FAULT LINES

Geography
Geography is a key fault line in the discussion of CVSs removal of tobacco products from their
stores. When researching the geographic implications of CVSs decision, it was most efficient to
separate the country by region: the West coast, Midwest, North East and South East. We made
this decision based on research that shows higher concentrations of smokers in certain areas of
the country. This makes a significant difference when discussing which CVS stores will be most
effected, based on where they are located in the United States.
The first region that was researched was the West Coast. This portion of the United States has
many laws and social norms that discourage smoking. For example, California enforces the
Clean Air Act of 1976 affirms smoking tobacco to be detrimental to human health. The Clean Air
Act aims to show that people in the public are unable to shield themselves from the harm
coming from second hand smoke. This is reaffirmed by former smoker, Bridgette Selby, who
when interviewed, stated, Smoking will kill you and kill people around you, which is a big
difference. This is one of the main reasons the state of California has implemented so many
laws to prevent public smoking. Selby, a thirty-year-old female from St. Louis, who is currently
living in California, has been a smoker in both regions. She noticed less people smoking on the
West Coast than the Midwest. Differing from the West Coast, the East Coast is known for high
prices on packs of cigarettes. When comparing taxes put on tobacco products, Health magazine
indicated that Midwestern states such as Missouri had a meager tax of seventeen cents. In
contrast, New York has one of the highest taxes on tobacco, with one pack of cigarettes
hovering just under ten dollars a pack. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention claims
that as prices go up, less people will be willing to feed their habit and indulge. Due to the fact
that less people seem to be using tobacco products in the West Coast and North Eastern
regions, CVSs ban on tobacco would have a very limited negative effect on customers in those
regions. Also, due to a coastal push to kick the tobacco habit, they may receive more cliental for
the program to help smokers quit.
Transitioning to the middle and southeastern parts of the country, there is a noticeable increase
in tobacco use among Americans living in the Midwest and Southeast. Health Magazine recently
released an article called The 10 States Most Addicted to Smoking, all states included were
southern and listed Missouri at number seven. The article stated which concludes that although
the federal government adds a tax to each pack, the Missouri state tax only adds up to
seventeen cents per pack, making the average pack about four dollars and fifty cents. When
Selby was asked if price made a difference, she said that it did not have a tremendous effect on
her desire to buy tobacco. However, she did remark that the social norms of the region played a
significant role in her life, saying that while she was living in St. Louis, everyone was doing
it. Because of the prevalence of smoking in the Midwest region, CVS locations will lose
customers to competitors who still stock tobacco products. Conversely, because smoking is
more socially accepted among people living in the Midwest, there is more opportunity for CVS
to gain customers who wish to quit smoking and take their seminar classes on tobacco
addiction.

Gender
As CVS prepares to remove tobacco from their shelves, an important contributing factor to
consider is genders role in CVSs decision. Though both men and women use tobacco products,
the gap between the two sexes is apparent, and widening.
Between the two sexes, about 20.5% of adult men use tobacco products, compared to 15.8
percent of adult women (Centers for Disease control and Prevention). This statistic is significant
because it shows that tobacco products are more predominately used by men, which could be a
leading cause as to why CVS decided to end their tobacco sales. As women are less likely to use
tobacco products, their product profit margin would be much less, and CVS would not have
large sales of tobacco products to female buyers, who, statistics show, are the main buyers of
household items. According to Female Factor, a Forbes Affiliate, women are responsible for
about 75% of consumer spending when it comes to purchasing power and influence.
Furthermore, approximately 75% of women also say that they are the primary shoppers for their
household. This statistic is important because it shows the female influence in consumption, and
with tobacco sales already decreasing from previous years the five percent difference is an
important potential revenue loss for CVS to consider. In addition, with such a low population of
male smokers (20.5%) and an even lower female population (15.8%), the company may see
additional losses by continuing to buy from the major cigarette corporations.
Something important to consider about this fault is that tobacco products are not just limited to
cigarettes. Other popular tobacco products include cigars and chewing tobacco, commonly
known as dip. These products create an even larger gender gap. Where 19.4% of males smoked
cigars, only 7.6% of women reported smoking cigars, this shows a huge difference between
targeted buyers. This gap shows important revenue loss for CVS, as they are a retailer primarily
shopped at by a female consumer. In addition, dip has an even greater gender gap, reporting
that among tobacco users, about 6% of men chew tobacco, where a much less 0.3% of women
report chewing dip. This is highly significant because it shows that there is almost no female
market for chewing tobacco or cigars. This could impact CVSs decision to discontinue tobacco if
they do not have a large audience with females who are their main consumers. With a dwindling
male population of tobacco users, it may also slowly begin to hinder revenue.
Generation
Generation is an important fault line when concerning tobacco use throughout the US. With our
proposal, we were careful to cover generations that would be impacted by CVSs decision to
discontinue tobacco products. More specifically, we focused on Traditionalists (65+), Baby
Boomers (50-65), Generation X (35-50), and Generation Y (20-35). We decided to use these
generations because they give us a more accurate idea of which generations were living in a
society where smoking was more prominent.
First, well look at Traditionalists. In a survey done by the Gallup Poll, self reported adult
smoking reached an all time high in 1954 at 45%. Among Traditionalists who reported that they
smoked at one point in their life compared to 2014, the ratio is 5 to 1. 56% of Traditionalist
recorded in the study, have smoked on a semi-regular basis, but 44% say that they have never
smoked. 78% of smokers, ages 65 and older, say that they are addicted to smoking
cigarettes. That is a crucial aspect of the fault, because it demonstrates that a large portion of

