Cigarette Lovers: Indonesian Smokers Survey 2016

In a tobacco country like Indonesia, smoking has become a lifestyle issue instead of just a health issue. Smoking habit cannot be approached as a matter of medical issue anymore, but rather to be seen as a cultural issue, in a broader perspective. It’s not about how smoking affects people’s health, but it’s about how smoking affects people’s life; that somehow, sometimes, and some way, it’s not about the addiction, but the choice that people made for themselves. Regarding to that matter, recently Jakpat has conducted a survey in order to see Indonesian smokers’ preferences and habit. This survey involved 324 respondents from across Indonesia, with a range of age from 18 to 45 year-old. First of all, from those respondents, 298 people (92%) admit that they are currently active smokers when the survey took place.

Regarding to the matter of time, apparently almost a half of Indonesian smokers (48%) admit that they began to start smoking since their late teens (18 – 20 year-old), while there are also some of them (30%) who admit that they had begun smoking since they were minors (under 18 year-old). There are also 15% of Indonesian smokers who started smoking on their early 20s (21 – 23 year-old), 5% on their mid 20s (24 – 27 year-old), 1% on their early 30s (31 – 33 year-old), and 1% on their late 20s (28 – 30 year-old). Furthermore, there are 35% of Indonesian smokers who admit that they have been being a smoker for about a year to five years, while there are 32% of them who apparently have become a smoker for about six to ten years. Moreover, there are also 31% of Indonesian smokers who have been being a smoker for more than ten years.

Regarding to the matter of reason, the most common answer when asked about why they smoked in the first place is divided into two main reasons. The first one is because of following their friends (42%), while the second one is because they did that just for fun (40%). Moreover, there are also 34% of Indonesian smokers who admit that, at first, they smoked out of curiousity. Henceforth, about the reason why they continue to become a smoker after the first try, apparently half of them (50%) admit that it was because of the addiction. However, there are also 41% of them, which is a lot, who argue that it was their own personal decision that they’ve become smokers in the end. Concurrently, there are also 31% of Indonesian smokers who admit that they became smokers because of their social environment.

When asked about the trial to stop smoking, we found that most of Indonesian smokers (91%) admit that they have tried it. However, they failed. Subsequently, there are 35% of Indonesian smokers who admit that they can withstand to not smoking for about one to three days, while 26% of them admit that they can withstand it only less than a day. However, there are 12% of them who apparently can hold the urge to smoke for more than a month, while 10% of them can hold it for exactly just one month. Furthermore, there are 9% of Indonesian smokers who are able to not smoking for more than a week, while 8% of them admit that they are able to not smoking only for about four to seven days.

Regarding to the matter of cigarettes preferences, we have two indicators in order to see how many do Indonesian smokers consume cigarettes in a day: in a set of sticks and in a set of packs. Most of Indonesian smokers smoke about one to ten sticks of cigarettes (60%) and less than a pack (53%) in a day. Meanwhile, some of them smoke about 11 to 20 sticks of cigarettes (35%) and about one to two packs (46%) in a day. There are 1% of them who smoke about three to four packs of cigarettes in a day, while there are 4% who smoke about 21 to 30 sticks of cigarettes in a day. There are also 1% of them who admit that they smoke more than 30 sticks of cigarettes in a day. Furthermore, when asked about the kind of cigarettes they smoke, apparently the most popular choice is divided into two major kinds: Sigaret Putih Mesin (SPM) chosen by 46% and Sigaret Kretek Mesin (SKM) chosen by 44% of Indonesian smokers. Concurrently, there are 10% of them who admit that they smoke Sigaret Kretek Tangan (SKT).

Still regarding to the matter of cigarettes preferences, there are five most popular cigarette brands in Indonesia: (1) Sampoerna chosen by 26%, (2) Gudang Garam chosen by 20%, (3) Djarum chosen by 14%, (4) Marlboro chosen by 8%, and (5) Dunhill chosen by 8% of Indonesian smokers. Henceforth, when asked about the place where they usually buy cigarettes, apparently most of them (84%) buy it at the nearby store, while more than half of them (61%) buy it at the minimarket. There are also 43% of Indonesian smokers who frequently buy cigarettes at the grocery store, while 26% of them buy it at the supermarket.

Regarding to the cigarettes buying habit, apparently most of Indonesian smokers (88%) usually buy cigarettes in a pack, instead of retailing in sticks or in dozens of packs. Next, still regarding to habit, but this is about the smoking habit itself. There are 49% of Indonesian smokers who admit that they always smoke anytime they are able to, while 46% of them say that they always need to smoke every time they finish having a meal. There are also 32% of Indonesian smokers who prefer smoking than doing anything else every time they have nothing to do, while 22% of them admit that they like smoking in the morning. In addition, there are also 17% of Indonesian smokers who state that they smoke only when they hang-out with their friends.

Still regarding to the smoking habit, apparently most of Indonesian smokers (80%) say that they like to enjoy smoking while consuming certain drinks or beverages. Almost all of them (92%) like to have a cup of coffee when they are smoking, while some of them (31%) like to have a cup of tea. Furthermore, there are also 17% of them who admit that they usually smoke with a glass of mineral water as a company, while 9% of them choose beer. Subsequently, there are 8% of Indonesian smokers who like to drink soda when they are smoking, while 3% of them like to have a glass of wine.

Lastly, regarding to the warnings presented by the Indonesian government toward smoking, apparently there are 67% of Indonesian smokers who admit that they don’t feel disturbed by “ROKOK MEMBUNUHMU” warning. They don’t find it disturbing them at all, whether it’s written on the pack of cigarettes or the advertisements. Moreover, more than half of them (57%) admit that they don’t feel disturbed by the health cautions image displayed on the pack of cigarettes.

For more detail you can download XLS report at the button below (bahasa). JAKPAT report consists of 3 parts which are 1) Respondent Profile, 2) Crosstabulation for each question and 3) Raw Data. Respondent profile shows you demographic profiles ( gender,age range, location by province, and monthly spending). Cross tabulation enables you to define different demographic segment preference on each answer.