Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public-Dallas Campus, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Nicotine Tob Res. 2023 Jul 28;25(Suppl_1):S69-S75. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntad005.
Although lifestyle magazines are an important marketing tool for premium cigars, little is known about their recent portrayal of the products. We expand on research conducted for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Committee on Patterns of Use and Health Effects of "Premium Cigars" and Priority Research.
A content analysis of magazine covers, articles, and advertisements published in 2021 from Cigar Aficionado and Cigar Snob (five issues each) and Cigar Journal (three issues) assessed magazine themes and mentions of lower harm. Magazine covers (n = 14), advertisements (n = 105), and every fifth article (n = 45) were coded.
In total, 92% of the magazine covers, 72.4% of advertisements, and 62.2% of articles had premium cigar content. Celebrities (e.g. musicians and actors) appeared on 92.9% of covers. The most common themes in the advertisements and articles were "high quality." Regarding article content, 80% portrayed the premium cigars' quality (e.g. superior materials), and the taste of featured products (e.g. "tones," "aromas," and "notes") was portrayed in 42.4%. While no articles described their health risks, 6.7% described the positive health effects of premium cigar use (e.g. stress relief and clear cognition). Additionally, a digital search of Cigar Snob and Cigar Aficionado for terms related to lower harm (e.g. "organic," "healthy," "clean," "pure," and "natural") found 7.7 mentions of lower-harm words per issue.
Our findings indicate that lifestyle magazines are an important marketing strategy that promotes and normalizes premium cigar use as a high-quality product that can have positive health effects for users.
Our manuscript characterized the premium cigar companies' use of selling propositions, including promoting the products' features, safety, taste, and flavors, as a part of their advertising promotion practices. Premium cigar companies used digital and print lifestyle magazines as marketing tools to promote and normalize the use of their products by emphasizing their high quality and positive health benefits (e.g. reducing stress). Premium cigars were promoted as a symbol of power and success, featured in advertisements of upscale social events (e.g. exclusive trade shows, social clubs, and lounges), and often juxtaposed with expensive alcohol, food, and other luxurious goods. Future research should assess if exposure to premium cigar content increases consumer appeal and detracts from the products' potential adverse health outcomes.
尽管生活方式杂志是高档雪茄的重要营销工具，但对于它们最近对产品的描述却知之甚少。我们对美国国家科学院、工程院和医学研究所“高档雪茄”和优先研究使用模式和健康影响委员会进行的研究进行了扩展。
对 2021 年《雪茄爱好者》、《雪茄迷》（各五期）和《雪茄杂志》（三期）的杂志封面、文章和广告进行内容分析，评估杂志主题和提及的低危害。对杂志封面（n=14）、广告（n=105）和每五篇文章中的一篇（n=45）进行编码。
共有 92%的杂志封面、72.4%的广告和 62.2%的文章有高档雪茄内容。92.9%的封面上有名人（如音乐家和演员）。广告和文章中最常见的主题是“高品质”。关于文章内容，80%描绘了高档雪茄的品质（如优质材料），并描绘了特色产品的味道（如“音调”、“香气”和“音符”），占 42.4%。虽然没有文章描述它们的健康风险，但有 6.7%的文章描述了高档雪茄使用的积极健康影响（如缓解压力和提高认知能力）。此外，对《雪茄迷》和《雪茄爱好者》进行数字搜索，查找与低危害相关的术语（如“有机”、“健康”、“清洁”、“纯净”和“自然”），发现每个问题有 7.7 个低危害词。
我们的研究结果表明，生活方式杂志是一种重要的营销策略，它促进和规范了高档雪茄的使用，将其作为一种高质量的产品，对使用者有积极的健康影响。
我们的论文描述了高档雪茄公司使用销售主张的情况，包括宣传产品的特点、安全性、口味和风味，作为其广告推广实践的一部分。高档雪茄公司使用数字和印刷生活方式杂志作为营销工具，通过强调产品的高品质和积极的健康益处（如减轻压力）来推广和规范产品的使用。高档雪茄被宣传为权力和成功的象征，出现在高档社交活动（如独家贸易展、社交俱乐部和休息室）的广告中，并且经常与昂贵的酒精、食品和其他奢侈品并列。未来的研究应该评估对高档雪茄内容的接触是否会增加消费者的吸引力，并减少产品的潜在不良健康后果。
