Sex differences in cigarette brand purchases among adult smokers: results from the DePICT national repeated survey of French adults (2016–2017)

Objective The tobacco industry has been reported to employ sex-specific marketing strategies, which include different types of tobacco packaging, publicity, as well as price strategies. We examined whether characteristics associated with the purchase of more expensive cigarette brands varied by sex, in the context of the introduction of plain tobacco packaging and the strengthening of tobacco control policies in France. Methods Our study population consists of 1380 regular smokers of manufactured cigarettes from the DePICT study, a nation-wide two-wave survey of French adults aged 18–64 years. Participants were interviewed by telephone in 2016 and 2017. Factors associated with the use of more vs. less expensive cigarette brands were determined by multivariable logistic regression stratified by sex. Results Several sex-specific factors were associated with the purchase of more expensive cigarette brands. In women, those factors included higher education, cannabis use, and no use of roll-your-own tobacco. While in men purchase of more expensive cigarette brands was linked to younger age, being born outside of France, living with a non-smoker, and attachment to the cigarette brand. Discussion Factors which predict tobacco purchase patterns are different in women and men, highlighting the need for sex-specific tobacco control initiatives to counter the tobacco industry’s gendered marketing.