Abstract
In response to and in conjunction with changing tobacco control policies over the past decade, the number of studies focusing on plain packaging and the implications of their findings has grown substantially. As Ireland and the UK move to become the first European countries to implement plain packaging legislation, a study on the perceptions of these packs among young people is of critical importance. The 'Youth Perceptions of Plain Packaging Study' is the first Irish-based study of young people's attitudes towards standardized packs.A cross-sectional, nationally representative sample of 1,384 secondary school students responded to a discrete-choice task in which participants were asked about the attractiveness, perceived heatlh risk, and smoker characteristics of cigarette packs according to EU TPD and proposed Irish Standardized packaging guidelines. In all instances, Irish standardized packs were found to be significantly less attractive and less healthy than EU TPD packs They also were associated with negative smoker traits. Gender was a significant predictor for females with regards to the perceived popularity of the Silk Cut brand (β = -0.37, P = 0.03). The removal of brand identifiers including colour, font, and embossing reduce the perceived appeal of cigarette packs for young people across all tested brands. Even with the inclusion of increased graphic warnings according to EU TPD guidelines, packs are still perceived as more attractive and healthier than standardised packs according to proposed Irish legislation.
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