The self-service provision helps prevent a young person's easy access to cigarettes and chewing tobacco from both over-the-counter sales and from shoplifting. It does so in three ways;

1. By requiring minors to verbally ask a store clerk for the brand and type of cigarettes or chew they want, and by requiring the clerk to obtain the tobacco for the minor, there is a much greater likelihood during this interchange and transaction that the clerk will notice that the buyer is underage; thereby checking an I.D. and refusing the sale.
2. By putting the single packs of cigarettes and single containers of chew behind the counter or in locked cases, pilferage is virtually eliminated.
3. By eliminating self-service promotional displays and racks of cigarettes and chew, as well as point-of-purchase tobacco-related promotional merchandise targeted at youth, the effectiveness of the tobacco industry's #1 method of encouraging illegal sales, pilferage and tobacco use by minors is reduced.

Tobacco industry incentives to retailers & wholesalers for store and point-of-purchase advertising and promotions:

Promotional Allowances:

• Slotting fees/allowances to retailers
• Advertising fees/allowances to retailers
• Trade promotions to wholesalers

Retail marketing techniques of the tobacco industry:

• Point-of-Purchase Advertising
• Coupons and Retail Value Added Offers (money-off coupons, multi-pack promotional discounts, buy one-get one free offers)
• Sampling Distribution
• Specialty Item Distribution

Tobacco industry marketing efforts at the retail level reflect a trend away from paid advertising (billboards & media) towards store and point-of-purchase advertising & promotions:

• 2/3 of Tobacco industry's $4 Billion Annual Expenditure on Advertising & Promotion Now Goes For Retail Marketing.

Tobacco industry justification:

• Promote Brand Loyalty by Current Adult Smokers
• Encourage Brand Switching by Current Adult Smokers

Environmental cues promoting youth tobacco access, initiation & use saturate retail stores with:

• Attractive Themes
• Powerful Positive Messages
• Enticing Images
• Slick Cartoon Characters

Tobacco messages powerfully influence vulnerable youth, particularly those from low socio-economic status backgrounds, by promoting:

• Material Success
• Social Acceptance
• Sexual Prowess
• Independence
• Physical Attractiveness
• Good Health

Categories of store and point-of purchase tobacco advertising and promotional merchandising

1. Outdoor sign and banner advertisements and price board.
2. Self-service promotional displays on floor and countertops near or at point-of-purchase.
3. In-store sign/decal advertisements on doors, windows, shopping carts and baskets, and checkout counters.
4. Store hours/open and closed signs/deals, price boards, clocks, calendars, counter placements, and structural additions to checkout counters.
5. Tobacco-related promotional merchandise such as ball caps, t-shirts, jackets, coffee mugs, lighters, calendars, etc.
6. Advertisements of special promotional strategies: i.e. Camel cash and catalog of products, Marlboro Adventure Team.

Tobacco industry marketing tactics in retail stores targeting youth

"THE FOUR P's"

PRODUCT:

Cigarettes and Spit Tobacco. Package size and style are used to complement the product's image and availability targeted towards youth.

PROMOTION:

Industry's messages on attributes of product, benefits of using product and enhancing product's public image, all carefully crafted to attract young people.

PLACE:

Location of product at or near point-of-purchase through self-service to promote impulse buying and to increase access and availability to youth.

PRICE:

Tobacco products are very price sensitive for youth. Current price cuts on generic and premium brands are an industry strategy to attract more new youth as customers.