ArticleTobacco control2017
Tobacco industry strategies undermine government tax policy: evidence from commercial data.
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 49 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Tobacco industry pricing strategies in response to excise tax policies: a systematic review.Tobacco control · 2023Pooled it
- Options for modifying UK alcohol and tobacco tax: A rapid scoping review of the evidence over the period 1997-2018.NIHR open research · 2023Pooled it
- Price elasticity of demand of non-cigarette tobacco products: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Tobacco control · 2018Pooled it
- Metabolic engineering for tobacco quality improvement: Advances and perspectives.Metabolic engineering communications · 2026Review
- Article
- Pricing strategies of the tobacco companies in response to cigarette excise tax increases in Montenegro.PloS one · 2026Article
- Tobacco industry pricing strategies during recent tax adjustments in Mexico: evidence from sales data.Tobacco control · 2025Article
- Widening the Price Gap: The Effect of The Netherlands' 2020 Tax Increase on Tobacco Prices.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025Article
- How cigarette excise tax pass-through to prices responds to the uptake and evolution of e-cigarettes (ECs).Tobacco control · 2025Article
- How has the tobacco industry passed tax changes through to consumers in 12 sub-Saharan African countries?Tobacco control · 2025Article
- How does the e-cigarette industry respond to tax adjustments? Evidence from China.Tobacco induced diseases · 2024Article
- Tobacco industry pricing strategies for single cigarettes and multistick packs after excise tax increases in Colombia.Tobacco control · 2023Article
- Impacts of Tax and Flavor Tobacco Policies on San Francisco Bay Area Tobacco Prices.Evaluation review · 2023Article
- Follow the money: a closer look at US tobacco industry marketing expenditures.Tobacco control · 2023Article
- Smokers' strategies to reduce tobacco spending: self-reported use and differences across subgroups. Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Netherlands Survey.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Subculture wars: The struggle for the vape industry.The British journal of sociology · 2023Article
- Evidence of cushioning of tobacco tax increases in large retailers in Australia.Tobacco control · 2022Article
- Using Regulatory Stances to See All the Commercial Determinants of Health.The Milbank quarterly · 2022Article
- A Study on China's Tobacco Taxation and Its Influencing Factor on Economic Growth.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Mapping of Global Research on Electronic Cigarettes: A Bibliometric Analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTaxation equitably reduces smoking, the leading cause of health inequalities. The tobacco industry (TI) can, however, undermine the public health gains realised from tobacco taxation through its pricing strategies. This study aims to examine contemporary TI pricing strategies in the UK and implications for tobacco tax policy.
designReview of commercial literature and longitudinal analysis of tobacco sales and price data.
settingA high-income country with comprehensive tobacco control policies and high tobacco taxes (UK).
participants2009 to 2015 Nielsen Scantrak electronic point of sale systems data.
main outcome measuresTobacco segmentation; monthly prices, sales volumes of and net revenue from roll-your-own (RYO) and factory-made (FM) cigarettes by segment; use of price-marking and pack sizes.
resultsThe literature review and sales data concurred that both RYO and FM cigarettes were segmented by price. Despite regular tax increases, average real prices for the cheapest FM and RYO segments remained steady from 2013 while volumes grew. Low prices were maintained through reductions in the size of packs and price-marking. Each year, at the point the budget is implemented, the TI drops its revenue by up to 18 pence per pack, absorbing the tax increases (undershifting). Undershifting is most marked for the cheapest segments.
conclusionsThe TI currently uses a variety of strategies to keep tobacco cheap. The implementation of standardised packaging will prevent small pack sizes and price-marking but further changes in tax policy are needed to minimise the TI's attempts to prevent sudden price increases.
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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.