Cigarette Factories Should Be An Unwelcomed Guest Overseas
U.S. tobacco giant Philip Morris recently began constructing a $300 million cigarette factory in the Philippines. While overseas governments are focusing on the short-term investment and revenue gains these cigarette factories create, a Penn State marketing professor warns that they are ignoring the long-term medical costs and loss of worker productivity associated with cigarette smoking.
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA--U.S. tobacco giant Philip Morris recently began
constructing a $300 million cigarette factory in the Philippines. While
overseas governments are focusing on the short-term investment and revenue
gains these cigarette factories create, a Penn State marketing professor
warns that they are ignoring the long-term medical costs and loss of worker
productivity associated with cigarette smoking.
"Appealing to young adults to smoke while simultaneously pretending
to be working to avoid attracting minors is a fiction that the cigarette
companies are having increasing trouble maintaining in this country. It
appears somewhat easier to do overseas," says Marvin E. Goldberg,
professor of marketing in Penn State's Smeal College of Business.
Goldberg's research over the years has focused on assessing factors contributing
to advertising's effectiveness, and much of his work has involved the
study of advertising's effects on children and adolescents.
"My research has shown that the lure of America, promoted by Hollywood
and Madison Avenue extends to the very far reaches of Asia. Youths of
Thailand, China, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries are
not likely to make it to our shores, but thanks to our marketing efforts,
they can vicariously share in our lifestyle through our products,"
says Goldberg.
He has completed several studies on the topic, including one that revealed
Thai teenagers who are familiar with the Western media and events sponsored
by cigarette companies are more likely to have smoked. In that study,
he covered 1,300 high school students from Bangkok and investigated the
smoking patterns of teenagers in the kingdom and the factors influencing
these patterns. Among the factors found to play an important role in influencing
the smoking pattern of teenagers in Thailand were sex, family habits,
peer pressure and the media, music and cigarette sponsorships.
In another study by Goldberg, a survey of over 1700 Hong Kong adolescents
indicates that their smoking-related behaviors are related to their exposure
to cigarette advertising, promotional products and movies. American media
and tobacco firms dominate these industries, resulting in strong preferences
for American cigarette brands, particularly Marlboro. It is suggested
that the adolescents' motives in developing these preferences may be to
associate with what they perceive to be a global set of values and lifestyles.
