A report released by the American Legacy Foundation says that American youth continue to show strong preferences for specific cigarette types, many of which are heavily marketed.
The report finds that 3 brands are preferred by the overwhelming majority of youth smokers. It also notes that menthol and light cigarettes are popular choices for youth smokers and that flavored cigarettes hold strong appeal among this group.
Cigarette Preferences Among Youth is part of the foundation?s First Look research series and documents information on smokers aged 13 to 18. The report is based on data from a survey of over 3,500 US teens.
The survey found that approximately 78 percent of American youth smokers usually smoke Marlboro, Newport or Camel cigarettes. Among youth smokers surveyed, 50 percent prefer Marlboro, 14 percent prefer Newport, and 14 percent prefer Camel. These brand preferences also have specific racial and ethnic associations. While only 12 percent of African American youth smokers report usually smoking Marlboro, 53 percent of white and 62 percent of Hispanic youth smokers say that they usually smoke this brand. African American youth smokers were more likely to select Newport as their usual brand, with 32 percent of youth reporting this preference.
A large proportion of youth smokers ? nearly 40 percent — report that they usually smoke cigarettes labeled as ?light,? ?ultra-light,? or ?mild.? The proportion of youth who smoke lights is larger for older youth, with only 18 percent of smokers aged 13 to 15 preferring lights compared to 32 percent of smokers aged 16 to 18 preferring lights.
Menthol cigarettes are also a popular choice among youth, with nearly 37% of youth smokers reporting that they usually smoke menthol cigarettes. Use of menthols is also strongly associated with race and ethnicity: 81% of African American smokers report usually smoking menthol cigarettes, compared with 45% of Hispanic and 32% of white smokers.
The survey also found that over 11% of youth smokers have tried cigarettes flavored with candy or other flavors (not including menthol). However, many more, 52% of youth smokers who had heard of flavored cigarettes, indicated interest in trying them.
?Given that the tobacco industry spends nearly $36 million marketing its products each day, it?s not surprising that American youth have particular cigarette type preferences,? American Legacy Foundation President and CEO Cheryl Healton, Dr. P.H., said. ?Every day 4,000 American youth try their first cigarette and this survey shows us that the tobacco industry?s effective marketing drives their decisions to smoke specific cigarettes.?