3.1.1. Intent to Target Women with Menthol Brands
Tobacco manufacturers identified women as critical to market growth in Japan [17,18], despite negative social attitudes in Japan toward female smoking [19–21].
Product wants identified among female smokers in Japan reflected the need to overcome negative social and personal attitudes of smoking including low tar delivery, less tobacco taste, and reductions in odors particularly in hair and clothing [20,22]. Brands were targeted to women by means of “feminine” attributes including slim, light, mild, box, and menthol [17].
Surveys identified menthol as a major reason for female experimentation and use [23]. Menthol cigarettes tended to be viewed as “a special type” of ‘light’ cigarette [20] and were widely considered to be an exclusively female domain [17,24]. Levels of menthol were typically much lower in Japanese cigarettes relative to US cigarettes [25]. Reasons for menthol use included a perceived lack of the typical tar-like smell of cigarettes [20].
Manufacturers recognized the appeal of menthol not only among women but increasingly among first time, young smokers. A 1990 PMI review of menthol brands observed that the low tar menthol brand Salem was generally successful in:
…attracting a higher proportion of young adult women, in markets where the incidence of young adult female smokers is growing as women become more emancipated. In Japan there are strong indications that the Salem franchise is attracting the same kind of smokers [26].
This reflected a larger trend throughout Asia, including Hong Kong and Malaysia, where foreign menthol brands led by RJR’s Salem “became the natural selection for YAUS (young adult urban smoker) smokers because of its lighter menthol taste compared with full strength [non-menthol] brands” [27]. (see Table 1)
3.1.2. Introduction and Marketing of Menthol Brands
Foreign tobacco companies marketed extensively in Japan during the period immediately following the removal of trade restrictions in order to expand brand awareness and share. Of the 60 billion yen spent on tobacco advertising in Japan in 1993, half was by foreign manufacturers [36]. Marketing included television ads, event sponsorships, and celebrity endorsements, as previously documented in Lambert et al. [37]. The foreign brand segment expanded rapidly, growing from 3.9% in 1986, to 21.2% in 1995 [38].
Marketing expenditures for menthol brands made up only a small fraction of total spending [29,36] and companies appear to have relied heavily on promoting the brand family and not the menthol sub-brand [17,27,39], possibly allowing the properties of the menthol product (taste, coolness) to serve as the main marketing tool. Despite reduced spending, growth within the menthol segment consistently exceeded growth of the total market and was driven by foreign brands including Salem, Virginia Slims, Kool, and Marlboro Menthol [40]. Foreign brands made up 16% of all menthol cigarettes sold in 1981 (or less than 0.1% of the total market), but 58% of the menthol segment in 1992 [4,36]. Menthol brands had grown to 5% of the total market by 1995, 10% by 2000, and 20% by 2008 [15,36,40].
Menthol brands continued to be targeted primarily toward female smokers, with Kool, a high menthol, tar and nicotine cigarette, being the major exception targeted towards male current smokers [20,41]. Brand extensions were a key strategy for introducing new menthol products, for example, Philip Morris introduced Virginia Slims Ultra Light Menthol, capitalizing on the preference of female smokers for lower tar brands with low nicotine impact combined with “coolness” derived from menthol [18,42,43]. Salem Pianissimo (a menthol sub-brand of Salem) was introduced in 1995 as a “low smoke and low odor” brand targeted at women. By the end of 1996 it was the third largest brand in the menthol segment [44].
Salem and Virginia Slims dominated menthol sales in Japan through the early 1990s. In 1992, Salem Lights made up 23% of all menthol sold in Japan, while Virginia Slim Lights Menthol (VSLM) had a 20% share [45]. The only major domestic menthol brand, Sometime Lights, held a comparable share of the menthol market (~22%) in 1992, but declined to 12% by 1995 [45]. Menthol extensions of other domestic brands (e.g., Mild Seven, Frontier) were minor players in the menthol market as was the foreign brand Kool, with each holding less than 5% of all menthol sales [45]. The total Salem family had grown to 2.4% of the total Japanese market in 1995, and 4.2% projected for 1996 [46]. However, the profile of the Salem brand family shifted with the introduction of extensions such as Pianissimo and Salem Slim Lights (see Figure 2). In 1992, fifty-five percent of Salem smokers were in their 20’s. By 1995 only 39% were in their 20’s and 43% were aged 30–39 [46].
