Local Brand Smoking Among Adult Smokers: Findings from the Wave 5 International Tobacco Control China Survey - China, 2015

Peter Hao; Steve Shaowei Xu; Haiyen Sung; Tingting Yao; Yuan Jiang; Anne C K Quah; Geoffrey T Fong

doi:10.46234/ccdcw2022.101

Local Brand Smoking Among Adult Smokers: Findings from the Wave 5 International Tobacco Control China Survey - China, 2015

China CDC Wkly. 2022 May 27;4(21):452-459. doi: 10.46234/ccdcw2022.101.

Authors

Peter Hao¹, Steve Shaowei Xu², Haiyen Sung^{3

4}, Tingting Yao^{3

4}, Yuan Jiang⁵, Anne C K Quah², Geoffrey T Fong^{2

6}

Affiliations

¹ Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
² University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
³ Institute for Health & Aging, School of Nursing, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
⁴ Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
⁵ Tobacco Control Office, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
⁶ Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Abstract

What is already known about this topic?: Branding of cigarettes may play a role in shaping the smoking behaviors of Chinese smokers, and local brand (LB) cigarettes may reflect this influence because of greater tax and non-tax incentives compared to non-LB. Some of these brands are regional flagships that market to smokers using local landmarks or icons.

What is added by this report?: LB brands were significantly more likely to be the usual brand of smokers residing in provincial-level administrative divisions (PLADs) that produced their own LB cigarettes [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 30.95; 95% confidence interval (CI): 26.36-36.49] compared to those residing in PLADs that had non-local ventures with non-LB cigarettes. Further, smokers residing in urban areas were found to be less likely to smoke LB cigarettes (AOR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.67-0.93) compared to those in rural areas.

What are the implications for public health practice?: These findings suggest that LB smoking may be a result of industry-driven incentives to boost LB sales, fueled by such as supply-side strategies to boost LB sales or targeted cultural/social marketing that appeals to certain demographic groups. Although addressing these incentives to support LBs would be challenging given the nature of China's tobacco industry, doing so would have potential to reduce cigarette smoking and ultimately the health burden of smoking in China.

Keywords: local brand; rural and urban area; smoking; tobacco control.

Copyright and License information: Editorial Office of CCDCW, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2022.

Grants and funding

The ITC 2013–2015 China Wave 5 Survey was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MOP-115016), and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Additional support to GTF, SSX, and ACKQ was provided by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Foundation Grant (FDN-148477). GTF is also supported by a Senior Investigator Grant from the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (IA-004)