School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Tob Control. 2022 Nov;31(6):754-757. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2020-056310. Epub 2021 Apr 8.
One of the opposing arguments to restricting or banning the sale of tobacco products stem from a perception that this would adversely impact on small retail stores that rely on tobacco sales for viability. It has also been argued that purchases of tobacco leads to unplanned purchasing of other items that yield income for small store owners. This study tested the veracity of these arguments in the Australian context.
Consumer intercept surveys (n=1487) were conducted outside a comprehensive sample of small stores (n=136) selling tobacco in lower socioeconomic suburbs. Data were collected over a 2-hour period outside each store using the same methodology (36% consumer response rate). Descriptive statistics examined the proportion of tobacco and non-tobacco purchases and most common products purchased.
Purchasing tobacco was the primary motivation for store visits for only 3% of consumers. The vast majority of products purchased (92%) were not tobacco, with hot food, groceries and lottery tickets most frequent. Only 8% of consumers purchased tobacco. When unplanned purchasing patterns were compared, consumers' who purchased tobacco were no more likely to buy other products.
Tobacco purchasing was rarely the reason for store visits, indicating that it is not a key driver of consumer foot traffic for small retailers. There was also no evidence that tobacco contributes to spontaneous purchases of other products that might bring retailers profit. Findings suggest that restricting the retail availability of tobacco would be unlikely to have a pronounced negative impact on small retail stores.
反对限制或禁止销售烟草产品的一个论点是，这将对依赖烟草销售维持生计的小型零售店产生不利影响。有人还认为，购买烟草会导致对其他计划外商品的购买，从而为小型店主带来收入。本研究在澳大利亚背景下检验了这些论点的真实性。
在销售烟草的低社会经济郊区的 136 家小型商店中进行了消费者拦截调查（n=1487）。在每个商店外使用相同的方法（36%的消费者响应率）在 2 小时内收集数据。描述性统计数据检查了烟草和非烟草购买的比例以及最常购买的产品。
只有 3%的消费者购买烟草是光顾商店的主要动机。购买的绝大多数产品（92%）不是烟草，最常见的是热食、杂货和彩票。只有 8%的消费者购买烟草。当比较非计划性购买模式时，购买烟草的消费者不太可能购买其他产品。
购买烟草很少是光顾商店的原因，这表明它不是小型零售商吸引消费者流量的关键因素。也没有证据表明烟草会导致可能给零售商带来利润的其他产品的自发性购买。研究结果表明，限制烟草的零售供应不太可能对小型零售店产生显著的负面影响。
