While tobacco became more and more popular, there were always voices against it being considered immoral and harmful. However the intent of restraining his using has only made it more valuable and encouraged smuggling. Smoking is a risk factor for excitement state at young infants. Being a subject of actuality and of national interest, the authors have performed a study among the citizens of Bucharest, in order to sketch of the typical smoker profile. Smoking teenagers have to seek for medical care more often than non-smokers. As a final conclusion of this study we have to mention the fact that through a better campaign against smoking, sustained by the authorities, the number of smokers and smoking harmful effects could be significantly reduced.Tobacco, consume, survey, sampling, probability, representatively, assortment

Begu Liviu

Cristache Silvia-Elena

Serban Daniela

Zaharia Marian

English

Research Papers in Economics

961 
STATISTICAL STUDY CONCERNING THE URBAN TOBACCO’S 
CONSUM, PREMISES OF THE CONSUMERS’ BEHAVIOUR 
CHANGES 
Zaharia Marian  
Romanian - American University, Faculty of Internal and International Economy of Tourism, Bdul. 
Expozitiei nr. 1B, sector 1, Bucure￿ti, România, cod 012101, marianzaharia53@gmail.com 
Cristache  Silvia-Elena  
Academy of Economic Studies,Department of Econometrics and Statistics, Calea Doroban￿ilor  nr. 15-
17, sector 1, Bucure￿ti, cod 010552, csilvia2005@yahoo.com 
￿erban Daniela  
Academy  of  Economic  Studies,  Faculty  of  Cicernetics,  Statistics  and  Economic  Informatics,  Calea 
Doroban￿ilor  nr. 15-17, sector 1, Bucure￿ti, cod 010552, danielaserban2002@yahoo.com 
Begu Liviu 
Academy  of  Economic  Studies,  Faculty  of  Cicernetics,  Statistics  and  Economic  Informatics,  Calea 
Doroban￿ilor  nr. 15-17, sector 1, Bucure￿ti, cod 010552, liviu.begun@yahoo.com 
 
While tobacco became more and more popular, there were always voices against it  being considered 
immoral and harmful. However the intent of restraining his using has only made it more valuable and 
encouraged smuggling. Smoking is a risk factor for excitement state at young infants. Being a subject of 
actuality and of national interest, the authors have performed a study among the citizens of Bucharest, in 
order to sketch of the typical smoker profile. Smoking teenagers have to seek for medical care more often 
than non-smokers. As a final conclusion of this study we have to mention the fact that through a better 
campaign against  smoking,  sustained  by  the authorities,  the  number  of  smokers  and  smoking  harmful 
effects could be significantly reduced. 
 
