U.S. Survey Finds Most Quit Smoking by Going “Cold Turkey”
A survey of U.S. smokers found that 74% of the respondents said they quit smoking by going cold turkey, while 8% gave up the habit by using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products, 6% by cutting back on cigarettes and 4% with the help of an oral prescription medication. Conducted by market research firm Mintel, the survey found that 66% of smokers polled tried to quit but failed, with 40% of them failing after attempting to give up the habit more than four times.
Billy Hulkower, senior analyst at Mintel, said going cold turkey is not only the most successful way to quit smoking, but also the most commonly attempted method to give up the habit. Hulkower urged manufacturers to find creative ways to encourage more people to use their NRT products, saying “[t]he market is definitely ripe for a smoking cessation product or method that helps people learn to live without cigarettes for the long term,” reported BusinessWeek.