the smoking population are Traditionalists who have reported that it is much more difficult to
break the habit as they got older. This generation could have both a positive or negative effect
on CVSs decision to remove tobacco products. Because they are a large percentage of smokers
currently living in the US, they could be less inclined to shop at CVS if they are unable to
purchase tobacco products there. However, this generation could also benefit the most from
the program that CVS has created to help smokers kick the habit. As 78% of current smokers in
the Traditionalist generation say they are addicted, this could benefit CVSs reputation among
that age group as a healthy convenience store.
The second generation that is important in our discussion is the Baby Boomers. Though their
smoking rates arent as high as that of their Traditionalist predecessors, they have the second
highest in the generations we are discussing. The ratio of former smokers to current smokers is
2 to 1 which is much less than Traditionalist being at 5 to 1. 17% of this generation can be
included in the current smoking population of the US. 33% disclose that they are former
smokers. Interestingly enough, this accounts for 50% of the population of Baby Boomers that
were surveyed. Despite this, 49% of Baby Boomers who were interviewed by Gallup claim that
they have never smoked. This is important to compare to the Traditionalist, because it shows a
decrease in the overall smoking population between the two generations during a time when
tobacco products were still popular. Although there was surmounting evidence that tobacco
was detrimental to human health. This generation is one that will promote the removal of
tobacco from CVS, due to the fact they grew up when the first biological evidence was found
claiming smoking to be harmful to human health. For example, Dr. Ernst Wynder discovered in
1953 that there was a direct link between tobacco and cancer. With this in mind, it is not
surprising that the percentage of Baby Boomers who claimed to be addicted was significantly
less at 67%, compared to Traditionalists at almost 80%.
Generation X, the third generation took into account, also showed signs of decrease in tobacco
use. Over half of this age brackets population, at 51%, has never smoked. This is the highest
percentage of non-smokers thus far. Despite this, within this age bracket, 26% are tobacco
users, which is the highest percentage of current smokers of the generations discussed weve
reviewed. Only 49% of surveyed Generation X members had ever used any tobacco products,
making that is a seven percent decrease from Traditionalist. Generation X will be crucial to CVS
because they are the current working class age group. Based on salary arc data provided by
LearnVest Media Corporation, high earning years are achieved in late twenties, early thirties
and forties. This is significant because it shows that Generation X is the current money making
generation thus making them CVSs premier target consumer. Not only will these people have a
major impact on whether or not CVS loses revenue (they could continue buying tobacco
somewhere else) or they will take advantage of the free courses the CVS program will offer. As
the predominant parent population currently, they will want to take the lead in influencing their
children to avoid tobacco products, as they have seen first hand the negative effects of tobacco
on their elder population.
The final group we considered was members of Generation Y. This generation saw only 42% of
them had ever smoked, but 30% are current smokers, making 12% of Generation Y former
smokers. 58% of this group had never smoked, being a 14% increase in those that had never
touched tobacco. We can see the significant tobacco use decrease of those in Generation Y and
Traditionalist. This was probably a factor in CVSs decision to remove tobacco products from

their stores, because a higher percentage of the population is not smoking at all. This makes it
more likely that they will lose revenue by stocking tobacco products.
This fault line is incredibly important, because it shows the generational differences that could
have factored into CVSs decision to discontinue tobacco products. As it has been made clear
through these statistics, there are critical differences in the tobacco uses between generations.

Class
Social classes prove to be a relevant fault line in this case. Between the classes there are major
differences between those of those who are living in lower, middle, and upper class. Studies
have verified that in the lower and working class smoking is significantly more prevalent. This
indicates that it is important to the target market of those who shop for tobacco products at
CVS. For some, CVS could be their only option on where to purchase their cigarettes. For
example, those who do not have means of transportation may only have a CVS as an option
because it is within walking distance from their home. In that case, CVS eliminating tobacco
from their stores could force smokers to kick the habit, because they are no longer available at a
convenient location. This would achieve what CVS ultimate goal is- to help create a healthier
community and environment for all. Higher classes are the lowest percentage of people who
regularly use tobacco products. Although they are the class with the most income and flexibility
with their money, they are typically the ones who do not smoke. In that case, CVS would
neither benefit or be negatively affected by the upper class.