Smokeless Tobacco Products as a Harm-Reduction Mechanism: A Research Agenda
Published 11/1/2008
Author: Charles R. Taylor and Michael L. Capella
View this contentExecutive Summary
Increased awareness of the dangers of cigarettes has failed to prevent millions of Americans from continuing to smoke. Thus, policy makers should consider viable options to reduce the harmful effects of smoking. Among the proposed options is increasing public awareness of the relative health risk of smokeless tobacco in comparison to cigarettes. A review of the literature indicates that the vast majority of scientific evidence suggests that smokeless tobacco is considerably less harmful than cigarettes. Therefore, innovative approaches to nicotine replacement, such as smokeless tobacco, may provide an effective means of reducing the overall harm associated with smoking and may ultimately reduce smoking prevalence in the United States. The underlying principle of harm reduction is that a product that has adverse health consequences is promoted as a substitute for one that has more severe adverse health consequences. Research studies indicate that a substantial portion of the risk associated with smoking might be eliminated with the smokeless tobacco products (including spit-free options) currently available on the market. Although the exact magnitude of reduction in risk gained from substituting the use of smokeless tobacco (in particular, one low in nitrosamine, the primary carcinogen in smokeless tobacco) for cigarette smoking is not easily quantified and can lead to disagreement, there appears to be a consensus among experts that smokeless tobacco is considerably safer than cigarettes. However, Americans are not well informed about the differential risks of smokeless tobacco use, especially in comparison to smoking. Thus, the debate is no longer about whether smokeless tobacco is viewed by the scientific community as a significantly reduced-risk alternative compared to cigarette smoking. The question now is whether that information should be communicated to the public and what are the potential ramifications for doing so. Many public health and tobacco policy experts have argued that smokers have a fundamental right to accurate information about less hazardous tobacco products and that smokeless tobacco should be encouraged as an option for adult smoking cessation.
This article offers a review of the relevant literature and puts forth a research agenda to advance the notion of tobacco harm reduction. The policy debate would be enhanced by evidence of the constructs and relationships outlined in the proposed model, which depicts the impact of tobacco harm-reduction information on adult smokers and nonsmokers. Specifically, the authors discuss five particular areas of needed research: (1) To what degree is the public aware of the relative level of health risk associated with smokeless tobacco? (2) If the public were aware of the relative level of health risk associated with smokeless tobacco versus cigarettes, would it make a difference in consumption intentions and behaviors? (3) Does the public believe it has a right to know the best available information on the relative risk of products? (4) How can harm-reduction information be effectively disseminated? and (5) Would better dissemination of information on the risk level of smokeless tobacco contribute positively to public health?
Biography
Charles R. Taylor is Professor of Marketing at Villanova University and Senior Research Fellow for the Villanova University Center for Marketing and Public Policy Research. Professor Taylor holds the John A. Murphy Endowed Chair in Marketing. He received his PhD from Michigan State University. His primary research interests are in the area of marketing and public policy, including advertising regulation; signage regulation; and global issues, such as country-of-origin claims. Professor Taylor served as President of the American Academy of Advertising in 2005. He also has been named a Fulbright Senior Specialist. He has published numerous articles on marketing and public policy in leading academic journals and serves on several editorial review boards. Professor Taylor was recently listed as one of the leading contributors to Journal of Public Policy & Marketing and has served as an expert witness in several court cases involving marketing and public policy issues.
Michael L. Capella is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Villanova University. Professor Capella’s research interests focus on the area of marketing and public policy issues, including topics related to advertising effects, consumer consumption of harmful products, and pharmaceutical marketing practices. Before receiving his PhD in Marketing from Mississippi State University, Professor Capella spent eight years in professional sales management with a bakery ingredients manufacturer. His industry experience included account management and relationship marketing with large retail grocery chains, wholesale accounts, and channel intermediaries. Professor Capella has forthcoming articles and publications in leading journal outlets, including Journal of Retailing, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, and Journal of Advertising. He has also presented at various professional conferences and has published his work in the conference proceedings. For example, he received the 2006 Marketing and Public Policy Conference Best Conference Paper award.
Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Volume 27, Number 2, Fall 2008
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