Research

Project,
What makes young people smoke?
Prepared from original research
gathered, from anonymous questionnaire
forms, and 6 face to face interviews,
by Roper Peckham–Cooper.

Data gathered from students at a school in Kent. Female / Male

Years 12 – Sixth Form. 2006.

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Introduction.

The chosen subject for my Market Research Project, is Smoking, by young people
at school, as the subject spans the spectrum of young people’s profiles and in my
particular case as I attend a school in Kent. All the students know me and I am
confident that they will complete the questionnaires accurately for me, as they did.

So firstly I have to ask myself, why then, given that all my subjects are intelligent
human beings, do these young people, male and female, do something that could at
some stage in their futures kill them? I also chose this subject for research for
another important reason as my Father smokes and I was very interested to see how
and why people begin smoking at all, and if people were educated about the dangers
yet still chose to smoke when he started smoking. I asked my Father what he felt
about the subject as he has been smoking for a considerable part of his life.

My Father informed me that the attitude to smoking within the young London set
at that time (in the late 60’s and early 70’s) was, as he put it, it was the ‘cool’ thing to
do when you were relaxing over a drink with friends or work associates, or if you
were under pressure, and or had a high pressure job, it tended to appear to relax you,
but this was, in the main, psychological he felt, in his case. He told me that it was
very obvious that people were very susceptible to advertising and marketing
suggestions, persuasion and that advertising in all its many shapes, forms and guises,
had a considerable impact on them, a considerable number of them, aimed to emulate
the, ‘Cool’ look associated with smoking at the time. It was a type of brainwashing.

A considerable amount of very ‘high budget’ market research into the subject of
smoking was commissioned and carried out for tobacco companies at this time. The
market research was aimed at the male market, quite sexist he felt. The results in
general, indicated that most men of the day smoked cigarettes, not cigars (cigars
being considered the ‘smoke’ of older men), in order to impress females or their
peers, in that order, and usually drove a fast, sporty car, or aspired to. The amount
of cigarettes that they smoked was on average 20 – 60 a day. The lead target male
would tend to wear designer clothes and was aged 25 – 35, the target group fir the
tobacco companies to market too. He was probably a professional, well paid, with a
considerable amount of disposable income, and he considered himself to be ‘Very
Cool’ indeed. Others wished to emulate him!

The Ad Campaigns mounted by the major brands where therefore targeted at ‘Mr
Cool’ and at the ‘Cool Set’, so the association of cool and smoking has been around
for a considerable length of time. Rothmans used a Captain of a transatlantic jets
arm, with the Captains Braid, holding their Rothmans brand King Size cigarette
packet open, offering one to the readers of the newspaper. This was black and white
adverting campaign run in the national press with a scraper board rendition of the
illustration on a white background, to dramatise it as newsprint quality was poor. The
pilot, Captain, of a transatlantic Boeing 707 was though to epitomise ‘Mr Ultra Cool’
in any situation. This was one of the most successful cigarette Ad Campaigns ever,
‘the man’ was beyond reproach!

In my Research Project into the subject of young people smoking, I endeavoured

to find out if attitudes have changed since the 60/70’s, or if some of the traditional

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views of smokers still apply, just what people my age, what intelligent people of my
age, really feel.

In London in the late 60’s and 70’s it was still socially acceptable to smoke, the
Government of the day had no problem with this as the revenue generated by tobacco
profits were substantial to say the least. The smoking public wanted to be seen to be
smoking the ‘right’ brand so positioning of the leading brands from the manufacturers
point of view was critical, hence the vast sums of money they allocated and spent on
advertising and marketing promoting their brands to win the largest market share of
this very lucrative business.

