Study

Survey on New Jersey's Proposed Clean Indoor Air Act

To see a copy of the press release, click here. If you have any questions or to obtain a copy of the data, contact us at info@icrsurvey.com or call us at (800) 633-1986 or (484) 840-4300.

Summary

We interviewed 496 adults, 18 years of age or older in the Mid-Atlantic region in order to determine the support and impact of the proposed Clean Indoor Air Act. We surveyed 118 adults throughout New Jersey. Additionally, we sampled 378 adults in Delaware, south- eastern Pennsylvania, southern New York, and southwestern Connecticut, as these are the regional markets that most heavily feed the Atlantic City casino-hotel industry.

If the New Jersey state legislature were to pass a Clean Indoor Air Act, two-thirds (67%) of the adults in the Mid-Atlantic area would support the bill. Support was just as strong within New Jersey (68%) as it was in the surrounding area (67%). Interestingly, even 34% of the smokers within the survey area would be in favor of an indoor smoking ban. Not surprisingly, 79% of non-smokers support a ban. The ban also garners more support among women (74%) and among college graduates (81%). People who visit Atlantic City casinos are about split on a ban (which would include the casinos). About 45% of gamblers would support a no-smoking rule, while 48% would be opposed to it.

Other Key Findings

12-month visitation to Atlantic City casino-hotels was 16% overall; with 29% of NJ residents visiting, versus only 13% of out-of-state respondents. Smokers are slightly more likely to visit Atlantic City casinos: 20 percent say they have visited in the past twelve months.

As a test of the net effect of a no-smoking law on casino traffic, we asked if people would be more likely to visit Atlantic City, less likely, or not influenced, if there were an indoor smoking ban. About three-quarters (73%) said it would have no impact on their decision to visit Atlantic City. Interestingly, the data indicates that about 1.5 million more adults (out of the 20.5 million in the survey geography) would visit Atlantic City more often, as opposed to less often, if the smoke cleared. Granted, the best measure of visitor impact would be to query the established visitors to Atlantic City. Even here, the net gain in visitor traffic could be as much as 100,000 regional gamblers. That is, 600,000 indicated that they would visit A.C. more often; 500,000 less often; and 2.3 million said a no-smoking statute would have no impact on their visitation habits. Our data indicates that 3.3 million regional adults visited an Atlantic City casino in the past year. Other studies indicate that casino gamblers in this region make about 6 to 7 visits per year, on average. This would suggest about 21 million A.C. casino visits (as opposed to visitors) from the Mid-Atlantic region.

We asked New Jersey residents if a smoking ban would impact their restaurant dining, and we found a net gain of 800,000 more adults dining out more often, as opposed to less often. Some 29% said they would dine out more often in smoke-free restaurants, 10% said less often, and 61% said it would have no bearing on their decision. Again, women were more likely to dine out more often (39%) if a no-smoking law were passed.

About 27% of the regional adult audience are smokers (have smoked any tobacco products in the past 7 days). In New Jersey, the rate is 26%. Among Atlantic City visitors, it is 33%. The incidence of smoking is higher among men in the region (33%) versus women (20%). Smoking is more common among low-income homes and among those without college education.

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To see a copy of the press release, click here. If you have any questions or to obtain a copy of the data, contact us at info@icrsurvey.com or call us at (800) 633-1986 or (484) 840-4300 .

The New Jersey Smoking survey was conducted by telephone from March 23 to April 17, 2005 among 496 adults age 18 and older who live in or near the state of New Jersey. The survey has a +/- 4.4% margin of error at the 95% confidence level.

Questions and Topline Results

1. Within the past 12 months, have you visited any of the casino hotels in Atlantic City, New Jersey?

	%
Yes	16
No	84
(DO NOT READ) Dont Know	*
(DO NOT READ) Refused	*

2. The New Jersey state legislature is considering a bill called the Clean Indoor Air Act, which would prohibit cigarette and cigar smoking in most indoor public places, which would include casinos. If you had to have an opinion, do you support such a law for New Jersey, or do you oppose it?

	%
Support	67
Oppose	27
(DO NOT READ) Dont Know	6
(DO NOT READ) Refused	*

3. If Atlantic City casinos were to ban smoking in their public spaces, would that persuade you to go to Atlantic City more often, less often, or would it not impact your decision?

	%
More Often	16
Less Often	9
No impact on decision	73
(DO NOT READ) Dont Know	2
(DO NOT READ) Refused	*

(Asked of New Jersey state residents only; n=118)

4. If New Jersey restaurants were to ban smoking, would that persuade you to dine out more often, less often, or would it not impact your decision?

	%
More Often	29
Less Often	10
No impact on decision	61
(DO NOT READ) Dont Know	*
(DO NOT READ) Refused	*

5. Within the past 7 days, have you smoked any tobacco products?

	%
Yes	27
No	73
(DO NOT READ) Dont Know	*
(DO NOT READ) Refused	*