ArticleAddiction (Abingdon, England)2018
Cigarette brand diversity and price changes during the implementation of plain packaging in the United Kingdom.
Article in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- 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
- The policy implementation playbook: a cross-policy taxonomy of post-adoption tobacco industry tactics.Globalization and health · 2026Review
- Article
- No Change in Illicit Tobacco Use Following the Introduction of Standardised Packaging? A Longitudinal Online Survey in the United Kingdom.Tobacco use insights · 2025Article
- Associations between Black and Mild Cigar Pack Size and Demographics and Tobacco Use Behaviors among US Adults.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Article
- Consumer Response to Standardized Tobacco Packaging in the United Kingdom: A Synthesis of Evidence from Two Systematic Reviews.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2021Review
- Young people's use of e-cigarettes in Wales, England and Scotland before and after introduction of EU Tobacco Products Directive regulations: a mixed-method natural experimental evaluation.The International journal on drug policy · 2020Article
- Changes in roll-your-own tobacco and cigarette sales volume and prices before, during and after plain packaging legislation in the UK.Tobacco control · 2020Article
- Size matters: An analysis of cigarette pack sizes across 23 European Union countries using Euromonitor data, 2006 to 2017.PloS one · 2020Article
- Standardised packaging, minimum excise tax, and RYO focussed tax rise implications for UK tobacco pricing.PloS one · 2020Article
- Article
- Pricing of tobacco products during, and after, the introduction of standardized packaging: an observational study of retail price data from independent and convenience (small) retailers in the United Kingdom.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2019Observational
- Comparison between Online and Offline Price of Tobacco Products Using Novel Datasets.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Article
- Cigarette brand diversity and price changes during the implementation of plain packaging in the United Kingdom.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimPlain packaging of cigarettes appeared in the United Kingdom in July 2016 and was ubiquitous by May 2017. The change coincided with another legislative change, raising the minimum pack size from 10 to 20 cigarettes. Laws imposing plain packaging on cigarette packs remove another promotional route from tobacco companies, but the effect of such laws on brand diversity, pricing and sales volume is unknown. This study aimed to (1) describe and quantify changes in brand diversity, price segmentation and sales volumes and (2) estimate the association between the introduction of plain cigarette packaging and cigarette pricing in the United Kingdom.
designWe used a natural experiment design to assess the impact of plain packaging legislation on brand diversity and cigarette prices. The data comprised a sample of 76% of sales of cigarettes in the UK between March 2013 and June 2017.
settingUnited Kingdom. MEASUREMENTS: Cigarette prices, number of brands and products and volumes of sales.
findingsDuring the period analysed, there was a slight decrease in the number of cigarette brands. There was also an initial increase observed in the number of cigarette products, due mainly to an increase in the number of products in packs of fewer than 20 cigarettes sold before July 2016, which was then followed by a rapid decrease in the number of products that coincided with the implementation of the new legislation. Cigarette sales volumes during this period did not deviate from the preceding secular trend, but prices rose substantially. Regression results showed that price per cigarette, regardless of pack size, was 5.0 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 4.8-5.3] pence higher in plain than in fully branded packs. For packs of 20 cigarettes, price increases were greater in the lower price quintiles, ranging from 2.6 (95% CI = 2.4-2.7) GBP in the lowest to 0.3 (95% CI = 0.3-0.4) GBP per pack in the highest quintile.
conclusionsThe implementation of standardized packaging legislation in the United Kingdom, which included minimum pack sizes of 20, was associated with significant increases overall in the price of manufactured cigarettes, but no clear deviation in the ongoing downward trend in total volume of cigarette sales.
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