Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/34863
Appears in Collections:Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport Journal Articles
Peer Review Status: Refereed
Title: Reasons for Using Roll your Own Tobacco and Perceptions of Health Promoting Pack Inserts A Focus Group Study with Roll your Own Tobacco Smokers in Scotland
Author(s): Moodie, Crawford
O’Donnell, Rachel
Contact Email: r.c.odonnell@stir.ac.uk
Keywords: Public Health
Environmental and Occupational Health
Issue Date: Dec-2022
Date Deposited: 20-Jan-2023
Citation: Moodie C & O’Donnell R (2022) Reasons for Using Roll your Own Tobacco and Perceptions of Health Promoting Pack Inserts A Focus Group Study with Roll your Own Tobacco Smokers in Scotland. <i>Nicotine and Tobacco Research</i>, 24 (12), p. 1937–1944. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntac184
Abstract: Introduction: Use of roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco is increasing in most regions, but few qualitative studies have explored why RYO smokers use this product, and no study has considered their views of health-promoting pack inserts. Methods: Eight focus groups were conducted with 18–35-year-old RYO smokers (n = 50) in Greater Glasgow (Scotland) in February–March 2020 to explore reasons for using RYO and perceptions of health-promoting inserts. Participants were shown four inserts adapted from those required in cigarette packs in Canada, with all encouraging quitting, and two RYO-specifc inserts explaining that RYO is not less harmful than cigarettes. Results: Lower price, better taste, the pleasure of rolling and ability to customize roll-ups, and the belief that RYO was less harmful than cigarettes were drivers for use. There were mixed perceptions of the extent to which inserts would capture attention if included in RYO packs. The positive messaging used on the Canadian inserts was considered motivational and inspirational, and contrasted with the on-pack warnings. The messaging on the RYO inserts, in comparison, was viewed unfavorably and generally dismissed. Participants, most of whom were not interested in quitting, did not feel that inserts would lead them to change their smoking behavior. However, some felt that the Canadian inserts could be helpful for those thinking about quitting and young people contemplating smoking. Conclusions: Inserts with positive messaging about quitting, rather than messaging explicating the harms of RYO, were preferred by RYO smokers. What, if any, RYO-specific messaging resonates with RYO smokers merits further attention. Implications: Aside from price, taste, and the pleasure associated with rolling and ability to individualize roll-ups, the erroneous belief that RYO is less harmful than cigarettes was a key reason for use. While inserts with positive messaging about quitting, as used on the Canadian inserts, were viewed as potentially helpful, inserts that challenged the idea that RYO was not less harmful than cigarettes were generally dismissed. Research is needed to understand what types of RYO-specifc messaging could most effectively be used on inserts, or indeed in other media, to challenge the misperceptions that many RYO smokers hold.
DOI Link: 10.1093/ntr/ntac184
Rights: © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Licence URL(s): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
RYO Tobacco and perceptions of pack Inserts.pdfFulltext - Published Version12.78 MBAdobe PDFView/Open



This item is protected by original copyright



A file in this item is licensed under a Creative Commons License Creative Commons

Items in the Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

The metadata of the records in the Repository are available under the CC0 public domain dedication: No Rights Reserved https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

If you believe that any material held in STORRE infringes copyright, please contact library@stir.ac.uk providing details and we will remove the Work from public display in STORRE and investigate your claim.