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TC Online First, published on May 22, 2015 as 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2014-052032
Research paper

Portrayal of tobacco in Mongolian language
YouTube videos: policy gaps
Feng-Jen Tsai, Bolor Sainbayar
▸ Additional material is
published online only. To view
please visit the journal online
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/
tobaccocontrol-2014-052032).
Master Program in Global
Health and Development,
College of Public Health and
Nutrition, Taipei Medical
University, Taipei, Taiwan
Correspondence to
Professor Feng-Jen Tsai, Master
Program in Global Health and
Development, College of Public
Health and Nutrition, Taipei
Medical University, 250 WuHsing Street, Taipei City 110,
Taiwan; jeanfjtsai@tmu.edu.tw
Received 17 September 2014
Accepted 30 April 2015

ABSTRACT
Objectives This study examined how effectively current
policy measures control depictions of tobacco in
Mongolian language YouTube videos.
Methods A search of YouTube videos using the
Mongolian term for ‘tobacco’, and employing ‘relevance’
and ‘view count’ criteria, resulted in a total sample of
120 videos, from which 38 unique videos were coded
and analysed.
Results Most videos were antismoking public service
announcements; however, analyses of viewing patterns
showed that pro-smoking videos accounted for about
two-thirds of all views. Pro-smoking videos were also
perceived more positively and had a like:dislike ratio of
4.6 compared with 3.5 and 1.5, respectively, for the
magic trick and antismoking videos. Although Mongolia
prohibits tobacco advertising, 3 of the pro-smoking
videos were made by a tobacco company; additionally, 1
pro-smoking video promoted electronic cigarettes.
Conclusions Given the popularity of Mongolian
YouTube videos that promote smoking, policy changes
are urgently required to control this medium, and more
effectively protect youth and young adults from insidious
tobacco marketing.

INTRODUCTION

To cite: Tsai F-J,
Sainbayar B. Tob Control
Published Online First:
[please include Day Month
Year] doi:10.1136/
tobaccocontrol-2014052032

As a party to the Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control (FCTC), Mongolia implemented a
new tobacco control law in 2005; it amended this
statute in 2012.1 2 Article 8 of the 2005 law prohibited advertising on the internet; however, the
subsequent amendment referred to ‘other advanced
technologies’ (see online supplementary files 1 and
2 for information on these statutes). Although
intended to include internet promotions, ‘other
advanced technologies’ is ambiguous and, arguably,
does not provide adequate control over tobacco
promotions in social media, where pro-tobacco
content remains largely unregulated and accessible
by anyone with an internet connection. Given
strong evidence that exposure to smoking incidents
in movies is causally associated with smoking initiation, the growth of user-generated content featuring tobacco in social media merits attention.3–8
Previous studies have examined tobacco imagery
in videos placed on YouTube,9–15 a very popular
international website.16 Studies examining other
tobacco products, such as smokeless tobacco and ecigarettes, also found that YouTube videos are often
pro-tobacco, and receive more ‘views’ than antitobacco videos.11 13 14 17 18
To date, research has focused on developed
countries, where English is the main language. As
internet use expands in developing countries, and
as tobacco companies use aggressive marketing to

penetrate developing countries, research examining
how tobacco marketing occurs in these nations is
important to global tobacco control strategies.
To explore this question, we examined
tobacco-related videos in Mongolian that featured
on YouTube. Within Mongolia, smoking prevalence
is sharply skewed towards men; 49.1% of males
and 5.3% of females were smokers in 2013, while
prevalence among youth aged between 7 and
12 years was 34.7%, and among youth aged
between 13 and 15 years was 35.2%.19 20 Internet
penetration exceeds 50% among youth aged
12–16 years and among the general population,
and YouTube is the second most popular website in
Mongolia.21 22

METHODS
Data collection
Searches for videos featuring smoking on YouTube
were conducted on 1 December 2013. The search
term ‘tobacco’ (‘тамхи’ in Mongolian) was chosen
because its characters overlap with smoke, smoking
and smoker, making it likely to capture all
tobacco-related videos in Mongolian (see online
supplementary file 3 for details of the search term’s
meaning).
We used two functions of the YouTube website,
‘relevance’ and ‘view count’, to identify popular
videos. We reviewed the first three pages (60
videos) of the returned lists, as this approach corresponds to the maximum number of pages typically
examined by searchers.23 In total, we identified
120 videos; we excluded duplicate videos and all
those that did not have any tobacco-related
content, and achieved a total sample of 38 videos.
However, to provide a comprehensive overview of
content, we totalled preference information for
duplicate videos (see online supplementary file 4
for details of the sampling and analysis process).
We coded the video name, content, video,
webpage link, number of views, duration, smoking
imagery, comments ( positive, negative and neutral),
uploads, and likes and dislikes. To assess the effect
of regulatory changes, we also collected the video
upload date. Because all data were publicly available, IRB approval was not required.