Tobacco, consume, survey, sampling, probability, representatively, assortment  
Tobacco introduction notion 
Tobacco smoke contains over 4000 chemicals, the vast majority of which are present either naturally in the 
tobacco and transfer into smoke, or are formed when the tobacco is burnt. Hundreds of them are toxic and 
30 are carcinogenic. Nicotine has various effects on the body. In small doses nicotine serves as a nerve 
stimulant, entering the bloodstream and promoting the flow of adrenaline, a stimulating hormone. It speeds 
up the heartbeat and may cause it to become irregular. It also raises the blood pressure and reduces the 
appetite, and it may cause nausea and vomiting. 
While  tobacco  became  more  and  more  popular,  there  were  always  voices  against  it  being  considered 
immoral and harmful. However the intent of restraining his using has only made it more valuable and 
encouraged smuggling. After being harvested and processed nicotine becomes a product available in a 
wide range of items: cigars, cigarettes and tobacco. The occurrence of lung chronic diseases is strictly 
related to the smoking habits. Smoking is a risk factor for excitement state at young infants. 
Being a subject of actuality and of national interest, the authors have performed a study among the citizens 
of Bucharest, in order to sketch of the typical smoker profile. Smoking teenagers have to seek for medical 
care more often than non-smokers. The consumers have been questioned with the purpose of answering to 
the following questions: 
Who are the clients? 
How the consumers take-in the most important tobacco producers’ offers? 
Which is the favorite brand of the Bucharest smokers? 962 
The study subject 
In order to sketch the profile of the Romanian smoker we resume at persons that use tobacco asking about 
their favorite brands taking into consideration the following differentiation criteria: age, gender, education, 
occupation, income, and family state. 
Target population 
Target population consisted of people between 18 and 55 years from Bucharest. Considering that young 
people use tobacco starting with early ages, the target population was selected from persons over 18 years 
old who graduated at least 8 classes and smoke minimum 5 cigarettes daily. 
Data gathering  
The data have been gathered between 26.12.2006 - 02.12.2007, 300 subjects being interviewed.  
Data processing and analyzing  
The smoker profile 
Out of the entire subjects were females 56%, so more than half of the smokers are females. Another 
conclusion drawn was that more than a half of the users have been smoking for more than 5 years and 39 % 
represents peoples that have been smoking for at least 1 year but no longer than 5. 
It have also been noticed that 65% smoke an average of 20-30 cigarettes a day, around 50% of them prefer 
“Lights” and one third “Full Flavour”. “Menthol” and “Ultra Lights” own together 15 %.  
Male subjects: smokes in a percentage of two thirds “Full Flavour” and just one third “Lights”. The rest of 
them prefer “Menthol” or “Ultra Lights”. 
Female subjects: 60% of them prefer light cigarettes, followed by “Full Flavour” with 15% and menthol 
cigarettes with 10% of market share. Ultra and Super Lights flavours are desired by 6% and respectively 
7% of them.  
Beginners (less than a year experience): two third of them prefer “Lights”. ”Super lights” and “Menthol” 
are liked by 12%.The last being “Full Flavour” with 3 %. 
Youths (between 18-25 years old): about 75 % care for light cigarettes. Most of them start smoking 1 to 5 
years ago. Second place is held by full flavour cigarettes with 17% (see figure 1).  
 
16,10
69,49
14,41
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1
sub un an intre 1 si 5 ani peste 5 ani
 
Figure 1. Sample structure depending on the smoking experience 
 
High-school graduates (50 % of the whole subjects) choose especially light cigarettes (60%). In favor of 
“Full Flavour” were 27% (see Figure 2). 
 963 
Sortiment
26,90
60,69
3,45
2,07
6,90
0,00 10,00 20,00 30,00 40,00 50,00 60,00 70,00
Menthol
Ultra Lights
Super Lights
Lights
Full flavour
 
Figure 2. High-school graduates preferences concerning flavours 
 
Also 50% of university graduates smokes “full flavour” and their favorite brand is Viceroy (30 %), the rest 
of 16% is held by other brands, except “Pall Mall” with 4% (see Figure 3).  
 
16,00
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4,00
16,00 16,00 16,00
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Kent Viceroy Pall Mall L & M Marlboro altele...
 
Figure 3. University graduates preferences concerning brands 
 
Regarding the flavors, 42% prefer “Lights” and 37% “Full Flavour”. 
 
The final top shows that the leading brand is Kent with a quarter of the market, being followed by Viceroy 
with 20 % and Pall Mall with 16 %. 
Males care for Viceroy due to the price and habit. Secondly being L&M and Marlboro each of them with 
20 % market share (see Figure 4). 
12,21
26,72
9,16
20,61 19,85
10,69
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Kent Viceroy Pall Mall L & M Marlboro altele...
1  
Figure 4. Males’ preferences regarding brands 
Females choose more refined cigarettes, the leading brand being Kent, preferred by a third of them. The 
runner up is Pall Mall with over 20 % from preferences. 
others 
others 964 
33,73
13,61
21,30
11,83
10,06 9,47
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Kent Viceroy Pall Mall L & M Marlboro altele...
1  
Figure 5. Female preferences about brands 
Youths care more of quality rather than price, so they smoke Kent (35%) and Pall Mall (30%). Due to the 
lower quality, Viceroy has only 7 %. Third place is held by Marlboro with 16 % followed by L&M with 
8%. 
The conclusions are: 
−  69%  from  the  whole  population  consider  quality  whereas  25%  consider  low  prices  in 
choosing the brand. Only 6% are influenced by friend in their choice. 
−  91% tried another brand before the present one. 
−  Regardless of the price and considering only the quality their choice (for 35%), would be 
Kent and Marlboro, being followed by Davidoff with 27%. 
−  If they would have to change the brand, the hierarchy will be: Marlboro, Kent, then with 20 
% Pall Mall, 9% L&M, and Viceroy with 5%. 
−  Taking 10 cigarettes-packs as criteria, 42% of the females choose Pall Mall and around 42 % 
of the males care of Marlboro. 
−  Females use to buy 10-packs only they can’t find 20-packs or they can’t find their brand, 
whereas 30% of the males buy 10-packs because they can’t afford a 20-pack. 
 
