Smoking and Relationships

More Than Half (56%) Would Not Date A Smoker Six in Ten (61%) Say a Date's Smoking Would Decrease Their Attractiveness

9 February 2005

Trends & Prospective

Toronto, ON - A new survey finds that, 56% of Canadians would not date a smoker if they were single and dating. In fact, when asked if they were to date a smoker, how much would the smoking affect their attraction to that person, 61% Canadians say it would decreases their attraction.

Once in a relationship, one in five (20%) Canadians say they have, or know someone who has, ended the relationship because their partner was a smoker. And, more than half (54%) have, or know someone who has, quit smoking for someone else. Meanwhile, two-thirds (65%) say they either have, or know someone who has, hidden smoking from someone else.

When asked if they had to give up smoking for someone else/since they gave up smoking, what indulgence, if any, would they allow themselves instead of smoking, One-fifth (22%) Canadians said: "Food". Over one-quarter (27%) of Canadians would indulge in "Nothing" in this situation.

Of the 75% of Canadians who have ever kissed someone after they had been smoking, over half (54%) negatively describe the experience by agreeing with one or more of these statements: "it tasted like an ashtray" (24%), "it was a bit of a turn off" (17%), and/or "it was completely disgusting" (15%).

Currently, three in ten Canadian adults (28%) are smokers (18% "smoker," 10% "currently trying to quit"), whereas three-quarters (72%) are non-smokers (40% "never been a smoker," 32% "former smoker").

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Pfizer poll conducted from January 21st to January 24th, 2005. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 884 Canadian adults was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1773.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire Canadian adult population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

More Than Half (56%) Of Canadians Would Not Date a Smoker

If single and dating, over half (56%) of Canadians say they would not date a smoker. Approximately four in ten (43%) say they would and 2% are unsure.

Former Smokers (62%) and people who have never smoked (79%) are much more likely to say no to dating a smoker than smokers currently trying to quit (22%) and Current Smokers (11%). 183
Residents of British Columbia (61%) and Ontario (60%) are most likely to say they would not date a smoker, followed by residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (55%), Alberta (54%), Quebec (50%), and Atlantic Canada (46%). 183
Women (61%) are more likely to not date a smoker than men (49%). 183
Canadians 35 years of age or older (60%) are more likely than those 18-34 years of age (46%) to say no to dating a smoker.

Six in Ten (61%) Say a Date's Smoking Would Decrease Their Attractiveness

When asked if they were to date a smoker, how much would the smoking affect their attraction to that person, 61% Canadians say it would decreases their attraction (18% probably, 43% definitely), while 3% say it would increase their attraction (2% probably, 1% definitely). One-third (35%) say it would neither increase or decrease their attraction to the person. 183

Not surprisingly, non-smokers and smokers are divided in their opinion about how a person's smoking would affect their attraction to that person.

The majority of non-smokers (78%) say smoking decreases attraction, whereas less than one-fifth (17%) of smokers feel this way. 183
Current Smokers (10%) are more likely to say a person's smoking would increase their attraction to them, compared to smokers currently trying to quit (1%), Former Smokers (2%), and people who have never smoked (1%). 183
Both Current Smokers (13%) and smokers currently trying to quit (25%) are much less likely than Former Smokers (72%) and people who have never smoked (83%) to find smoking decreases attractiveness. 183
Residents of Quebec (7%) are more likely than residents of the rest of Canada (3% national average) to say a person's smoking would/probably would increase their attraction to them.

One In Five (20%) Canadians Have/Know Someone Who Has Ended a Relationship with Someone Because He/ She Was A Smoker

One-fifth (20%) of Canadians say they have (6%), or know someone who has (14%), ended a relationship because their partner was a smoker. Conversely, 80% have not/do not.

Residents of British Columbia (27%) are most likely to have, or know someone who has, ended a relationship because their partner was a smoker, followed by residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (21%), Ontario (21%), Alberta (19%), Atlantic Canada (16%), and Quebec (15%). 183
The likelihood to have, or know someone who has, ended a relationship because their partner was a smoker nominally decreases with age: 25% of Canadians 18-34 years of age vs. 19% of Canadians 35-54 years of age vs. 16% of Canadians 55 years of age or older.

More Than Half (54%) Have /Know Someone Who Has Quit Smoking for Someone Else

More than half (54%) of Canadians have (14%) or know someone who has (42%), quit smoking for someone else. Conversely, 45% have not/do not.

Residents of British Columbia (64%) are most likely to have or know someone who has quit smoking for someone else, followed by residents of Alberta (60%), Ontario (54%), Atlantic Canada (51%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (50%), and Quebec (49%). 183
The likelihood to have, or know someone who has, ever quit smoking for someone else nominally decreases with age: 61% of Canadians 18-34 years of age vs. 54% of Canadians 35-54 years of age vs. 50% of Canadians 55 years of age or older.

