Evaluation of Retailers' Behaviour Towards Certain Youth Access-to-Tobacco Restrictions (Final Report Findings: 2005)

Executive Summary

Background

This report summarizes results from the latest independent investigation into retailer behaviour with respect to key aspects of Canadian tobacco legislation, in particular that part of the laws regarding youth access to tobacco. The laws regulating tobacco sales in Canada are embodied in the federal government's Tobacco Act and in corresponding provincial legislation. The Corporate Research Group Ltd. (CRG) has conducted the independent measurements of retailer compliance with the sales-to-minors provisions of the laws for Health Canada since 2004. The study has been conducted since 1995.

The scope and methodology of this work has evolved over the years but maintain direct links to the original study design. In the effort to provide as much continuity as possible with the baseline measurements established in prior years, CRG's approach to the study was to keep the field research and data reporting methods held as constant as possible with those of previous years. Notes are provided where and when changes to the methodology occurred, as well as cautionary advice on how to interpret the data.

Research teams consisting of one young Canadian (15, 16 or 17 years old) and one adult (over 19 years old) were sent into tobacco-selling establishments across 30 cities in each of 10 Canadian provinces. Minors attempted to buy a brand-name pack of cigarettes but refused the transaction if retailers appeared willing to sell. If asked their age, teens were instructed to be untruthful. However, they carried no identification and made no effort to disguise their appearance. Adult observers were responsible for the supervision of minors as well as for the collection of data relating to the posting of signs consistent with the tobacco laws and for the gathering of information relating to the availability of tobacco advertising at point of sale. Team members operated independently of one another.

Retailers in five classes of trade were sampled: chain convenience, gas stores/kiosks, grocery, independent convenience, and pharmacies (only in provinces where the sale of tobacco in pharmacies is permitted).

A total of 5,561 stores were visited. Thirty cities across Canada form part of this study. The same cities have been consistently studied since 2002.

In Saskatchewan, unlike the 2004 survey, retailers were considered non-compliant if signs were posted other than those mandated by law.  This was due to various amendments to legislation which have come into force.

Observations relating to "Operation ID" have only been studied for the past four years. All other measurements for this year's survey were collected and recorded in the same way as always.

Key Findings

1. Tobacco Sales-to-Minors Legislation: Retailer Behaviour with Respect to Provisions Prohibiting Tobacco Sales to Minors (Tables A, B, C)

The national retailer compliance levels regarding youth access to tobacco has exceeded the Federal Tobacco Control Strategy's (FTCS) 10-year target objective of 80% or greater. The current level stands at 80.8%.

Nationally, the percentage of retailers refusing to sell cigarettes to underage Canadians declined from last year's results of 82.3%. The figure is weighted (i.e., raw data has been extrapolated to reflect conditions we might have found had all stores in the 30 cities been visited instead of just a sample of stores). Using the empirical rule, 95% of the elements have a parameter that falls within two standard deviations of the mean for that parameter in a normal distribution.  Therefore, the results are accurate +/- 2 points at the 95% confidence level, meaning any result that is this year's findings that is within +/- 2 points from last year's results is statistically insignificant and statistically significant if the difference is outside of this range. Hence, on a national level, the variance of -1.5% between 2005 and 2004 represents a statistically insignificant decrease.

Please use caution when applying the national confidence level and, subsequently, the margin of error when comparing sub-category results, i.e., class of trade, region, between this year and last year.  The national confidence level is used to give a broad margin of error and it is not intended to be applied to sub-categories or smaller samples. Confidence levels may vary in small sample sizes of sub-categories, since standard deviations may also vary due to the uniqueness of the samples' distribution around the mean.

Consistent with the slight decrease in the percentage of retailers refusing to sell to underage youth, the number of retailers asking for ID also declined. This year indicates a compliance of 76.4% when asking for ID, a decrease of 3.7% over the 2004 results (80.1%). 

Retailers' willingness to sell to minors increases with the age of the minor. This study shows that a retailer's willingness to sell tobacco products increases by 13.4% for 17 year olds over 15 year olds. Compliance rates were highest among the "25+ but not senior" category age group of the retail clerk (82.5%). This year, retailers were more compliant when the gender of the minor was male (85.3%) versus female (76.3%); a switch from previous years' observations where the females were more likely to be refused the sale of tobacco. And, female clerks asked for ID and refused to sell more often than males; consistent with previous years. These variances are statistically significant.

