ArticlePloS one2018
The effect of cigarillo packaging elements on young adult perceptions of product flavor, taste, smell, and appeal.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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
24 citing papers in PubMed, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Little Cigar and Cigarillo Graphic Health Warnings and Quitting Behaviors: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- Testing the influence of nutrient content claims and a health warning label on consumer perceptions of ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages: an online randomized experiment.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Perceptions of Game cigarillo packaging among young adult tobacco users: The effect of package color and the "natural leaf" descriptor.Addictive behaviors · 2022Trial
- Patterns in US Cigar Sales and Prices from 2021 to 2025: An Examination of Pack Size, Flavor, "Natural" Descriptors, and Brand.Research square · 2026Article
- Examining the impact of e-cigarette advertisement exposure with fruit flavour features among US young adults of varying tobacco-use statuses.Tobacco control · 2026Article
- Examining the influence of descriptors used to market unflavoured cigarillos: an experiment with a sample of youth and young adults from the USA.Tobacco control · 2026Article
- The Impact of Cigarillo Text Warning Presence and Size on Young Adults' Cigarillo Risk Beliefs, Knowledge, Appeal, and Use Intentions.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025Article
- Message development for a communication campaign to support health warning labels on cigars: a qualitative study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- An analysis of flavor descriptors on tobacco products in the Philippines: Regulatory implications and lessons for low- and middle-income countries.Globalization and health · 2024Article
- A content analysis of cannabis edibles package marketing in the United States.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Article
- Visual attention and recall of flavored cigarillo package elements among young adults: A randomized control trial.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Influence of cigarillo packaging characteristics on young adults' perceptions and intentions: findings from three online experiments.Tobacco control · 2023Article
- Association of Flavor Perception With Blue vs Purple Cigar Packaging Among US Adults.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- The Landscape of Cigar Marketing in Print Magazines from 2018-2021: Content, Expenditures, Volume, Placement and Reach.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Themes in TikTok Videos Featuring Little Cigars and Cigarillos: Content Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Article
- Flavour loyalty may predict cessation or substitution following a cigarillo flavour ban among young adults in the USA.Tobacco control · 2022Article
- Packaging Characteristics of Top-Selling Cigars in the United States, 2018.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2022Article
- Article
- Impact of Little Cigars and Cigarillos Packaging Features on Product Preference.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionProduct packaging has long been used by the tobacco industry to target consumers and manipulate product perceptions. This study examines the extent to which cigarillo packaging influences perceptions of product flavor, taste, smell, and appeal.
methodsA web-based experiment was conducted among young adults. Participants viewed three randomly selected cigarillo packs, varying on pack flavor descriptor, color, type, branding, and warning-totaling 180 pack images. Mixed-effects models were used to estimate the effect of pack elements on product perceptions.
resultsA total of 2,664 current, ever, and never little cigar and cigarillo users participated. Cigarillo packs with a flavor descriptor were perceived as having a more favorable taste (β = 0.21, p < .001) and smell (β = 0.14, p < .001) compared to packs with no flavor descriptor. Compared to packs with no color, pink and purple packs were more likely to be perceived as containing a flavor (β = 0.11, p < .001), and were rated more favorably on taste (β = 0.17, p < .001), smell (β = 0.15, p < .001), and appeal (β = 0.16, p < .001). While warnings on packs decreased favorable perceptions of product taste (pictorial: β = -0.07, p = .03) and smell (text-only: β = -0.08, p = .01; pictorial: β = -0.09, p = .007), warnings did not moderate the effects of flavor descriptor or color.
conclusionsTo our knowledge, this study provides the first quantitative evidence that cigarillo packaging alters consumers' cognitive responses, and warnings on packs do not suffice to overcome the effects of product packaging. The findings support efforts at federal, state, and local levels to prohibit flavor descriptors and their associated product flavoring in non-cigarette products such as cigarillos, along with new data that supports restrictions on flavor cues and colors.
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.