Study shows young smokers prefer brand name cigarettes

Tue, 04/12/2011 - 11:28 — julie

Study shows young smokers prefer brand name cigarettes

By Joe Strizzi

Despite the fact that contraband cigarettes are much cheaper, kids are more likely to smoke brand-name cigarettes, according to an analysis of data from the Youth Smoking Survey by Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada (PSC). PSC released the results of its analysis on January 19, highlighting the brand preferences of youth in elementary and high schools.  It also provided estimates of the revenues received by governments, multinational tobacco companies and retailers from youth smoking.

“Nationally, the big winner in the competition for starter smokers is Philip Morris International, whose Canadian subsidiary [Rothmans, Benson & Hedges] makes brands favoured by more than a third of Canadian school students,” said Cynthia Callard, Executive Director of PSC. “Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has the brand loyalty of one-quarter of these children and British American Tobacco comes in third as the manufacturer of brands preferred by one-sixth.”

The most popular brands smoked by the youths surveyed were Export ‘A’ at 15%, Canadian Classics at 13% and Belmont at 11%; both Macdonald and du Maurier came in at 9%.

PSC also found that both girls and boys preferred Rothmans, Benson & Hedges (RBH) brands, with 39% and 32% respectively. RBH cigarettes are also the most popular in all provinces with at least 35%,  except in Quebec, where JTI-Macdonald brands are the choice of 39%.

The data was obtained from the Public Use Microdata of Health Canada’s 2008-2009 Youth Smoking Survey (YSS). The survey was conducted in grade schools and high schools (grades 6 to 12), with over 50,000 students responding from all provinces. The Territories are not included in the survey.

Based on this data, PSC estimates that industry revenue from youth smokers in Canada totals $14 million per year. Provincial and federal governments receive, collectively, $83 million a year in revenue from tobacco taxes on cigarettes smoked by Canadian youth, representing $380 for each of the 220,000 young Canadian smokers.