Also consistent with the national compliance levels, retailers refusing to sell to minors near schools and/or malls decreased slightly but not significantly this year by 0.7% (82.7%). Retailers elsewhere were compliant 79.7% of the time, a national decrease of 1.5% over 2004. The difference in total compliance by proximity to schools and/or malls is statistically significant (3.0%).  The time of day of the visit was consistent with the last year's results. The trend was that retailers were more compliant before noon and became less compliant as the day progressed. Compliance rates dropped from 88.0% before noon to 77.6% after 6:00 pm. Consistent with last year's results, clerks were found less likely to show willingness to sell when adult customers were present in the store at the time of the minor's attempt to purchase cigarettes.

In 2005, the highest rate of compliance among the five classes of trade studied in this report belongs to pharmacies, consistent with previous years. Although there has been a reduction in the overall number of pharmacies selling tobacco products, there is an increase in compliancy levels among those pharmacies continuing to sell tobacco products. Among the trade classes, grocery stores rank second and chain convenience stores rank third in compliance. All classes of trade, except pharmacies, have decreased in compliance levels since last year's study. However, chain convenience, gas stores/kiosks and independent convenience stores have an insignificant decrease (+/- 2 points). Grocery stores decreased in compliance by 2.3%.

This year, although the national compliance level showed an insignificant change over last year, not all regions maintained status quo. There are six regions that experienced a substantial (double-digit) increase and six that experienced a substantial decrease in compliance this year over last. They are:

Increase

Saint John	Δ 50.7%
Saskatoon	Δ 34.6%
St. John's	Δ 28.2%
Vancouver 4	Δ 28.0%
Fredericton	Δ 18.7%
Brandon	Δ 10.5%

Decrease

Moncton	Δ -25.8%
Red Deer	Δ -21.7%
Thunder Bay	Δ -17.5%
Sherbrooke	Δ -13.5%
Bathurst	Δ -13.0%
Edmonton	Δ -11.3%

Among the encouraging details from the latest survey are these:

• 23 of 30 cities we visited reported compliance levels of 75% or greater. In descending order, they are:
  
  

  City	Compliance Level
  SAINT JOHN	99.0%
  SASKATOON	99.0%
  ST. JOHN'S (NL)	98.4%
  KINGSTON	94.4%
  FREDERICTON	94.3%
  WINDSOR	94.2%
  KELOWNA	94.1%
  REGINA	92.9%
  VANCOUVER CMA	92.8%
  SYDNEY	92.5%
  OTTAWA	91.0%
  CHICOUTIMI JONQUIERE	90.7%
  CALGARY	90.3%
  CHARLOTTETOWN (PEI)	90.1%
  MEDICINE HAT	88.8%
  SUDBURY	88.1%
  ST. CATHARINES	86.5%
  BATHURST	84.2%
  HALIFAX	80.5%
  CAMPBELL RIVER COURTENAY	78.5%
  EDMONTON	78.4%
  RED DEER	78.3%
  BRANDON	77.2%

  
  
• the list contains five cities that were not on last year's list of cities with highest compliance: Saint John, Saskatoon, St. John's, Halifax, and Brandon; the first three listed achieved the highest levels of compliance;
• sales-to-minors compliance is at 80% or better (i.e., within the national target) in 19 of the 30 cities studied; 
• in 2005, compliance levels improved by a significant amount (double digits) in 6 regions: St. John's, Fredericton, Saint John, Brandon, Saskatoon and Vancouver 4;
• gains in Saint John, Saskatoon, St. John's, Kingston, St. Catharines, Sudbury, Montreal, and Vancouver CMA, propelled compliance levels to the highest recorded in their region since the study began taking measurements in 1995; 
• among 21 regions where outlets were visited by 15 year olds, only three regions scored below 80% for this age group, with the lowest being Edmonton (59.7%).  Four regions scored between 80% and 90% and retailers in 14 regions scored higher than 90%;
• among 24 regions where stores were visited by 16 year olds, retailers in six regions scored below 80% for this age group, with the lowest being Montreal (60.1%); retailers in five regions scored between 80% and 90%, and 13 regions scored greater than 90%; 
• retailers in 10 regions scored below 80% for the 17 year olds age group, with the lowest being Quebec City (38.2%). Retailers in five regions scored between 80% and 90%, and retailers in 14 regions scored higher than 90% out of a total of 29 regions in which 17 year olds attempted to buy cigarettes; and
• compliance levels reached a new high (93.2%) among the pharmacies where tobacco is still sold.

