The effect of cigarette plain packaging on individuals' health warning recall

To examine the extent to which increasingly plainer packaging might increase recall of health warnings.

A 4 (pack ID levels) x 2 (smoking status: smokers and non-smokers) between-subjects design in which participants were randomly assigned to view one package.

Two hundred and twenty students from three universities in Nova Scotia, Canada, participated in the survey.

Participants were asked to recall the health warning on their package.

A sequential binary logistic regression test to examine whether plain packaging and/or smoking status affects health warning recall.

The odds of recalling the correct health warnings were significantly higher for the two plainest packages relative to the original package. The odds of recalling the correct health warning were also higher for non-smokers relative to smokers.

The results provide compelling evidence that health warnings on plain packages can be more easily recalled.