Marlboro Lights Menthol were launched in 1993, and Marlboro Menthol in 1995. Both brands were initially positioned against Kool as a “men’s menthol” and quickly gained market share [36]. Marlboro menthol sales soon exceeded its non-menthol sales [47,48], despite the fact that marketing for menthol was less than 2% of overall brand spending [36].
By 1998 Marlboro Lights Menthol had taken the leading position within the menthol segment and Marlboro Menthol brands were “dramatically gaining the share [sic] among young females” [49]. By 2000, Marlboro held 35% of the menthol market in Japan, and Marlboro Lights Menthol held more than a quarter of the menthol market, double the share of any other single menthol brand [50,51].
A PM analysis into these brand dynamics separated the menthol market into “feminine” and “not-feminine”, and noted that Marlboro had grown successful among younger Japanese women precisely because it was not considered exclusively feminine and yet was perceived as acceptable among women (see Table 2) [49]. Among the significant brand differences, Marlboro Menthol Lights were King size while major Salem and VSLM entries were longer length and slimmer cigarettes. Marlboro also had higher per puff “tar” and nicotine, and a relatively low level of menthol (see Table 3) [52]. Decreasing femininity-image coincided with increasing per puff nicotine (strength) and decreasing menthol (ease) in the rod. Thus, the success of Marlboro Menthol represented an important shift for young women further into the smoking mainstream.
3.1.3. Impact of Menthol Brands on Trial and Use
Menthol brands proved uniquely successful in reaching female smokers in Japan. In a 1989 Philip Morris survey (N = 50,000), Virginia Slim Lights Menthol (VSLM) and Salem Lights profiled as the most female-oriented brands on the Japanese market, with 76% of VSLM smokers and 38% of Salem Lights smokers identified as women [23].
An ongoing wave-based survey of smokers (N = 4,000) conducted for Brown & Williamson in 1990 found that menthol accounted for 2% of regular brands smoked by men, and 10% of regular brands smoked by women in 1990 [53]. In 1996 the survey (N = 3,000) showed that male smokers accounted for 81.5% of the non-menthol market, and female smokers 18.5%, matching their respective share of the total market. Yet women comprised 61% of the menthol market to men’s 39%. Half of these female menthol smokers were in the 20–29 year old age group, and 45% of all menthol smokers (male and female) were aged 20–29, compared with 22.5% of all non-menthol smokers [36].
Foreign menthol brands were more successful than domestic menthol brands in attracting younger smokers, and profiled younger than non-menthol import brands. In a 1985 Philip Morris study on smoking profiles for major import and domestic brands, smokers aged 20–29 made up 24% or the cigarette market, but 62% of Salem and 49% of VSLM, the two most popular import menthol brands [54]. A 1994 PMI continuous tracking survey (N = 30,000) identified VSLM with 14% of the 20–24 year old female market, and Salem Lights with 7% (ranked second and fourth behind Mild Seven Lights and Mild Seven) versus total share among women of 6% and 2%, respectively [55].
The 1989 Philip Morris survey identified the average age for smokers of individual brand styles [23]. VSLM (aged 28.5) and Salem Lights (27.7) were two of only three brands that profiled as under age 30, with nearly three-quarters (71.6% and 72.4%, respectively) of each brands’ smokers aged 20–29. Major domestic brands Mild Seven (40.3) and Caster (38%) were among those used by the oldest population (both non-menthol).
A 1992 Philip Morris intercept survey of Japanese smokers (N = 20,996) identified the three youngest Japanese brands as VSLM (29.3), Marlboro Lights (29.9), and Salem Light (30.7) [56]. The survey also identified the percent of smokers of each brand that were first time smokers, and the brand with the highest rate of first time smokers was VSLM (11.3%, N = 345). Philip Morris also conducted ongoing surveys on brand use among the YAS (young adult smoker) segment of smokers aged 18–24. By 1995, Marlboro had grown to become the second leading brand among YAS (12.7%), behind only Mild Seven (34.5%) [57]. Marlboro (combining both menthol and non-menthol sub-brands) became the leading brand among YAS in 2000 [50].