The association between smokers

Abstract

This article assessed the reliability of a measure of the latent construct 'smoking sensory experience.' The authors further measured the relationship between 'smoking sensory experience' and smokers' rating of the importance of the appearance of cigarettes/cigarette packs in brand choice and smoking dependence. Analyses involved a national sample of smokers (n = 633) who participated in the 2010 South African Social Attitudes Survey (N = 3,112). Smokers ranked on a scale of 1���5, the importance of the following attributes in choosing their cigarette brand: health concerns, cost, packaging, taste, satisfaction, and lavor/strength. Using structural equation modeling, an a priori model was speciied based on the hypothesis that taste, satisfaction, and lavor/strength are measures of a construct of ���smoking sensory experience��� and that cigarette packaging would be positively related to 'smoking sensory experience.' Furthermore, 'smoking sensory experience' would be positively related to cigarettes smoked per day. The latent construct���'smoking sensory experience' was considered reliable (Cronbach's = 0.75). The structural equation model conirmed that the speciied model itted the data well (goodness of it index = 0.993; normed it index = 0.978; root mean square error of approximation = 0.031). Higher 'smoking sensory experience' was positively associated with increasing cigarettes smoked per day ( = 0.12). Higher rating of the cigarette package in brand choice positively covaried with both ���smoking sensory experience��� ( = 0.29), and higher rating of health considerations ( = 0.42). These findings support the regulation of the appearance of cigarettes/cigarette packs to reduce cigarettes��� appeal and abuse liability in line with Article 11 of WHO���s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.