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Smartphone use has rapidly increased, and by 2020, there will be an estimated 6.1 billion Internet-enabled mobile phone users worldwide. 1 This phenomenon has created new opportunities for the public health and medical communities, which have used smartphones to collect health information, conduct surveillance and promote behaviour changes, such as smoking cessation. 2-4 The popularity of smartphones has also attracted leading American cigarette manufacturers Altria and Reynolds American, who have begun offering digital cigarette coupons redeemable using smartphones.
Altria has introduced the MHQ App, which offers two coupons per week. Using the smartphone's global positioning system, the app identifies nearby tobacco retailers that accept Marlboro digital coupons ( figure 1 A). The app user selects a retailer for redemption, and a digital coupon (eg, '$1.50 off one pack') with a barcode is generated ( figure 1 B). Retailers then scan the barcode on the smartphone. Using the MHQ App requires users to have a registered account at Marlboro.com, and the app claims it verifies users are smokers and at least 21 years old.
Similarly, Reynolds American has test marketed smartphone coupons in Ohio and Iowa. The coupons can be sent via 'text, email, mobile apps and social media' 5 and are redeemed at Reynolds American kiosks, positioned near registers of tobacco...