Table 2

Tobacco industry studies documenting social unacceptability of smoking

Company	Date of study	Title	Findings related to social acceptability
Philip Morris	1988	Smoker/non-smoker segmentation studies^55–⁵⁷	Half of six smoker segments had some negative views of smoking:
	1992		“Socially and financially concerned” (aka guilt laden smokers)
	1994		“Self conscious” (aka considerate smokers)
	1994		“Image driven” (aka image/peer concerned smokers)
	1988	National tracking studies^58,^61,⁶²	Number of smokers who believed they might quit soon on the rise
	1989		Smokers were feeling more pressure from others (friends, co-workers, and strangers) to quit
	1993
British American Tobacco (BAT)	1978	Operation Aquarius⁵³	Pressures on smokers in the UK appear to arise from family, workplace, and social environments.
	1980–81	Project LIBRA^52,⁵³	Majority of smokers believe it is now much less socially acceptable to smoke, and smoking is a dirty habit
	1980–81	Project LIBRA^52,⁵³	More than one third of all smokers (and half of “highly dissonant” smokers) believe cigarette smoking is harmful to the health of non-smokers
	1980–84	Project ARIES (Attitudes Restricting Individuals Enjoying Smoking)^51–⁵³	Surprising depth of feeling against smoking expressed by non-smokers
			As non-smokers realise they are in the majority, social acceptability of smoking will decrease
			Children are particularly effective at carrying anti-smoking message to parents
			Concept of cigarette with less sidestream attractive to non-smokers, but met with some scepticism from smokers
	1982–85	Project Taurus^35,²¹⁵	55% of smokers frequently or occasionally felt uncomfortable smoking around others.
			74% of non-smokers and 47% of smokers agreed that it was probably hazardous to be around people who are smoking
			94% of smokers agreed or strongly agreed that they “try to show consideration for others when I smoke”
			79% of smokers agreed or strongly agreed that they tended to smoke less when non-smokers were around
			73% of smokers agreed or strongly agreed that they were concerned about the effects of their smoking on the health of others
Imperial Tobacco Canada (BAT)	1988	Project VISA⁵⁴	Awareness of passive smoking among smokers rose from 52% in 1986 to 71% in 1988
			Of those smokers aware of the issue, 21% believed passive smoking is one of the most serious health hazards, up from 13% in 1986
			Almost half of all smokers were confronted with workplace restrictions, up from 1/3 in 1986
RJ Reynolds	1980s	Project RP⁶⁰	82% of smokers altered their smoking behaviour in the presence of non-smokers
	1990	Project XA⁵⁹	The “social guilt mindset” identified as target for a low sidestream smoke product; “social guilt” mindset estimated to be approximately 24% of the market in 1988, and projected to grow to 32% of the market by 1990 and 52% of the market by 1995
	1995	Prism II Review⁹⁹	Eclipse product target profile:
			Smokers who possess the following combination of traits are highly predisposed to accept the concept:
			• Females 35+ who are restricted at work
			• College graduates who face no restrictions at home
			• Children in household (HH) and restricted at work
			• Children in HH and non-smoking spouse
			• 35+ low tar without children in HH and smoking spouse
			• 21–34 low tar without children in HH and non-smoking spouse
			• Any single parent
			• Live alone females
			• Have non-smoking spouse and restricted at work
			Smokers with this profile represented “About 60% of all full price, non-menthol smokers.”