A trip into the smoker’s psyche

Despite many health warnings and precautionary campaigns, smoking continues to be on the height in Pakistan attracting mainly the youth. Nevertheless, the difference between the past and the present is that smokers are more exigent in terms of taste and quality, as a result of which cigarette manufacturers have adopted more ingenious methods to attract their current and potential consumers.

Great quantities of branded cigarettes penetrate from Afghanistan, Iran and China. In comparison to locally accessible cigarettes of the same brand name, these imported ones are different in taste because international tobacco companies also distinct their blends according to each market.

Different people have their own opinion in this aspect but the most spread reason for not giving up their favourite brand is the taste of tobacco and accesibility of the brand. Some low cost cigarettes like Gold Leaf, Morven Gold are usually preferred due to taste and reasonable price; whereas Marlboro, Rothmans and Dunhill, though now locally made, are mainly imported and are purchased by those who can afford a more expensive cigarettes of a preferred brand.

Likewise, locally-manufactured Benson & Hedges can be bought at Rs60/packet and duty free imported Benson costs Rs90/packet in the market. Dunhill Lights, imported from the Middle East, costs Rs80/packet whereas locally-made Dunhill Lights costs Rs82/packet - while the regular flavour sort of this brand is available at between Rs80/packet and Rs90/packet respectively from Middle East and European countries. German-made cigarette Davidoff, meanwhile, is sold at Rs75/packet but it does not have a large distribution.

While a large assortment of cigarettes on offer, a plenty of smokers say that they believe in brand preference and usually stick to their preferred cigarette brand after an initial period of trial and error.