This year's survey shows that certain outside variables continue to influence tobacco retailer sales-to-minors behaviour. The age of teens attempting to make a purchase remains among the most significant of these. The data show that compliance drops progressively by increments of approximately 13 percentage points among retailers dealing with 15-, 16- or 17-year-old customers (87.7% compliance for age 15; 74.3% compliance for age 17).

The age and gender of the clerk staffing the tobacco counter also appear to affect the result in measurable ways; older clerks are less apt to sell. And, as always, there exists a strong correlation between the willingness of retailers to ask for proper proof of age and the likelihood that they will refuse a sale to underage youth when no ID is shown.

In 2005, the percentage of retailers who asked for ID was 76.4%, a significant decrease from last year's rate of 80.1%, but still higher than the rates recorded in 2003 and 2002. Of the retailers who asked for ID, 97.9% were unwilling to sell when the minor claimed to not have ID on their person. When the minor wasn't even asked for ID, the minor was still refused a sale 25.2% of the time. This development is a contributing factor to this year's high overall national rate of retailer compliance. Also, the presence of other adults in the store at the time of the intended purchase pays a contributing factor to the compliance level. Retailers were more compliant when adults were present (83.3%) and less compliant when there were none (76.3%).

The findings were less conclusive concerning the influence of other variables on retailer tobacco sales behaviour. There still remains a 3% difference in compliance rates between retailers that are close to schools or malls and retailers that are elsewhere. Although there is a 10% variance between early morning visits and late evening visits, the majority of the visits did take place in the mid-range hours of the day and the compliance levels during these times are roughly the same as the national average. Compliance differences across these variables show no consistent trend and were either not significant nationally, or were at odds to the national result in a number of local markets¹.

Contrary to previous years, retailers are more likely to refuse a sale to underage boys than to underage girls nationally (85.3% refused to boys and 76.3% to girls); this result is not consistent at the level of individual regions. The national finding is skewed by the results in a relatively few number of larger and more populated communities. What is more accurate to say is that the gender of teens remains a variable of influence in some larger urban centres.

Of interest to stakeholders on both sides of the tobacco debate is the effect on retailer compliance of the industry-sponsored "Operation ID" program. This is the fourth year compliance measurements were taken along this dimension. We found an insignificant difference this year compared to last in retailers participating in "Operation ID" (+1.0%). Less than half (44.7%) of the 5,561 establishments visited for this year's study indicated program participation, compared with 43.7% the year before. The variance in participation rates at the regional level were largely dispersed amongst the 30 cities.

For the fourth consecutive year, retailers participating in "Operation ID" registered refusal rates that were significantly better at the national level than those posted by program non-participants (87.8% versus 76.4%, respectively). Measurable differences in line with the national findings were also observed across all retail classes of trade, except pharmacies, where refusal rates were high regardless.

Regionally, results are mixed and suggest that while compliance rates are higher nationally among retailers participating in "Operation ID", regionally, they vary from city to city. Of the 30 cities we visited, three cities showed insignificant differences. The increase in compliance recorded in participating retailers over non-participating retailers was considered large enough to be significant in 16 cities (53% of the sample). Just as meaningful, 11 cities showed a significantly higher compliance rate for non-participating retailers.

2. Tobacco Sales-to-Minors Legislation: Compliance with Posting of Tobacco Age Advisory/Health Warning Signs (Tables D & E)

The percentage of retailers in full compliance with the posting of mandatory tobacco age and health advisory signs was 66.4%, an increase over last year (56.5%). This figure represents the weighted percentage of retailers across all 30 cities visited that met every sign compliance condition we measured.

