An economic view of the innovation potential, the tendencies of smoking in the developed countries and the importance of marketing in this field

Abstract

Smoking, as one of the main causes, is a negative factor associated with many diseases. The primary objective of the research is to determine the effect of innovation on selected smoking indicators in a sample of countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Four variables enter the analytical processing, such as Global Innovation Index, Population ratio of daily smokers (age 15+), Daily smokers (age 15-24), and Tobacco consumption in grams per capita (age 15+). These variables were included in the research from 2011 to 2018. The simple linear regression - the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model - and correlation analysis - Spearman's rank correlation - was used for statistical processing. The results show that the effect of innovation on the ratio of daily smokers over the age of 15 to the total population may be considered a highly significant relationship. The effect on the annual tobacco consumption per capita is the second most significant relationship, and the effect on the ratio of daily smokers over 15 and under 24 years to the total population is the least significant compared to the previous two cases. Correlation analysis shows similar outputs. All these relationships may be considered negative. It is possible to talk about the lost innovation potential associated with smoking, primarily in the productive part of the population. A higher level of smoking can be associated with a lower level of innovation. Also, innovation negatively affects the tendency to smoke. Therefore, public policies should promote a healthy lifestyle.