Geography of cigarette price promotions: Implications for retail environment surveillance and restriction

Background. Price data that are aggregated to state level or designated market areas may not be sufficient to examine how tobacco companies use price promotions as a tool for target marketing. This spatial analysis of local surveillance data examines neighborhood correlates of cigarette prices in convenience stores, the dominant channel for pack purchases. Methods. In a random sample of northern California convenience stores (n=370), trained coders recorded the single-pack and lowest-per-pack prices for three leading cigarette brands. Correlations with market-area scanner data and inter-observer reliability were assessed. ArcGIS tools, state retailer licensing data, and intercensal estimates were used to compute the number of tobacco retailers within a ½-mile buffer and other neighborhood demographics (population density, median household income, % of residents by race/ethnicity and age group). Brand-specific models of pack prices were estimated using geographically weighted regression. Results. Single-pack and lowest-per-pack prices differed from 19% to 37% for three different tobacco product prices. Pack price differed by brand and store characteristics (size, availability of gas, price of non-tobacco products). One specific brand cost less (and another cost more) in store neighborhoods with a larger percent of African American residents, which was the only significant neighborhood correlate of single-pack and lowest-per-pack prices. Conclusions. Advertised prices corroborate other findings about the disproportionate quantity of menthol ads and promotions aimed at African Americans. The advantages of price observation as an assessment tool for state and local programs to monitor brand-specific target marketing and the implications for marketing restrictions will be discussed.