Tobacco sales through vending machines: Insights from owners and managers of Australian alcohol-licenced premises with different licencing schemes

Objective

Tobacco sales in alcohol-licenced premises present a very problematic trigger for tobacco sales—a trigger that is particularly problematic for attempting quitters and people who smoke occasionally. This study reports on the attitudes, beliefs, and experiences of owners or managers of alcohol-licenced venues that sell tobacco exclusively through vending machines.

Methods

The study involved a telephone survey of alcohol-licenced venue owners or managers in New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia. Associations between outlet characteristics and current selling of tobacco exclusively via vending machines were examined, and responses to the open-ended question asking why the venue was likely or unlikely to stop selling cigarettes were manually coded.

Results

For most alcohol-licenced venues that sold tobacco exclusively through a vending machine, the profit from these sales was not considered important for the business. However, only a small minority (4%) of these venues reported that they were likely to stop selling tobacco. The most commonly cited concerns about stopping were customer dissatisfaction and potential loss of customers.

Conclusion

The study provides the first evidence on the attitudes of owners/managers to the importance of tobacco sales, revealing that the vast majority of those owners/managers do not believe that tobacco sales are important for their venue.

Implications for public health

The presence of tobacco vending machines implicitly promotes tobacco products and therefore contravenes Australia’s obligations under the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The results provide powerful evidence that restrictions on tobacco sales can be implemented without major financial damage to those vendors.