Coding and analysis
Three researchers from Mongolia viewed and classified the videos as antismoking, pro-smoking or
magic trick. Between-coder agreement was 90.5%.
Antismoking videos illustrated cessation, health
risks, or other warnings, and were typically public
service announcements created by government or
NGO health agencies. Other antismoking videos
included amateur videos, music videos, other

Tsai F-J, et al. Tob Control 2015;0:1–3. doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2014-052032

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Research paper
entertainment and mass media news items reporting on tobacco
control measures.
Pro-smoking videos promoted tobacco use by making it
appear enjoyable or socially acceptable. Content included videos
created by tobacco companies as well as music clips depicting
ostensible benefits of smoking, or videos that minimised the
harms associated with tobacco. The magic trick videos showed a
person blowing smoke into a glass and showed the smoke in the
glass to the camera without text or voice-over for explanation,
which cannot be categorised as antismoking or pro-smoking
videos.

RESULTS
Most videos were antismoking videos, though considerably
more people viewed pro-smoking videos, which received, on
average, 4558 views per video compared to the antismoking
video average of 632 views. Pro-smoking videos were perceived
more positively, with a like:dislike ratio of 4.6 compared to 3.5
and 1.5, respectively, for the magic trick and antismoking
videos. Table 1 provides details of the videos within each category genre.
The most popular antismoking video had 4083 views; it featured youth dancing teams who sang about the harms of
tobacco use. Other antismoking videos used educational
approaches or were news items that, for example, mentioned
the implementation of the tobacco control law in Mongolia.
Compared with pro-smoking videos, antismoking videos had
more characters, most of whom were men who spoke about the
negative effects of tobacco.
Of the eight pro-smoking videos, one titled ‘Янжуур тамхи’
(translated as ‘Cigarette’) had the highest view count and used a
Mongolian folk song to endorse the smell of tobacco smoke.
The other pro-smoking music video featured a popular
Mongolian band singing a song that strongly endorsed smoking.
A Mongolian tobacco company had produced three
pro-smoking videos that offered seasonal greetings, promoted a
sponsorship and celebrated the company’s tenth anniversary by

featuring a politician congratulating the company. The final
three pro-smoking videos included news reports, one of which
discussed the importance of accommodating smokers in
smoking areas (contrary to Mongolian policy). The second discussed hardship experienced by people who formerly sold single
cigarette sticks (a practice prohibited by the new Mongolian
law). The final video demonstrated use of an e-cigarette (Health
E-Cigarette). More video content and images are shown in
online supplementary file 5.
All the videos were uploaded after 2005, the date of the first
law; three were uploaded after 1 March 2013, the date on
which the law was amended. Of the latter group, one promoted
a Mongolian tobacco company and clearly did not comply with
the law.

DISCUSSION
This is the first study to examine YouTube tobacco videos in a
developing country such as Mongolia. Unlike other studies,
most videos analysed had antismoking content. Nonetheless, in
line with earlier studies,11 13 14 17 18 the pro-smoking videos
had received more views and had a higher like:dislike ratio than
the antismoking videos. As tobacco companies undertake more
aggressive marketing in developing countries, pro-smoking
videos appear to be a key medium with relatively high (and
growing) reach among young people.
Although tobacco advertising on the internet has been banned
in Mongolia since 2005, all the pro-smoking videos reviewed
had been uploaded after this date. Evidence that three of these
were professionally produced advertisements by large
Mongolian tobacco companies suggests the law requires
strengthening or stronger enforcement. The law also needs to
regulate e-cigarette promotions, which are also beginning to
emerge and, given the US experience, are likely to proliferate
rapidly.24
The pro-smoking videos that were analysed depicted smoking
as enjoyable, which is of much concern, given that young
people tend to adopt the behaviours of role models. Evidence

Table 1 Popularity of tobacco smoking-related videos on YouTube, by content and genre
Content and genre of videos

