ArticleTobacco control2017
Packaging colour research by tobacco companies: the pack as a product characteristic.
Article in Tobacco control, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 63 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
63 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Cigarette filter ventilation, product appeal and regulatory options: a review of the influence of ventilation on consumers' sensory and risk perceptions.Tobacco control · 2026Pooled it
- Feminine Appeals on Cigarette Packs Sold in 14 Countries.International journal of public health · 2021Pooled it
- Tobacco package health warnings about product manipulations: an experimental study among Australian adults who smoke.Health promotion international · 2025Trial
- Colours, capsules and concept flavour names on cigarette packs appeal to youth in Mexico.Tobacco control · 2023Trial
- Assessing the Potential Impact of Cigarette Packs Designed for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adults: A Randomized Experiment to Inform U.S. Regulation, 2018.Health promotion practice · 2020Trial
- Influence of premium versus value brand names on the smoking experience in a plain packaging environment: an experimental study.BMJ open · 2017Trial
- Effect of plain cigarette packaging on point-of-sale purchasing behavior among young adults who smoke.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2026Article
- Marketing features of derived intoxicating cannabinoid product brands on Instagram: A content analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Article
- Preflavour and postflavour ban oral nicotine pouches: a chemical, sensory and young adult appeal analysis.Tobacco control · 2026Article
- Systematic Assessment of Flavor Cues and Additives in Cigarettes and Heated Tobacco Products in Korea: Cross-Sectional Surveillance Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2026Article
- From cool to non-cool: California's 'non-menthol' cigarettes in 2025.Tobacco prevention & cessation · 2026Article
- Pricing strategies of the tobacco companies in response to cigarette excise tax increases in Montenegro.PloS one · 2026Article
- Absence of Sensory Cooling Activity and Cooling Agents from California's New "Non-Menthol" Cigarettes Marketed in 2025.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Colour attributes in packaging of oral nicotine pouches: an artificial intelligence guided analysis.Tobacco control · 2025Article
- Packaging of disposable vaping products and e-liquids in England, Canada and the United States: A content analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Eugenol, menthol and other flavour chemicals in kreteks and 'white' cigarettes purchased in Indonesia.Tobacco control · 2024Article
- Youth attention, perceptions, and appeal in response to e-cigarette advertising features: A focus group study.Preventive medicine reports · 2024Article
- Heated tobacco product marketing: a mixed-methods study examining exposure and perceptions among US and Israeli adults.Health education research · 2024Article
- The Scientific Basis for the Regulation of Flavors in Tobacco Products.Annual review of clinical psychology · 2024Review
- Doing more with less: A proposal to advance cigarette packaging regulations in the United States.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Article
3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTobacco companies use colour on cigarette packaging and labelling to communicate brand imagery, diminish health concerns, and as a replacement for prohibited descriptive words ('light' and 'mild') to make misleading claims about reduced risks.
methodsWe analysed previously secret tobacco industry documents to identify additional ways in which cigarette companies tested and manipulated pack colours to affect consumers' perceptions of the cigarettes' flavour and strength.
resultsCigarette companies' approach to package design is based on 'sensation transference' in which consumers transfer sensations they derive from the packaging to the product itself. Companies manipulate consumers' perceptions of the taste and strength of cigarettes by changing the colour of the packaging. For example, even without changes to the tobacco blends, flavourings or additives, consumers perceive the taste of cigarettes in packages with red and darker colours to be fuller flavoured and stronger, and cigarettes in packs with more white and lighter colours are perceived to taste lighter and be less harmful.
conclusionsCompanies use pack colours to manipulate consumers' perceptions of the taste, strength and health impacts of the cigarettes inside the packs, thereby altering their characteristics and effectively creating new products. In countries that do not require standardised packaging, regulators should consider colour equivalently to other changes in cigarette characteristics (eg, physical characteristics, ingredients, additives and flavourings) when making determinations about whether or not to permit new products on the market.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.