JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The advertising environment for tobacco products is becoming more restrictive in light of increasing regulations. However, there is little regulation of tobacco marketing on online spaces. Tobacco companies are including URLs on tobacco packaging.

Objective:

To document the content of websites that were advertised on cigarette packs in 14 low- and middle-income countries. This exploratory study also aimed to assess differences in content on multinational compared to non-multinational corporate websites.

Methods:

3307 packs from 14 LMICs were purchased in 2013. Of the 3307 packs, 880 packs contained 887 URLs. Eighty-nine unique URLs were identified and were visited multiple times between October 1, 2016 and August 9, 2017 to maximize the number of active websites in the sample. A coding checklist, based on assessments of US tobacco company websites and a marketing checklist developed to monitor e-cigarette advertising and marketing appeals in Russia, was used to conduct a quantitative content analysis of active corporate websites to identify specific marketing strategies. The coding checklist included: links to additional websites, marketing appeals (e.g. product popularity, luxury/quality, international appeal, etc.), access restrictions and health warnings, corporate social responsibility programs, and corporate image promotion. Other website types were assessed separately.

Results:

Of the 89 unique URLs identified, 54 were active during the search period. Twenty-six corporate websites, 21 brand websites, 2 non-tobacco websites, and 5 social media pages were assessed. Two corporate websites and 14 brand websites were excluded due to limited accessible content or incomplete content. Some discussion of corporate social responsibility was observed on all corporate websites, with content regarding how companies care for and promote employee wellbeing being the most common type of specific CSR program discussed. Marketing appeals were also present on corporate websites. Quality/luxury appeals (88%), global appeals (79%), national appeals (79%), appeals to company tradition or history (67%), and popularity appeals (54%) were most frequently observed on corporate websites and 79% of corporate websites included text describing the company as innovative. Corporate websites were also more likely to include non-specific (50%) as compared to specific (29%) health warnings. Promotions (86%) and sociability appeals (43%) were commonly observed on brand websites. Social media webpages used gendered marketing.

Conclusions:

URLs appearing on tobacco packs are directing consumers to websites where users are exposed to marketing that highlights the “positive” contributions of tobacco companies on corporate websites and extensive promotions and marketing appeals on brand websites and social media pages. Future research should consider including tobacco websites in advertising monitoring efforts and further efforts should be made to find legal and ethical ways to study brand websites.