable evidence to suggest that the tobacco
industry has funded studies to research these reasons to tailor-make its
marketing to the target groups it knows will respond well to such marketing, by
exploiting their weaknesses and tastes.
References
1 Philip Morris, 1003287836/7848,
19690000 Scientific Report Why One Smokes
mentions: Arch Inst Pharmacodyn; Harrowgate; Leo, Leo Burnett Agency; Tobacco
Research Council; University of London, quoted in Tobacco Freedom, Understanding Why People Smoke: http://www.tobaccofreedom.org/issues/smoking/index.html
2 Philip Morris, 1003287836/7848,
19690000 Scientific Report Why One Smokes
mentions: Arch Inst Pharmacodyn; Harrowgate; Leo, Leo Burnett Agency; Tobacco
Research Council; University of London, quoted in Tobacco Freedom, Understanding Why People Smoke: http://www.tobaccofreedom.org/issues/smoking/index.html
3 Philip Morris, 1003287836/7848,
19690000 Scientific Report Why One Smokes
mentions: Arch Inst Pharmacodyn; Harrowgate; Leo, Leo Burnett Agency; Tobacco
Research Council; University of London, quoted in Tobacco Freedom, Understanding Why People Smoke: http://www.tobaccofreedom.org/issues/smoking/index.html
4 Philip Morris, 1003287836/7848,
19690000 Scientific Report Why One Smokes
mentions: Arch Inst Pharmacodyn; Harrowgate; Leo, Leo Burnett Agency; Tobacco
Research Council; University of London, quoted in Tobacco Freedom, Understanding Why People Smoke: http://www.tobaccofreedom.org/issues/smoking/index.html
5 Philip Morris memo, The Decline in the Rate of Growth of
Marlboro Red, 1975 quoted in Tobacco Freedom, The Seduction of American Youth: http://www.tobaccofreedom.org/issues/documents/advertising/index.html
6 Devlin, E., Eadie, D., Angus, K. Tobacco Marketing and Young People,
November 2003. Available at: http://www.tobaccopapers.com/casestudies/Yth-Smoking.pdf
7 Devlin, E., Eadie, D., Angus, K. Tobacco Marketing and Young People,
November 2003. Available at: http://www.tobaccopapers.com/casestudies/Yth-Smoking.pdf
8 Devlin, E., Eadie, D., Angus, K. Tobacco Marketing and Young People,
November 2003. Available at: http://www.tobaccopapers.com/casestudies/Yth-Smoking.pdf
9 Barton, H. C. (2000) Marketing
committee British American Tobacco. Bates no. 325051442-1444.
Available at: http://bat.library.ucsf.edu/pageview?a=img&tid=dbk50a99&total=3.
Quoted in: Carpenter, C., Wayne, G., Connolly, G. Designing cigarettes for women: new findings from the tobacco industry
documents, 2004. Available at: http://innovatorsawards.org/media/file/carpenter.pdf
10 Warburton, D. M. (1984) Nicotine
and the Smoker. Bates no. 101000615-101000653.
Available at: http://tobaccodocuments.org/bat_cdc/25806.html.
Quoted in: Carpenter, C., Wayne, G., Connolly, G. Designing cigarettes for women: new findings from the tobacco industry
documents, 2004. Available at: http://innovatorsawards.org/media/file/carpenter.pdf
11 Thornton, R. E. (1976) The Smoking Behaviour of Women. Brown & Williamson. Bates no.
650008159-8191. Available at: http://tobaccodocuments.org/product_design/17450.html.
Quoted in: Carpenter, C., Wayne, G., Connolly, G. Designing cigarettes for women: new findings from the tobacco industry
documents, 2004. Available at: http://innovatorsawards.org/media/file/carpenter.pdf
12 Quoted in: Carpenter, C., Wayne, G.,
Connolly, G. Designing cigarettes for
women: new findings from the tobacco industry documents, 2004. Available
at: http://innovatorsawards.org/media/file/carpenter.pdf
13 Lorillard Memorandum
14 Quoted in: Carpenter, C., Wayne, G.,
Connolly, G. Designing cigarettes for
women: new findings from the tobacco industry documents, 2004. Available
at: http://innovatorsawards.org/media/file/carpenter.pdf
15 Lorillard Memorandum