Smokers' beliefs and attitudes about purchasing cigarettes on the Internet

Our objectives were to explore qualitatively how smokers find out about Internet cigarette sales and what factors motivate them to purchase cigarettes on-line, and to quantitatively describe the Internet cigarette purchasing behaviors and attitudes of Internet cigarette buyers.

Qualitative in-depth telephone interviews were conducted with 21 adult smokers who had purchased or contemplated purchasing cigarettes online. Findings from the qualitative study were used to develop a survey module on Internet cigarette purchasing behavior that was administered to 187 New Jersey adult smokers.

Smokers who purchased cigarettes on-line were primarily motivated by lower prices, which occur because Internet vendors generally sell cigarettes without paying excise taxes for the destination state. Most Internet cigarette buyers first learned about on-line cigarette sales from interpersonal sources who had purchased on-line. New Jersey adult smokers who purchased cheaper cigarettes from the Internet and other lower-taxed sources significantly increased their consumption over time, compared to smokers who reported paying full-price at traditional bricks-and-mortar retail stores.

Policies that have the effect of equalizing Internet cigarette prices with those at retail stores will likely deter smokers from purchasing cigarettes on-line. Internet cigarette vendors should be required to comply with the same provisions that apply to bricks-and-mortar retail vendors and charge appropriate state and local cigarette excise taxes. In the absence of such policies, the sales of cheaper, tax-free cigarettes on-line will undermine the public health benefit of raising cigarette prices.