Aims:

There is an 18 years age limit for cigarette purchase in Sweden and in order to implement this law outlets need to perform ID checks. This study investigates the rate of cigarette sales and ID checks when pseudo-underage mystery shoppers attempted to purchase cigarettes. It explores possible factors associated with sales outcomes.

Design:

Nine mystery shoppers (6 females and 3 males) attempted to purchase cigarettes without providing ID. The mystery shoppers were 18 years old but had a younger appearance as judged by an expert panel. During each attempt, the adolescents worked in pairs (shopper and observer). A total of 320 outlets in 13 municipalities in Stockholm County were randomly selected based on an outlet type stratum (i.e., gas station, convenience store, kiosk, grocery store). Effects of variables on sales outcomes were analysed using Pearson’s chi-square and binominal regression analysis.

Results:

In 25.4% of the purchase attempts (total n = 287), cigarettes were sold although the pseudo-underage mystery shopper did not provide a valid ID. In 82.6% of the attempts, the shopper was asked to provide ID, and cigarettes were sold in 9.7% of these cases. The rate of sales was significantly higher among female mystery shoppers (29.5%) compared to male (15.0%). Age limit signs were observed in 89.5% of the outlets but they were not significantly associated with the success rate in a regression analysis.

Conclusions:

The results of the present study indicate that cigarettes could potentially and frequently be sold to underage adolescents by outlets within Stockholm County. Therefore, routines established for checking IDs clearly need to be improved. For example, strategies to improve adherence to the legal age limit on the purchase of cigarettes, such as compliance checks using mystery shopping with feedback to retailers, are needed.

中文翻译：

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向伪未成年神秘购物者销售香烟：斯德哥尔摩县的经验

目标：

在瑞典购买卷烟有 18 岁的年龄限制，为了实施这项法律，网点需要进行身份检查。本研究调查了假未成年神秘购物者试图购买香烟时的香烟销售率和身份检查率。它探讨了与销售结果相关的可能因素。

设计：

九名神秘顾客（6 女 3 男）试图在未提供身份证件的情况下购买香烟。神秘购物者年仅 18 岁，但根据专家小组的判断，他们的外表更年轻。在每次尝试中，青少年成对工作（购物者和观察者）。根据网点类型层（即加油站、便利店、售货亭、杂货店）随机选择了斯德哥尔摩县13 个市的320 个网点。使用 Pearson 的卡方和二项式回归分析分析变量对销售结果的影响。

结果：

在 25.4% 的购买尝试（总数n = 287）中，虽然伪未成年神秘购物者没有提供有效身份证件，但香烟被售出。在 82.6% 的尝试中，要求购物者提供身份证件，其中 9.7% 的情况下售出了香烟。女性神秘顾客（29.5%）的销售率明显高于男性（15.0%）。在 89.5% 的商店中观察到年龄限制标志，但在回归分析中它们与成功率没有显着相关性。

结论：

本研究的结果表明，卷烟可能并经常通过斯德哥尔摩县内的网点出售给未成年青少年。因此，显然需要改进为检查 ID 而建立的例程。例如，需要采取策略来提高对购买卷烟的法定年龄限制的遵守情况，例如使用神秘购物和向零售商反馈的合规性检查。