Smokers 80% less likely to quit when cigarettes cost only $1 more.
As someone who started when cigarettes were $3.50 a pack, and I now spend $7+ a pack, if that jump happened over night, yes I would have quit. But only a $1 does not make them less appealing. I already hate them but that's not a large enough jump to deter me from smoking.
I am well aware the gradual increase over time didn't keep me from quiting due to cost, but everything's more expensive these days. I'm not trying to justify my habit, but this headline seems like a whole lot of nothing. 20% more likely is still alot less the 80% less likely.
If beer went up $1, do you think 20% of drinkers would quit drinking? Nope. They would just start drinking "cheaper" beer, or continue doing what they do. If cost was an issue, all smokers would have stopped by now, myself included.
I can tell you right now, some smokers might say they'd quit if prices went up, but that's never happened in my experience. My uncle was definitely one who said if prices went up he'd quit. That was over 10 years ago, and guess what....he still smokes like a freight train. I'm guilty of it myself.
The realization of the cost over long periods of time is what drives people to quit. Not a $1. Take a pack a day smoker, and ask them, if cigarettes cost you an extra $365 a year, would you quit? I smoke almost 2 packs a day, and im aware that a $1 more equals an extra $730 a year, and still I'd say "yup, shit sucks".
But say, the cost of smoking goes from $2700 a year to $3100 at a pack a day and you'll get a better response then just a $1 extra a day. Or in my case, say it goes from $5400 a year to $6200 a year, at 2 packs a day, thats definitely gonna grab my attention more then a $1 more a pack.
Now considering from where I started, at $3.50 a pack per day, tell me I went from just over $1200 a year to over $6000 a year, then you have my attention. And this is all before the health benefits. I've been trying to quit for sometime and even bought patches just a couple days ago. Even as I type this out, I'm not hit with the overwhelming urge to completely quit. So an extra $1 a day, is nothing to me