Number of videos
n

Total number of views
Views

Percentage of total views
Views

Likes:dislikes
Ratio*

Video length
Seconds

Total antismoking tobacco†
Total PSA
Professional PSA
Amateur PSA
Other entertainment
News (professional)
Music
Total pro-smoking tobacco‡
Total ad
Professional ad
Amateur ad
Music
Other reportage
Magic trick
Total

28
13
12
1
8
6
1
8
4
3
1
2
2
2
38

17 707
9454
8764
690
6711
971
571
36 469
328
49
279
35 925
216
714
54 890

32.3
17.2
16.0
1.3
12.2
1.8
1.0
66.4
0.6
0.1
0.5
65.4
0.4
1.3
100

1.5
1.3
1.3
1.0
2.2
1.0
1.0
4.6
1.0
1.0
1.0
15.5
1.0
3.5

180.5
235.4
247.6
89.0
113.1
138.7
258.0
227.0
298.0
316.7
242.0
175.5
136.5
64.5

*The ratio of likes and dislikes is calculated by dividing the number of likes by dislikes for each video and then averaging these proportions across each genre category. Therefore, each
video carries equal weight, regardless of how many likes and dislikes a video receives. For the videos that did not receive any dislikes, the ‘0’ in the denominator was replaced with a
‘1’ in order to calculate a ratio, and the videos that did not receive any likes or dislikes received a like to dislike ratio of ‘1’.
†Five genres under antismoking tobacco videos were included.
‡Four genres under pro-smoking tobacco videos were included.
PSA, public service announcement.

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Research paper
that exposure to smoking incidents in movies causes youth
smoking suggests YouTube videos have the potential to exert a
similar influence.9 10 25
A stronger law would also prohibit tobacco company sponsorship, in line with Mongolia’s FCTC obligations, and prevent
tobacco companies from associating themselves with television
programmes. At present, the law allows corporate communications, even though these are clearly used to promote tobacco
brands and smoking. Furthermore, politicians and public officials need to demonstrate their commitment to the FCTC by
refusing to endorse the so-called economic benefits tobacco
companies bring, and focusing instead on the enormous harm
tobacco products cause. The current policy incoherence requires
urgent resolution and should prioritise the health and well-being
of Mongolian citizens, particularly young people.
Social media present unique regulatory challenges, since the
group or the individual uploading a video is often difficult to
identify. Governments could exert more pressure on social
media websites to disclose information or delete content when
activities contravene national laws. Until the Mongolian government does so, it will have ‘one of the best tobacco control laws,
but the weakest law implementation’.26
Our study has some limitations: the video sample was captured on one specific day, whereas, YouTube video content, and
thus usage data, evolve rapidly. Because users may watch videos
multiple times, view counts may not indicate total audience size.
It is difficult to identify where viewing occurred, thus, some
viewers may speak Mongolian but live outside the country. In
addition, the view counts are low relative to the overall population; however, as internet penetration increases and tobacco
company marketing continues, these measures could be
expected to increase.
In conclusion, our study suggests the current Mongolian law
either does not provide adequate protection or is not sufficiently
enforced. Even under the original law, pro-smoking videos were
uploaded to the internet. The 2012 amendment may, ironically,
make uploading pro-tobacco videos easier, and policymakers
should consider how they could strengthen the current statute
so it affords maximum protection and anticipates new developments, such as e-cigarette marketing.

Acknowledgements The authors thank Ms Uyanga Bayarsengee and Ms Uyanga
Batzorig for their help in coding the videos. They also thank Professor Janet Hoek
for her help in reframing the manuscript.
Contributors F-JT planned the study, drafted the manuscript and submitted the
study. BS conducted and reported the work described in the article. All authors read
and approved the final manuscript.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data sharing statement The technical appendix, statistical code and dataset are
available from the corresponding author at Dryad repository, which will be a
permanent, citable and open access home for the dataset.

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What this paper adds
▸ Previous studies have noted that videos featured on
YouTube and containing smoking imagery are
overwhelmingly pro-tobacco, and are typically regarded
favourably by viewers.
▸ To date, no studies have examined the tobacco content in
YouTube videos featured in a developing country.
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▸ Despite the current regulatory framework, Mongolian
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Portrayal of tobacco in Mongolian language
YouTube videos: policy gaps
Feng-Jen Tsai and Bolor Sainbayar
Tob Control published online May 22, 2015

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