Center for Survey Research Study: Fresh Air Makes for Good Business

By Anne-Marie Kent

Pretty soon, you won't have to specify "smoking or nonsmoking" when making restaurant reservations. In fact, nearly 100 Massachusetts cities, including Boston, have already banned cigarette smoking in virtually all public places. By July, that ban will extend statewide, making Massachusetts the sixth state with such a ban.

The shift to clean air is not only better for health, but it's also potentially good for business, says Lois Biener, senior researcher with the Center for Survey Research.

"Even among smokers, support for smoke-free bars statewide is growing," says Biener, who has been studying anti-tobacco interventions for over a decade, working closely with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

In the mid-1990s, the surveys conducted by Biener's Center for Survey Research team showed a potential for increases in restaurant and bar patronage in response to hypothetical smoking bans. Only eight percent of Massachusetts adults surveyed in 1995 reported that they would go out to eat less often if a smoking ban were in place. In fact, 31 percent said that they would eat out more often. Sixty-one percent said that their patronage would not change. These figures suggest a net increase in restaurant patronage as the result of a ban on smoking.

Survey numbers in 1995 for bars and nightclubs were similar: only 11 percent of those surveyed said that they would frequent bars less often. Twenty percent reported an intention to go out more often, and 69 percent said their patronage patterns would not change.

"Even at that time, most of the population believed that second-hand smoke posed serious health risks," says Biener. "The support for smoke-free restaurants has increased steadily throughout the 1990s among nonsmokers and smokers alike."

In 2001, Biener and her Center for Survey Research team launched a major new study of tobacco use in Massachusetts with support from the National Cancer Institute. It is a longitudinal study of Massachusetts adults and youth, designed primarily to examine the impact of local tobacco-control policy and mass media on adult smoking cessation and youth initiation.

"The data on adult smokers provides us with some initial hints about how the Boston smoke-free workplace ordinance may have influenced their patronage of restaurants and bars, as well as their support for smoke-free policies," explains Biener.

The initial interview was conducted between January of 2001 and June of 2002. Looking at smokers interviewed a second time after May 3, 2003--after the Boston ordinance was in effect--Biener compared the change from Time 1 to Time 2 for smokers in Boston versus smokers from other Massachusetts towns.

"The Boston sample is quite small--only 49 people--but they are reasonably representative of Boston smokers," says Biener. Preliminary data on this cohort of Massachusetts smokers indicate no negative impact of the May 2003 regulation on bar patronage. If anything, they reported going out to bars and clubs more often after the ban than before. When asked how often they went out to bars and clubs in their town, 47 percent of Boston smokers said "often or always." Interviewed after the ban, 50 percent of the same group said "often or always."

"It is also apparent that support for smoke-free bars was higher among Boston smokers than those in other towns prior to May 2003 and has increased, both in Boston (from 17 to 23 percent) and in other towns (from 10 to 15 percent)," says Biener. "Smokers apparently realize that even they benefit from cleaner air."

Image: Patrons of restaurants, bars, and nightclubs are not deterred by the smoking ban, according to a survey by Lois Biener, a senior researcher at the Center for Survey Research. (Photo by Richard Howard)

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