One example my Father cited of this ‘excessive spending’ is shown by the Art
Buyer within the Ad Agency actioning the following: to charter a
Boeing 707 jet airliner to fly negative film from a Rothmans photo shoot in a London
Studio to Kodak in New York. Kodak, would then process the negative film and
produce ‘C’ type prints (at the time the ‘C’ type print service, high quality colour
prints, was only available through Kodak in New York), to then collect them and fly
them back to London to present ideas as a new Ad Campaign for the tobacco
company Board Directors and Account Executives. This was not the finished artwork
which would appear in the national Press, only the new campaign idea!

It is only until relatively recently that, by the introduction of HM Surgeons Health

Warnings printed on all cigarette packs sold in the UK and the awareness throughout
the country created by the Government’s national press and TV advertising
campaigns that smoking cigarettes has effected a complete about turn and become in
the eyes of the majority of the population and indeed the civilised and developed
world, distinctly ‘Un-Cool’, in my opinion a very good thing. But despite this
improvement, and reduction in smoking, the habit still exists.

Because my Father, and for a while my Mother, smoked only one other member
of our large family of seven smokes. Seeing my father smoke has had the effect of
putting us all, my sisters and other brothers, off smoking which is a positive thing
and one my father is delighted about, unfortunately though my Father still
continues to smoke himself.

The subject fascinated me and therefore I chose to base my research project on it,
for smoking knows no social bounds and is still an international habit. Perhaps it’s
now fuelled by the high pressure, High Tech world we live and work in today. I
carefully prepared my research questionnaires as the right questions can unlock
minds and open up thoughts and avenues for the recipient to respond to as well as
close them down. I approached my Headmaster for permission to distribute the
anonymous questionnaires via form tutors to years 12 and above. This I did gathering
them from the tutors two weeks later. The response was excellent. I evaluated them
and charted my findings. When this work was completed I followed up with a
number of face to face audio interviews.

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Response to Questionnaires.

The response to my 150 anonymous questionnaires was interesting and on

evaluation of them all I am able to say that a slightly larger percent of boys smoke,
to girls. In fact the percentage is 30% to 25% and in the main the questions posed
reflect in the answers and the response shows the main reason is that it is social
smoking, mainly at parties. Drinking on the other hand appears to be weighted more
to the girls who as a generalisation say they ‘find it relaxing’; drinking was brought
up by the females in the face to face interviews.

The questionnaires showed that the male smokers were well aware of the dangers
of smoking, but that they started smoking in the first place without giving it much
thought. My hunch on this aspect is that ‘cool’ took over. This appears to be the
common practice when young, the attitude is ‘it will never happen to me’. The
answers I received on my questionnaires indicated that smoking at parties seemed to
be common practice. This indicates to me that these smokers are ‘social’ smokers,
believing that smoking creates a ‘cool’ image for them, as does drinking.

In my recorded interviews I posed the question do you smoke on other occasions,

other that parties and social events to three male and three female students, that is and
all replied yes? The other occasions the male students mentioned where when they
were talking to females casually, in any situation, trying to impress, it was relaxing
and they collectively agreed; they simply felt the need to continue to be ‘cool’, and by
being so more attractive to the opposite sex.

The conclusion that I have drawn from these ‘male’ comments is that being ‘cool’
is an important factor driving factor in the , to smoke or not to smoke question, in
their young lives and that males believe that smoking adds to their persona or ‘street
cred’. The smokers, male and female, also considered themselves ‘Social’ smokers.
Holding a cigarette and smoking at parties appears to comfort them and make them
more confident, as does drinking they informed me, and it also appeared from their
response to my questions, to relax them. When asked if they had any after effects of
smoking the following morning all replied that there was an unpleasant after taste in
the mouth. The more deep rooted consequences of smoking were simply, brushed to
one side.

In fact in all the face to face audio recorded interviews all if the three males and
three females, the boys and girls; I spoke to did not find it difficult to discuss all
facets of the subject as it was quite clear that I was not judging them. It was
surprising to me, the interviewer, just how frank both boys and girls were on the
subject and in the case of the boys interviewed the ‘Cool’ factor was a high priority
on their list. The underlying factor was clearly to impress females.

