A.S.C. (alt.smokers.cigars) SURVEY RESULTS (Administered April 15 - May 15, 1996) Go Directly to Table of Contents

Welcome to the ASC Reader Survey

July 1, 1996

Being relatively new to ASC, one of the first things I found myself wondering was: "Who is everyone here? Who are all these opinionated, friendly, funny, enthusiastic, semi-anonymous cigar lovers? Are they all old men with mustaches who spit tobacco juice on the floor? Are they acne-skinned computer jocks with peach fuzz beards smoking maduro this, and claro that? What do they believe in? What do they smoke? Why do they smoke? Just who the heck are these people?"

The wondering grew with every new thread, FAQ reference and craftily dispatched rogue advertiser... And then there came along an interesting thread... a debate of sorts, about that magazine we all seem to have an opinion on, Cigar Aficionado. It went something like this: "Does CA truly reflect who we are? It sure looks like its readers are all multi-millionaires who smoke Havanas given to them by their buddies at the State Department. Are CA's articles and advertisements, you know--the ones that feature $3,000 custom cowboy boots, private island ownership, and high-roller poker junkets to Las Vegas, really representative of our lifestyle (i.e., of us here on ASC)?" Quickly the thread evolved, however there was no resolution. The basic question still remained: "Who the heck are we?"

And that's when I got the idea for this project. I thought, "Yea, that's the ticket... let's do a real demographic and psychographic survey of ASC readers. Let's find out who the heck _we_ are, for real!"

I've heard that ASC enjoys over 40,000 readers a day. (Yikes!) Our newsgroup generates around 1,200 posts a week. (Impressive.) There seems to be 20-30 "regulars" who contribute heavily and help maintain both a sense of light-heartedness and newsgroup propriety. (I think that they all really do smoke Swishers. They make 'ya humble, or so I've read.) And then there's this survey. 189 of us cooperated and filled-out a five-page questionnaire that I mercilessly posted and re-posted for four weeks between May 15 and April 15. I hope it wasn't a waste of bandwidth...

Here we are. Well, if you believe the numbers, here we are...

John Chunko

A FEW DEFINITIONS

Mode...... the response given most frequently.

Median.... the 50th percentile; the point above which
50% of the scores (answers) fall and below
which 50% of the scores fall.

Average... the mean; the basic arithmetic common average

n = ...... that's the number of responders to a particular
question; [Note: for the whole survey: n = 189.]

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? Please slip me an email, I'd be happy to answer them the best I can. I'm waitin'. :-)

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• Age & Gender
• Income
• Occupation & Work Location
• Education
• Race & Religion
• Marital Status & Size of Family
• Home Country

• Spouse Information
• Cars, Trucks, Airplanes & Horses
• Interests, Habits & Hobbies
• How A.S.C. Readers See Themselves
• Political Orientation

Computers

• Operating System
• Computer Location
• How Often Do You Check A.S.C.?

• Do You Smoke in Your Home?
• Do You Inhale?
• Cigars Per Week
• Price Per Cigar
• Favorite Cigars & Brands
• Worst Cigars & Brands
• Favorite Celebrities
• Cutting Method
• Lighter vs. Matches
• Do You Remove the Band?
• How Far Down Do You Smoke Your Cigars?
• Do You Smoke One Favortie Cigar Most of the Time?
• Why Do You Smoke?
• How Long Have You Been Smoking Stogies?
• How A.S.C.ers Socialize

Cigar Buying & Ownership

• Singles vs. Box
• Local vs. Mail Order
• Number of Cigars in Your Humidor
• Value of Your Humidor
• What the Average A.S.C.er Smokes
• Where Your Cigars Come From

Cigar Aficionado Magazine

• What A.S.C.ers Read
• Do You Trust in CA's Ratings?
• Do You Buy Cigars Based on CA's Ratings
• Do You Agree With CA's Ratings?
• CA Advertiser Ratings Biased?
• Do You Rate Your Own Cigars?

Cuban Cigars  

• