title: Smoking-related changes or brand switching? Smokers' anticipated responses to a large increase in Taiwan's Tobacco Health and Welfare Surcharge.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examines the impact on smokers' behaviour of a planned increase in the Health and Welfare Surcharge of Tobacco Products in Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study used a structured questionnaire to perform telephone interviews. Stratified random sampling was applied to interview current smokers aged 18-65 years in Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based on nationwide survey data of smokers' responses to future increases in cigarette prices, this study used multinomial logistic regression to perform its analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After the proposed increase in the Health and Welfare Surcharge of Tobacco Products, subsequent cigarette price increases would motivate nearly 30% of the smokers to adopt smoking-related changes and 10% to change to lower-priced brands.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study suggests that a large increase in the Health and Welfare Surcharge of Tobacco Products would lead to considerable changes in smoking behaviour, which in turn would increase cessation rate at the population level.
authors.affiliation: Department of International Trade & Logistics, Overseas Chinese University, Taiwan. Electronic address: iune@ocu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: C-Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.affiliation: Department of International Trade & Logistics, Overseas Chinese University, Taiwan. Electronic address: chris@ocu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schafferer
authors.affiliation: Department of Shipping and Transportation Management, National Kaohsiung Marine University, Taiwan. Electronic address: jmlee866@yahoo.com.tw.
authors.forename: J-M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Finance, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua, Taiwan. Electronic address: sonichsieh@yahoo.com.tw.
authors.forename: C-J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hsieh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003132:Commerce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D013660:Taxes; D062789:Tobacco Products / Q000191:economics*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Brand switching; Cigarette price; Smoking behaviour; Smoking cessation; Smoking-related changes; Tobacco Health and Welfare Surcharge