It is a fact that impressing girls is number one on the boys list of priorities at this
age, and perhaps to a slightly less extent this naturally applies to girls too, it is I feel a
natural occurrence part of the mating process and this brings in the danger element of
the habit and the disregard for that danger. Reading between the lines and in my
estimation I feel that this also has a bearing on the reasons for a number of the boys
who socially smoke. For they believe that it makes them more interesting to girls, a
little more dangerous.

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Conclusion.

Smoking is a fascinating topic, which appears to have no finite solution, to

discuss especially with young men and women. It is my considered opinion that in
the majority of cases smoking is felt by the smoker to be ‘Cool’, a ‘man’ smokes
disregarding the danger, the ‘others’ don’t, in the male smokers eyes!

The results of my Research indicate to me that factors, other than intelligence are
at work here - the strong natural instinct the males of the species possess which is
inbred, the need to impress females, their future mates. To be the most attractive and
the best of the bunch ‘Mr Cool’ personified, in front of them.

I feel, based on my anonymous questionnaires and six face to face interviews, that
the question of impressing girls in the case of the boys interviewed and the question
of being seen to be different to the ‘other’ boys, one of the few ‘cool’, ones, that
breaks the mould goes against the right, logical and sensible way of doing things,
appeals to them. In turn they hope it appeals to the opposite sex also, a ‘bad boy’
image if you like. This appears to work in many cases.

The media and film makers today tend to glorify the good boy with a bad boy side
as the hero of the day, James Bond, is a typical example, and whether it is liked and
accepted or not, boys and girls of this age are very vulnerable to these presentations,
naturally James Bond always gets the girls and always used to smoke Chesterfields,
un-tipped! An immediate association. There are other examples I can think of in the
good boy bad boy syndrome, you will have your own examples that immediately
spring to mind, and I believe having questioned and spoken to the boys and girls
involved in smoking at some length that these and other role model outside influences
play a considerable part and have an influence on the decision to smoke, and to
continue to smoke also.

The male smokers that I interviewed covered the spectrum of types but
predominantly were the physical, sporty types. The girls however covered a wider
range of types less concerned with impressing than being ‘in’ with the type of boys
described above. Physical attraction tends to come into play in our age group both
boys for girls and girls for boys. To have a boyfriend/girlfriend is to have status is the
general consensus of opinion.

Therefore it appears to me that if anything, an accessory, a cigarette, a drink in

hand, helps promote the image that is attractive to the opposite sex it will be used ,
particularly if it is wrong to do so, working on the principle of forbidden fruits etc.
Back to the good boy, bad boy syndrome.

I have learnt much whilst carrying out this project about boys and girls attitudes to
several subjects, subjects which do not relate to smoking immediately until you look
deeper but to carrying out things to impress the opposite sex, including smoking, to
being rebellious about things that are defined by others, as being the right and proper
thing to do, for them. A natural phenomenon and part of the maturing, settling down,
growing up process I feel, in a way a reaction to be expected by young and intelligent

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people, I will decide for myself, not have ‘them’, whoever them may be, deciding for
me, what I do, and that is the attitude that comes across to me, loud and clear.

To sum up, the thing that stands out in my mind most of all, and which continues
to reoccur, is the fact that it is seen to be ‘Cool’ to smoke and drink and promote the
good boy/bad boy image in the case of the boys to the opposite sex. In the case of the
girls, on the receiving end of the ‘impressing’ act, they naturally accept it, are
flattered by it, and some smoke socially to reciprocate the attention.

There is, I have learnt, much more to smoking than first meets the eye. It is a
fascinating subject that warrants an in depth study to enable the researcher to get
nearer the nub of the habit and perhaps in doing so learn and define the trigger
points and therefore clarify the major motivation in different age groups to enable
practical solutions to be formulated for addressing the problem.