title: Point-of-sale tobacco marketing in rural and urban Ohio: Could the new landscape of Tobacco products widen inequalities?
abstract: Considerable research has examined how cigarette point-of-sale advertising is closely related to smoking-related disparities across communities. Yet few studies have examined marketing of alternative tobacco products (e.g., e-cigarettes). The goal of the present study was to examine external point-of-sale marketing of various tobacco products and determine its association with community-level demographics (population density, economic-disadvantage, race/ethnicity) in urban and rural regions of Ohio. During the summer of 2014, fieldworkers collected comprehensive tobacco marketing data from 199 stores in Ohio (99 in Appalachia, 100 in Columbus), including information on external features. The address of each store was geocoded to its census tract, providing information about the community in which the store was located. Results indicated that promotions for e-cigarettes and advertising for menthol cigarettes, cigarillos, and cigars were more prevalent in communities with a higher percentage of African Americans. Cigarillos advertising was more likely in high-disadvantage and urban communities. A greater variety of products were also advertised outside retailers in urban, high-disadvantage, African American communities. Findings provide evidence of differential tobacco marketing at the external point-of-sale, which disproportionately targets urban, economically-disadvantaged, and African American communities. There is a need for tobacco control policies that will help improve equity and reduce health disparities.
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, 1841 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, United States. Electronic address: Roberts.1558@osu.edu.
authors.forename: Megan E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, 1841 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, United States; Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University, 55 W 12th Ave, Columbus, OH 43210, United States.
authors.forename: Micah L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Berman
authors.affiliation: School of Communication, The Ohio State University, 154 North Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, United States.
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Slater
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, 1841 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, United States.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hinton
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, 1841 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, United States.
authors.forename: Amy K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Ferketich
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001061:Appalachian Region; D003132:Commerce; D006801:Humans; D040541:Marketing / Q000379:methods*; D009820:Ohio / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D062789:Tobacco Products; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Advertising; Cigarillos; Cigars; Disparities; E-cigarettes; Menthol; Policy; Smokeless tobacco; Tobacco