Full compliance is measured by observing all mandatory signs and the absence of non-authorized signs in Saskatchewan. In Nova Scotia, the size of a particular health warning sign is relative to the length of shelf space attributed to tobacco products; shelves under three metres require that the small sign be posted, and the outlets having shelf space for tobacco longer than three metres require a large sign. In Quebec, the federal sign or the provincial health warning sign must be present.

Different from previous years, in 2005, observations were made relative to sign positioning; however, they were not taken into consideration when determining sign compliance. Due to the loose interpretation of the law specific to sign positioning, this study measures compliance strictly on the basis of whether the required sign was present or not in the outlet. It is likely for this reason that sign compliance rates have risen over last year. This must be taken into consideration when comparing sign compliance rates in trending graphs.

The largest and most significant increases (i.e., double-digit increases) are from 17 regions. These regions are:

• Chicoutimi/Jonquiere (+76.1 points)
• St. John's (+64.2 points)
• Medicine Hat (+50.4 points)
• Red Deer (+55.3 points)
• Moncton (+43.0 points)
• Bathurst (+33.0 points)
• Ottawa (+28.8 points)
• Campbell River/Courtenay (+23.9 points)
• Kingston (+22.4 points)
• Regina (+21.2 points)
• Sudbury (+19.8 points)
• Montreal (+18.2 points)
• Toronto (+17.0 points)
• Vancouver 4 (+16.4 points)
• Calgary (+15.3 points)
• Kelowna (+14.6 points)
• Vancouver 2 (+10.1 points)

These cities represent several provinces and are legislated under a variety of tobacco laws.

There are seven regions where retailer compliance with the posting provisions of the tobacco laws deteriorated over levels in 2004. The largest drops (double digit) occurred in the following regions:

• Saint John (-39.3 points)
• Sydney (-42.7 points)
• Sherbrooke (-23.6 points)
• Charlottetown (-18.0 points)
• Thunder Bay (-16.8 points)
• Halifax (-15.5 points)
• Fredericton (-12.0 points)

The table below records the regions with highest and lowest levels of retailer compliance with the sign provisions of the tobacco laws. Highest compliance was in 10 regions, where the percentage of stores in full compliance was 70% or greater. Lowest compliance was in 16 regions, where the percentage of stores in full compliance was below the national average (i.e., less than 66.4%).

Table D - Weighted - Sign Compliance - Regions Reporting Highest and Lowest Retailer Compliance - 2005

There is a higher chance of failure to comply when more than one sign is mandatory. In Ontario, for example, the law requires that three different signs be posted. The poor showing in Ottawa, Sudbury, Kingston and Toronto is directly attributable to retailers in these cities routinely posting only two of the three necessary signs, failing mostly to post the "No Smoking" sign also demanded by the law.

3. Retail Advertising at Point of Sale (POS) (Table F)

Data on tobacco point-of-sale (POS) advertising permitted under the Tobacco Act was collected for this study. The information summarized in this section was based on the presence of advertising bearing printed trademarks, logos or brand names belonging to tobacco companies. For the purpose of this study, we have reported on observations of danglers, posters, counter-top displays and shelf-talkers separately; all other forms of ads observed are reported in a category called "other ad types". Sponsored event ads void of such trademarks, logos or brand names were excluded from the calculations.

Nationally, we found in-store tobacco-related advertising elements in more than forty percent (40.7%) of stores (Chart 16). This is a weighted figure and is an estimate of conditions we likely would have found had all stores in the universe been visited, not just a sample of stores. This distribution figure represents a decrease from the last two years but higher still than 2002 (32.7%). Although the average number of ads found in those stores with ads has decreased slightly from last year (3.3 pieces this year over 3.8 pieces in 2004), the indication is that tobacco manufacturers are getting exposure with POS support behind their brands.

Where counter-top displays used to be the most widely distributed tobacco brand advertising medium, in 2005, both counter-top displays and shelf-talkers were found in equal quantity (15%) of all stores surveyed (Table 21). While the number of stores supporting posters and "other ad types" have increased slightly in the last year, danglers, shelf-talkers and counter-top displays were observed less often than last year.

