BAT; Carrerras Rothmans; Gallahers; Imperial Tobacco; National Opinion Polls; Philip Morris; Survey Research Associated Ltd.
British American Tobacco; Carreras-Rothmans; Gallahers; Imperial Tobacco; Philip Morris
Project Aquarius was a secret study of public attitudes towards cigarette smoking that was funded by British American Tobacco (BAT), Rothman's Tobacco Company, Gallahers Tobacco Company, Imperial Tobacco and Philip Morris. Stage 1 of the study was done in 1977 and consisted of in-depth interviews with 40 people. Stage 2 of the study consisted of in-home, personal interviews with a "random sample of 5,000 U.K. adults - 16 years and older."
The study concluded that the "smoking population is unstable" because 66% of the smokers had tried to quit and 63% said they wanted to give up smoking altogether if they could do so easily. Health concerns and cost were the two most frequenly cited reasons. The study also found that 61% of smokers had tried "quite hard" or "very hard" to quit smoking.
The report states,
"Even smokers support total smoking bans in certain places...
Percentage wanting a smoking ban in
Smokers Nonsmokers
Food shops 78% 84%