Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Hadassah Medical Organization, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
Department of Prevention and Community Health, George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, Washington, DC, Washington, USA.
Tob Control. 2024 Mar 19;33(e1):e54-e61. doi: 10.1136/tc-2022-057671.
IQOS, manufactured by Philip Morris International (PMI), is the highest selling heated tobacco product globally. IQOS went through several regulatory changes in Israel: from no oversight to minimal tobacco legislation, to progressive legislation that included a partial advertisement ban (exempting print media) and plain packaging. We examined how PMI's advertising messages changed during these regulatory periods for both IQOS and cigarettes.
Content analysis of PMI's IQOS and cigarette ads was performed using a predefined framework. Ad characteristics included regulatory period, target population, setting, product presentation, age and use restrictions, retail accessibility, additional detail cues (eg, QR code) and promotions. Ad themes included product features, legislation-related elements, social norms and comparative claims. Comparisons between IQOS and cigarette ads, and across regulatory periods, were examined using χ test or Fisher's exact test.
The dataset included 125 IQOS ads and 71 cigarette ads. IQOS ads featured more age restrictions, retail accessibility and additional detail cues, compared with cigarette ads (93.6% vs 16.9%; 56.0% vs 0.0%; and 95.2% vs 33.8%, p<0.001 for all). Cigarette ads featured mostly price promotions (52.1% vs 10.1% of IQOS ads, p<0.001). The main ad themes were technology for IQOS (85.6%) and quality for cigarettes (50.7%). In later (vs earlier) restrictive regulatory periods, IQOS ads featured more direct comparisons to cigarettes, QR codes and indoor settings, and did not feature product packaging.
IQOS advertisement content shifted as more restrictions went into effect, with several elements used to circumvent legislation. Findings from this study point to the necessity of a complete advertisement ban and ongoing marketing surveillance.
菲利普莫里斯国际公司（PMI）生产的 IQOS 是全球销量最高的加热烟草产品。IQOS 在以色列经历了几次监管变化：从没有监督到烟草立法最少，再到包括部分广告禁令（豁免印刷媒体）和朴素包装的渐进式立法。我们研究了在这些监管期间，PMI 的 IQOS 和香烟广告信息如何变化。
使用预先设定的框架对 PMI 的 IQOS 和香烟广告进行内容分析。广告特征包括监管时期、目标人群、地点、产品展示、年龄和使用限制、零售可及性、附加详细提示（例如 QR 码）和促销。广告主题包括产品特点、与立法相关的元素、社会规范和比较声明。使用 χ 检验或 Fisher 精确检验比较 IQOS 和香烟广告之间以及各监管时期之间的差异。
数据集包括 125 个 IQOS 广告和 71 个香烟广告。与香烟广告相比，IQOS 广告的年龄限制、零售可及性和附加详细提示更多（93.6%比 16.9%；56.0%比 0.0%；95.2%比 33.8%，所有 p<0.001）。香烟广告主要以价格促销为主（52.1%比 IQOS 广告的 10.1%，p<0.001）。主要广告主题是 IQOS 的技术（85.6%）和香烟的质量（50.7%）。在更具限制性的后期监管时期，IQOS 广告更频繁地将自己与香烟进行直接比较，展示 QR 码和室内场景，且不展示产品包装。
随着更多限制措施的实施，IQOS 的广告内容发生了变化，使用了一些规避立法的手段。本研究的结果表明，需要完全禁止广告并进行持续的营销监测。
