Trial testimony of Marvin E. Goldberg, Ph.D., December 3, 2002, Lucier v. Philip Morris Inc.

This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation.

Trial testimony of Marvin E. Goldberg, Ph.D., December 3, 2002, Lucier v. Philip Morris Inc.

In this trial transcript, Marvin E. Goldberg, a professor of marketing, testified as an expert witness for the plaintiffs in the case of Lucier v. Philip Morris, Inc. Goldberg described advertising as a powerful means of convincing people to smoke, but noted that it does not influence on all people. He said that peer smoking is an important factor in smoking initiation for youth. He discussed an R.J. Reynolds document titled Strategic Research Report that discussed the importance of younger adult smokers to the industry. The document described the need to secure their loyalty early and noted that younger adult smokers are the only source of "replacement smokers." Dr. Goldberg in his testimony offered details of product placement in movies and described how the tobacco firms go about getting their cigarettes into movies. He responded to industry claims that advertising is geared to convincing existing smokers to switch brands. He cited statistics suggesting that only 7 percent of smokers switch, and accordingly concluded that it makes more sense for the industry to go after the youth and "hook them early." The witness stated that studies of youngsters who grew up in the 1960s showed that the more television they watched, the more likely they were to smoke. He reported that the industry defined the "young adult smoker" as 14 to 24 year-olds. He claimed that the industry propagated a controversy about whether smoking caused lung cancer long after there was a consensus in the scientific community.

Title: Trial testimony of Marvin E. Goldberg, Ph.D., December 3, 2002, Lucier v. Philip Morris Inc.
Document Date: 20021203 (December 3, 2002)
Document Type: Trial testimony
Collection: DATTA
Bates Number: GOLDBERGM120302
URL: http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/qtz75a00

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