The regions where tobacco ad distribution increased the most are listed in Table 22. In the five of the regions (Charlottetown, Quebec City, Red Deer, Kelowna and Brandon), distribution jumped by more than 25% this year.

The highest distribution was found in five regions where over 60% of the outlets surveyed carried some form of tobacco advertisement: Red Deer, Brandon, Chicoutimi/Jonquiere, Saint John, and Sydney.

The weakest recorded number of observations in 2005 were in the following regions: Regina, Saskatoon and St. Catharines.

Small surface retail stores (chain and independent convenience and gas stores/kiosks) remain more likely than larger surface stores to carry tobacco POS merchandising materials. Almost two-thirds (64.3%) of chain convenience nationally carried POS advertising, followed by gas stores/kiosks (46.4%) and independent convenience stores (44.5%) (Table 26).

Nationally, the percentage of stores carrying tobacco ads has decreased across all store types, except grocery, which recorded a marginal increase of 1.3% more ads.

No statistically meaningful difference exists regarding the availability of tobacco advertising based on the proximity of stores to schools and/or malls nationally. Across all cities, ad distribution was 36.5% in stores closest to schools/malls and 38.7% in stores further than 300 metres away.

Among stores with ads, the average number of tobacco POS ad pieces carried was 3.3 pieces per store, down from 3.8 pieces a year ago (Chart 18).

The table below summarizes the cities with the highest and lowest levels of tobacco POS ad distribution, as well as the change in distribution over 2004.

Table F - Weighted - All Stores - Changes in POS* Ad Distribution Across Regions - 2005 vs. 2004 Results % of Stores with Ads (Cities with 0.0% indicate no ad distribution)

Cities Where Tobacco Ad Distribution is Highest	2004	2005	Diff 2005 vs. 2004
RED DEER	47.7%	95.3%	47.6%
BRANDON	64.1%	90.7%	26.6%
CHICOUTIMI/JONQUIERE	66.7%	83.8%	17.1%
SAINT JOHN	58.2%	72.2%	14.0%
SYDNEY	84.4%	71.4%	-13.0%
QUEBEC CITY	11.6%	59.6%	48.0%
CALGARY	51.1%	59.6%	8.5%
Cities Where Tobacco Ad Distribution is Lowest	2004	2005	Diff 2005 vs. 2004
WINNIPEG	55.9%	20.7%	-35.2%
VANCOUVER 1	21.3%	19.2%	-2.1%
MEDICINE HAT	9.4%	16.0%	6.6%
VANCOUVER 2	27.0%	12.4%	-14.6%
ST. CATHARINES	63.0%	7.8%	-55.2%
REGINA	50.8%	0.0%	-50.8%
SASKATOON	56.9%	0.0%	-56.9%

Point of Sale

CRG monitored POS advertising by tobacco brand in chain convenience, independent convenience and gas stores/kiosks. The following brand-related observations hold for these classes of trade:

• Nationally, the brand with the greatest distribution was du Maurier, with ads available in 35.1% of chain convenience outlets, 22.2% of gas stores/kiosks and 21.1% of independent convenience outlets;
• distribution for all "Other" brands (not separately specified) was actually second highest than that for any other single brand across each of these classes of retail trade;
• the share of ads enjoyed by tobacco brands across cities and trade classes coincided closely with the percent of stores carrying each brand;
• the top four single brand share of ads are du Maurier, Players, Export A and Benson & Hedges in chain convenience; du Maurier, Export A, Players and Canadian Classics in independent convenience and gas stores/kiosks;
• the highest recording of brand share of ads was in the "Other" category. The second highest single brand share of ads goes to du Maurier, with 11.3% in gas stores/kiosks, 11.0% in chain convenience and 9.7% in independent convenience;
• within each store type, stores with ads now carried more than three ads, on average, per store. In each trade class the average number of ads carried is now marginally lower in 2005 than in 2004. Chain convenience stores with ads carried the largest number of ads; 3.6 ads on average. Independent convenience carried an average of 3.3 ads and gas stores/kiosks carried 3.2; and
• among these three classes of trade, the counter-top displays are the most widely distributed. Posters are the second most popular in chain convenience and independent convenience. Shelf-talkers are second most popular in gas stores/kiosks.

---