Participants’ quotes demonstrating themes relating to packet branding appeal, perceptions, and attitudes
| Theme 1. Packet branding and product appeal | |
| Quality and taste | ‘I just know that Mevius tastes better than the other brands, which are like cheap or old brands.’ 18–21 years, garment manufacturing employee ‘Mevius has the best quality’. 22–24 years, garment manufacturing employee ‘I think this packet would taste the best because it looks like Mevius, which has a strong taste’. 18–21 years, hospitality/tourism employee ‘This packet of cigarettes tastes the best because it looks like Mevius, the brand I smoke… I like the taste’. 22–24 years, hospitality/tourism employee ‘This packet of cigarettes would taste the best because it has the light flavour and smooth smoke’. 18–21 years, construction worker ‘Young people probably like this brand because it has a light smoke and good taste, like fruit flavours’. 22–24 years, garment manufacturing employee |
| Flavour change capsules | ‘This brand also have the flavour click. So when you press the cigarette, the smoke starts to taste like grape. It tastes really fresh’. 22–24 years, hospitality/tourism employee ‘This packet of cigarettes would taste the best because it has the click option on the filter, which you can use to make the cigarette taste like fruit’. 22–24 years, hospitality/tourism employee ‘This packet of cigarettes would be the most popular with young people because it has the click option, where you can change the flavour of the cigarette to menthol or fruit’. 18–21 years, university student |
| Theme 2. Packet branding and harm perceptions | |
| Weaker smoke and less harmful | ‘This packet of cigarettes would taste the best because they look easy to smoke, not like the other packets which would be too strong for me’. 18–21 years, university student ‘The other brands like ARA have a strong taste and smell, but Mevius has a light taste and smell which young people like’. 22–24 years, university student ‘This brand of cigarettes makes smoke that is like smoke from vaping, sort of like not as strong and sort of light’. 22–24 years, hospitality/tourism employee ‘I know this packet of cigarettes is Mevius. If I smoke another brand, then I feel dizzy and sick, so I just smoke Mevius’. 18–21 years, university student ‘It makes a light smoke which is not too strong for your lungs’. 18–21 years, university student |
| Suitable for young smokers | ‘Young people would like this brand because it looks the cigarettes would be a light flavour, which means the smoke is not too strong for young people’. ‘This light smoke is good for them because it does not leave a bad smell on their body or mouth after they smoke it’. 22–24 years, garment manufacturing employee ‘The other ones make me cough, and I don’t like them. This brand is also good because the smoke is not too strong, which is good for me because I am trying to reduce how many cigarettes I have each week’. 22–24 years, garment manufacturing ‘This packet would be popular to young people because it doesn’t look too strong, so it’s a good brand for young people who are new to smoking or just want to try it’. 18–21 years, hospitality/tourism employee |
| Theme 3. Tobacco brands and social hierarchies | |
| Different brands for young and older smokers | ‘Young people would prefer the Mevius cigarettes because the other brands are more for older smokers. Like ARA is what older people smoke’. 22–24 years, university student ‘This brand would be the most popular among young smokers because everybody has friends who smoke Mevius. It is kind of like the youth brand’. 22–24 years, hospitality/tourism employee ‘This packet is Mevius which is for young people. The other brands are for older people’. 18–21 years, hospitality/tourism employee ‘This brand of cigarettes is the most popular with young people because the other brands are just for older people to smoke’. 22–24 years, hospitality/tourism employee |
| Social status | ‘Young people like Mevius because they think it makes them look handsome and cool, like special’. 22–24 years, construction worker ‘I guess people feel cool when they smoke this brand’. 18–21 years, university student ‘I think Mevius is a brand of cigarette for young people in the city. Other brands like ARA are for older people in the rural area, like lower-class people’. 18–21 years, hospitality/tourism employee |
| Social connection | ‘I think about 90% of young people I know smoke Mevius. I guess that it is popular among our friends, so we just copy each other. Like, I share cigarettes with my friends and they share their cigarettes with me, so we are always smoking the same brands as our friends’. 22–24 years, university student ‘This packet of cigarettes would be the most popular among young people in Cambodia because it looks like Mevius, which everybody smokes, so they just follow their friends. They do what their friends do’. 18–21 years, hospitality/tourism employee ‘This packet would be popular among young people because all their friends smoke this brand. It’s very popular, so most people know it and then just follow what their friends do’. 22–24 years, hospitality/tourism employee ‘This brand is popular among young people because they just follow what their friends do, and everyone smokes this brand’. 22–24 years, hospitality/tourism employee |
| Theme 4. Brand loyalty | |
| ‘I know that this one is the most delicious because it is the brand that I smoke now, so I already know that it tastes good’. 22–24 years, hospitality/tourism employee ‘This brand of cigarettes is popular among me and my friends. Even though the price is sort of high, we still all smoke this brand’. 18–21 years, hospitality/tourism employee ‘For me, this packet is the best taste because it is the brand that I smoke now, which has a good flavour. I have tried other brands, but I prefer this brand’. 22–24 years, garment manufacturing employee ‘This is the Mevius brand that I know. Mevius is the brand that I smoke when I first try a cigarette. I never change my brand. I keep smoking Mevius now’. 22–24 years, hospitality/tourism employee ‘I think this packet of cigarettes would taste the best because it is the European brand. I first started smoking this brand, so now I cannot change my brand’. 18–21 years, hospitality/tourism employee | |