Stacey Anderson, PhD, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California, San Francisco, 530 Parnassus Avenue, Suite 366, Box 1390, San Francisco, CA 94143-1390, (415) 502-4181, staceya@itsa.ucsf.edu and Pamela Ling, MD, MPH, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of California San Francisco, 400 Parnassus Avenue A405, Box 0320, San Francisco, CA 94143-0320.

Objective: To describe how the tobacco industry tailors cigarette advertising campaigns to the psychological needs of female markets. Methods: Analysis of previously secret tobacco industry documents, pairing marketing plans with cigarette advertising image archives. Results: Cigarette advertising in the United States has evolved from a product-focused message toward a psychological needs-focused message. Cigarette advertising campaigns for brands that women smoke attempt to position cigarettes as capable of satisfying what tobacco marketers perceived as women’s psychological needs. As the needs of women change across their lifespan, ad campaigns are tailored to target the needs salient at different stages in women’s lives. For example, the need for female camaraderie among young women is addressed in Virginia Slims’ late 1990s “It’s a Woman Thing” campaign. Discussion: With the shift from product-focus to needs-focus in cigarette advertising, psychological needs satisfaction can be communicated with no reference to cigarettes or smoking, making advertising bans against smoking imagery less effective. Counter-advertising designed to undermine the suggestion of a cigarette brand as a fulfillment of a psychological need may be an effective means of lessening the potency of cigarette advertising.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to

• understand the trend in women-targeted cigarette advertising toward psychological needs satisfaction
• list three needs corresponding to different stages in women’s lives that are exploited in cigarette advertising
• recognize the need for counter-advertising tailored to the different segments of the female population

Keywords: Tobacco Industry, Marketing

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.