Tobacco companies have the ability to target their products to segmented audiences by advertising in specialty magazines. Segmentation is a means of providing audiences with ads appropriate to their behavioral, demographic, and psychological characteristics. Through a content analysis of cigarette advertising in 10 popular magazines, a study examined how advertising strategies vary depending on characteristics of the primary readership of different popular magazines. The analysis demonstrated that black and youth-oriented publications have received an increasing number of cigarette ads since 1965. Compatible with segmentation approaches, an analysis of ad content indicated that groups with high smoking rates are often encouraged to switch brands, while groups with low smoking rates are enticed to smoke by the depiction of attractive models having fun. A logistic regression of romantic content that compared trends over time to the general growth of specialized magazines indicated that the incidence of horseplay and coy model poses has increased over time, while the incidence of eroticism has remained relatively stable. In accord with psychographic theories, significant content differences are found in magazines read by different market segments: horseplay is usually targeted at women, poorer, and younger readers; and overtly sexual appeals and coy model poses seem to be targeted at women, black, and poorer readers more often than at men or general audiences. Knowledge of the tobacco industry's segmentation techniques may help health professionals design smoking prevention and cessation programs to counter cigarette advertising more effectively. (Four figures and 4 tables of data are included, and 50 references are attached.) (Author/SR)