Is snus the same as dip? Smokers' perceptions of new smokeless tobacco products

Background: Since 2006, leading US cigarette companies have marketed new snus (smokeless tobacco) products as line extensions of popular cigarette brands. These efforts include direct mail marketing to smokers. We examined smokers' reactions to this advertising and perceptions of the snus products. Methods: Focus groups (n=65 participants) were conducted in San Francisco and Los Angeles in July 2010 with smokers on tobacco company mailing lists. Analyses of both video and transcripts identified common themes in open-ended discussions of new snus products. Results: Most participants were aware that snus was supposed to be “different” from traditional chewing tobacco, but unclear about why. Smokers were willing to try snus, but identified themselves as smokers; for some, using snus reinforced their preference for smoking. Snus's major benefit was dealing with smokefree environments and avoiding the social stigma of secondhand smoke. Smokers were skeptical of snus as harm-reduction. Most tried snus after receiving free samples, and most who tried it found it “weird” or “disgusting” and not interested in continuing. Conclusions: Smokers repeated some early snus advertising messages emphasizing differences from traditional smokeless tobacco, and use in smokefree environments. Most smokers who tried snus found it unappealing and made them miss smoking. These findings may be useful for message development to discourage the uptake of snus by new tobacco users and smokers trying to quit.