Variations in cigarette brand characteristics: can consumers tell the difference?

Objectives: Sensory experience is an important determinant of smoking initiation, brand choice and harm perception, but little is known about how cigarette design shapes sensory experience. This study reports which variations in tobacco blend and design characteristics available on the market are likely to be perceived as different by consumers.

Methods: Truth Tobacco Industry Documents was reviewed for studies showing noticeable sensory differences resulting from variations in tobacco blend and design characteristics. These differences were compared with tobacco product data as available in the Dutch section of the European Common Entry Gate (EU-CEG) system on 30 April 2020.

Results: Industry documents identified discrimination thresholds for ventilation, pressure drop, tobacco weight, filter length, and tar and nicotine levels in smoke while evidence for other design characteristics was less conclusive. In the 103 different cigarette varieties in the EU-CEG database, five main types of cigarettes could be identified by principal component analysis, differing in (combinations of) design characteristics. The most significant differences between brand varieties were tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide emissions and associated parameters filter ventilation, filter length, cigarette length and tobacco weight.

Conclusions: While some clusters of brand varieties provided a noticeably different product for consumers, in many cases design differences within these clusters did not exceed the expected discrimination threshold. This indicates that many products on the market are not discernibly different for consumers, and that proliferation of brand varieties has a non-sensory purpose, such as marketing. Policy makers should consider limiting available brand varieties and regulating design characteristics to reduce product appeal.