Centre for Health Protection, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands
WiseDesign, Vienna, Virginia, USA.
Tob Control. 2023 Jul;32(4):467-472. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-056856. Epub 2021 Nov 29.
Sensory experience is an important determinant of smoking initiation, brand choice and harm perception, but little is known about how cigarette design shapes sensory experience. This study reports which variations in tobacco blend and design characteristics available on the market are likely to be perceived as different by consumers.
Truth Tobacco Industry Documents was reviewed for studies showing noticeable sensory differences resulting from variations in tobacco blend and design characteristics. These differences were compared with tobacco product data as available in the Dutch section of the European Common Entry Gate (EU-CEG) system on 30 April 2020.
Industry documents identified discrimination thresholds for ventilation, pressure drop, tobacco weight, filter length, and tar and nicotine levels in smoke while evidence for other design characteristics was less conclusive. In the 103 different cigarette varieties in the EU-CEG database, five main types of cigarettes could be identified by principal component analysis, differing in (combinations of) design characteristics. The most significant differences between brand varieties were tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide emissions and associated parameters filter ventilation, filter length, cigarette length and tobacco weight.
While some clusters of brand varieties provided a noticeably different product for consumers, in many cases design differences within these clusters did not exceed the expected discrimination threshold. This indicates that many products on the market are not discernibly different for consumers, and that proliferation of brand varieties has a non-sensory purpose, such as marketing. Policy makers should consider limiting available brand varieties and regulating design characteristics to reduce product appeal.
感官体验是吸烟起始、品牌选择和危害感知的重要决定因素，但人们对香烟设计如何塑造感官体验知之甚少。本研究报告了市场上可供选择的烟草混合和设计特点的哪些变化可能会被消费者认为不同。
审查了真相烟草行业文件中有关因烟草混合和设计特点变化而导致明显感官差异的研究。这些差异与 2020 年 4 月 30 日欧盟共同入境门（EU-CEG）系统荷兰部分提供的烟草产品数据进行了比较。
行业文件确定了通风、压降、烟草重量、过滤嘴长度以及烟雾中的焦油和尼古丁水平的可区分阈值，而其他设计特点的证据则不太确定。在 EU-CEG 数据库中的 103 种不同香烟品种中，通过主成分分析可以识别出五种主要类型的香烟，它们在设计特点（组合）上有所不同。品牌品种之间最显著的差异是焦油、尼古丁和一氧化碳排放以及相关参数，如过滤通风、过滤嘴长度、香烟长度和烟草重量。
虽然一些品牌品种集群为消费者提供了明显不同的产品，但在许多情况下，这些集群内的设计差异并没有超过预期的可区分阈值。这表明市场上的许多产品对消费者来说并没有明显的不同，品牌品种的扩散没有感官目的，例如营销。政策制定者应考虑限制可用的品牌品种，并规范设计特点，以降低产品吸引力。
