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Strategies 37

the use of the complete marketing mix in trying to achieve certain public
health goals.

Product

• The core product, the benefit promised, is an opportunity for self-
expression, healthy rebellion, and the health benefits of being a nonsmoker.
• The actual product, the desired behavior, is for youth to reject smoking.
•The augmented product includes a variety of opportunities for youth to
express themselves, including sharing tobacco-related information with
their friends through social networking sites and playing games that
educate them about tobacco while entertaining and holding their interest.

Price
Although not a formal part of the truth® Campaign, the Committee on
Reducing Tobacco Use says, “It is well established that an increase in price de-
creases cigarette use and that raising tobacco excise taxes is one of the most
effective policies for reducing use, especially among adolescents” (IOM, 2007,
p. 9). Although, of course, it is illegal in the United States for youth aged 12 to 17
to purchase cigarettes, increases in price have been a deterrent because such un-
derage youth then have to pay others to purchase cigarettes for them.

Place
To illustrate the use of the “place” marketing tool, a recommendation from the
Committee on Reducing Tobacco Use notes that a reasonably enforced youth-
access restriction is an essential element of modern tobacco control. Age verifica-
tion, as well as placing product displays behind the counter and banning
self-service modes of access to tobacco work effectively to reduce youth access.
The commission recommends, therefore, that (#11) all states should license retail
sales outlets that sell tobacco products and (#12) all states should ban the sale of
tobacco products directly to consumers through mail order, the Internet, or other
electronic systems. Further, shipments of tobacco products should be permitted
only to licensed wholesale or retail outlets (IOM, 2007, pp. 10–11).

Promotion

Messages
At the core of the truth® Campaign’s promotional strategies are messages
about the tobacco industry, as well as the health effects, social costs,