Two-Thirds (65%) Have/ Know Someone Who Has Hidden Smoking From Someone Else T

wo-thirds (65%) of Canadians say they either have (23%), or know someone who has (46%), hidden smoking from someone else. One-third (35%) have not/do not.

More Smokers (73%) than Non-Smokers (62%) have, or know someone who has, hidden smoking from someone else. 183
Residents of Alberta (74%) are most likely to have, or know someone who has, hidden smoking from someone else, followed by residents of Ontario (67%), Atlantic Canada (66%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (66%), Quebec (60%), and British Columbia (57%). 183
Canadians between the ages of 18-34 years (74%) and 35-54 years (66%) are more likely to have, or know someone who has, hidden smoking from someone else than those 55+ years of age (56%). 183
Females (69%) are more likely than males (60%) to say they either have, or know someone who has, hidden smoking from someone else.

Three-Quarters (75%)Of Canadians Have Kissed Someone After They Had Been Smoking, Over Half (54%) Negatively Describe The Experience

Three-quarters (75%) of Canadian adults have, at some time, kissed someone after they had been smoking. One-quarter (25%) says they have not.

Smokers (93%) are more likely than Non-Smokers (69%) to have kissed someone who has smoked. 183
Residents of Atlantic Provinces (85%) are most likely to have kissed someone who had been smoking, followed by residents of British Columbia (79%), Quebec (76%), Ontario (73%), Alberta (73%), and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (72%).

Of those, over half (54%) negatively describe the experience by agreeing with one or more of these statements: "it tasted like an astray" (24%), "it was a bit of a turn off" (17%), and/or "it was completely disgusting" (15%). Other responses were as follows: "I couldn't taste anything because I had smoked too" (27%), "I didn't notice" (17%), "It was a bit of a turn on" (1%), and "I don't know" (2%).

Smokers (19%) are less likely than Non-Smokers (73%) to describe the experience negatively. 183
Males are more likely than females to say, "I didn't notice" (21% vs. 13%) or "It was a bit of a turn off" (22% vs. 13%). Meanwhile, females (20%) are more likely than males (9%) to say, "It was completely disgusting".

One-fifth (22%) Would or Have Allowed Themselves Food as an Indulgence Instead of Smoking

When asked if they had to give up smoking for someone else/since you gave up smoking, what indulgence, if any, they allowed themselves instead of smoking, 27% Canadians said: "Nothing". In this situation, one-fifth (22%) said they would or have allowed themselves "Food" instead of smoking.

Other indulgences mentioned would include: "Drink" (7%), "Travel" (6%), "Shopping" (6%), and "Gum" (5%), instead of smoking.

Former Smokers (34%) are more likely than Current Smokers (21%) and those trying to quit (16%) to allow themselves "Nothing" instead of smoking. However, Current Smokers (4%) are more likely than those who have never smoked (0%) and Former Smokers (0%) to indulge in sex. 183
Males (3%) are more likely than females (0%) to indulge in sex since they gave up smoking or if they had to give up smoking for someone else. 183
Residents of Quebec (18%) are least likely to indulge in "Nothing" instead of smoking, compared to residents of British Columbia (37%), Atlantic (33%), Alberta (32%), Ontario (27%), and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (26%).
Residents of Quebec (15%) are also more likely to indulge in "Travel" compared to the other Canadians in British Columbia (7%), Ontario (3%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (3%), Atlantic Canada (2%), and Alberta (0%). 183
Residents of Atlantic Provinces (33%) are most likely to indulge in "Food", including: "Candy", "Chocolate", "Food/eating in general", and "Various other types of food". Less likely to indulge in "Food" instead of smoking: residents of Ontario (24%), British Columbia (21%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (21%), Quebec (19%), and Alberta (14%), 183
Residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (16%) are most likely to indulge in "Drink", including: "Alcoholic" and "Other drink", instead of smoking, followed by residents of Alberta (11%), Ontario (7%), British Columbia (7%), Quebec (5%), and Atlantic Canada (3%). 183
Shopping is a more popular indulgence instead of smoking for middle-aged adults (8%) compared to young adults (3%) and adults older than 55 years of age (5%). 183
Adults older than 55 years of age (37%) are much more likely than
Canadians between the ages of 18-34 years (23%) and 35-54 years (22%) to indulge in "Nothing" instead of smoking.

Three In Ten (28%) Canadian Adults Are Currently Smokers

Middle-aged Canadians (22%) are more likely than young adults (19%) and older adults (12%) to be smokers who are not trying to quit. 183
The likelihood to be currently trying to quit nominally decreases with age: 15% of Canadians 18-34 years of age vs. 10% of Canadians 35-54 years of age vs. 6% of Canadians 55 years of age or older. 183
The propensity to be a former smoker increases with age: 20% of Canadians 18-34 years of age vs. 31% of Canadians 35-54 years of age vs. 44% of Canadians 55 years of age or older. 183
Meanwhile, young adults 18-34 years of age (46%) are more likely than their elders (37%) to have never been a smoker.

Please open the attached PDF to view the factum and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900

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