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Natural American Spirit (NAS) cigarettes, which have recently grown in popularity, are marketed as eco-friendly and natural. The present study examined whether NAS's on-the-pack messaging influences adolescents' health perceptions of the brand.

In a mixed-factor design, adolescent participants (N = 1,003, ages 13–17, 75% female) were randomized to one of the six exposure conditions. All viewed images of an NAS and a Pall Mall (comparison brand) cigarette pack, but differed in pack color (blue, green, or gold/orange) and brand viewed first. Perceptions of pack logos, addictiveness, harms to the smoker, others, and the environment were assessed directly after viewing pack images for each brand.

Adolescents who perceived NAS as more pro-environment tended to perceive NAS cigarettes to be less addictive, r = −.19, p < .01. NAS cigarettes also were perceived as less addictive and …