An Investigation of the Impact of Retail Distribution on Tobacco Purchase and Smoking, and on High-kilojoule Food Purchases

This report summarises the results of a pilot study designed to investigate environmental, particularly retail, influences on cigarette purchase and smoking, and for overweight subjects trying to lose weight, environmental influences on purchase and consumption of high kilojoule foods (HKF). The study included three stages of data collection: 1) in-depth interviews with 36 subjects, including quitters, smokers, and overweight and obese subjects trying to lose weight 2) collection of audio recordings and photos from 35 subjects over a four day period, recording when and why they were tempted to buy tobacco and/or smoke, and/or for individuals trying to lose weight, purchase and consume HKF and 3) follow up interviews with 18 subjects, presenting general and specific results to subjects to test the researchers’ interpretation of the data with subjects.