1,67
48,33
7,67 8,33
32,00
1,67
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30,00
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50,00
60,00
8 clase liceul scoala profesionala colegiu universitate studii postuniversitare
1  
Figure 6. The sample structure after the level of education 
 
−  Also, females smoke about 75% from the enriched flavour cigarettes. 
−  The smokers from Bucharest are peoples from all ages and levels of education and social 
status. There is no tendency at poor people to smoke more. Only 10 % is held by the ones 
with incomes less than 250 RON. 
8 classes  High 
school 
Professional school  college  university  Postuniversity studies 
others 965 
−  From the 300 interviewed subjects almost a half is high-school graduates and over a third are 
university graduates. 
It is notable that a third of the smokers are the only smokers in their families and the missing of a second 
smoker greatly reduce the number of smoked cigarettes or even quitting. 
Also 30% of the subjects are afraid of lung cancer caused by smoking. The second fear, for about 22 % of 
them, is stinky breathe. The lack of physical resistance is the third concern reason with 18%. On the fourth 
place is teeth yellowing and heavy breathe for about 10%. While the visual acuity is considered important 
for 4 %.( see Figure 7).  
 
0,00
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cancer respiratie mirositoare scaderea vederii
ingreunarea respiratiei ingalbenirea dintilor scaderea rezistentei fizice
altele...
1  
Figure7. Answering structure depending on the smoking harmful effects 
After the data processing and interpretation, the following conclusions have been drawn: 
More than a half of all smokers begin to smoke before the age of 14 and 90 % before the age of 19. 
Smoking teenagers have to seek for medical care more often than non-smokers. 
A person that smokes one pack per day lives 7 years than a non-smoker. 
As a final conclusion of this study we have to mention the fact that through a better campaign against 
smoking,  sustained  by  the  authorities,  the  number  of  smokers  and  smoking  harmful  effects  could  be 
significantly reduced. While tobacco became more and more popular, there were always voices against it 
being considered immoral and harmful. However the intent of restraining his using has only made it more 
valuable and encouraged smuggling. 
After being harvested and processed nicotine becomes a product available in a wide range of items: cigars, 
cigarettes and tobacco. The known health risks associated with cigarette smoking, such as damage to the 
lungs and lung cancer, are thought to be caused by other components of cigarettes such as tars and other 
by-products of smoking, and by the irritating effects of smoke on the lung tissue. Addiction to smoking is 
caused by nicotine itself. Stopping smoking produces withdrawal symptoms within 24 to 48 hours, which 
commonly include irritability, headaches, and anxiety, in addition to the strong desire to smoke. 
References 
1.  Aridly, P., Les techniques de sondage, Technip, Paris, 1994 
2.  Agnew, W., Kellerman, J. Distributed Multimedia Technologies, Applications and Opportunities 
in Digital Information Industry, Addison Wesley Publishing Company 
3.  Calot, G., Cours de statistique descriptive, Dunod, Paris, 1975 
4.  Jaba Elisabeta, Statistica, editia a III-a, Editura Economic￿, Bucure￿ti, 2003 
5.  Zaharia M., (coord.) Economy of Services, Universitara Printing House, Bucuresti, 2007 
6.  www.chip.ro 
cancer 
difficult respiration 
others 
Smelling respiration 
Yellow teeth 
Low visual acuity 
Low physical resistance  966 
7.  www.insse.ro 
8.  www.pcworldmagazine 
 
 
 
 

STATISTICAL STUDY CONCERNING THE URBAN TOBACCO'S CONSUM, PREMISES OF THE CONSUMERS' BEHAVIOUR CHANGES

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STATISTICAL STUDY CONCERNING THE URBAN TOBACCO'S CONSUM, PREMISES OF THE CONSUMERS' BEHAVIOUR CHANGES

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