Industry overview
What is shaping tobacco
Tobacco research sits at the meeting point of regulation, public health and farm livelihoods. Every study we take on in this sector follows strict ethical guidelines and focuses on compliance, awareness, livelihoods and cessation.
- Point-of-sale and packaging rules are tightly regulated
- Public-health programmes track awareness and cessation
- Farm households weigh alternative crops and livelihoods
Client background
A manufacturing group’s health and safety team, working in Gujarat & Tamil Nadu. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A manufacturing group’s health and safety team
- Sector
- Tobacco
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Quantitative research, Qualitative research, Research consultancy
Client challenge
The group introduced a tobacco-free workplace policy with counselling support and wanted to know whether it worked and how workers experienced it.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: evaluating a tobacco-free workplace programme in factories.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of workers.
- Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
- Set up a repeatable measure the client can track over time.
Target audience
The work focused on 1,500 workers.
- workers1,500
Audiences we typically reach in tobacco
Retailers and point-of-sale ownersTobacco farmersPublic-health programme teamsAdults trying to quitRegulators and enforcement officials
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Gujarat & Tamil Nadu. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.
- 1Brief
- 2Worker survey before and after
- 3Supervisor interviews
- 4Insight
We surveyed workers before the programme and again nine months later, using anonymous self-completion on tablets to encourage honest answers. Supervisors were interviewed about implementation challenges.
Quantitative researchQualitative researchResearch consultancy
Sampling strategy
- workers
- 1,500
- Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.
Data collection
- Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
Data quality & validation
- Recordings and transcripts for every session
- Re-screening of qualitative recruits
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
- Journey and decision mapping
Key findings
- Workers who used counselling were more likely to report quitting or cutting down, but night-shift workers rarely accessed support.
Anonymous self-completion is essential when asking employees about sensitive behaviour.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: anonymous self-completion is essential when asking employees about sensitive behaviour.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: workers who used counselling were more likely to report quitting or cutting down, but night-shift workers rarely accessed support.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The group extended counselling hours to cover night shifts.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interview summaries and key verbatims
- Continue the routine and review results every period.
- A natural follow-on question: how aware are people of health warnings?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.