Who is the target? Package health warnings and the role of market segmentation

Guidelines for implementation of Article 11 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control recognise that ‘it is important to assess the impact of packaging and labelling measures on the target populations,’ yet how target populations may be identified is largely unspecified.1 We have previously characterised that early tobacco control efforts are often implemented in a given jurisdiction with a mass market approach, where the total population is treated in its entirety and largely undivided, but market segmentation should be adopted over time.2 Indeed, marketing strategists normally recognise the human diversity of consumers they are attempting to influence and a segmentation strategy involves the identification of well-defined consumer subgroups who share certain common characteristics to facilitate marketing communication that is more efficient, customised and personally relevant. When people find a message personally relevant, they are more likely to pay attention and process the message more thoroughly.

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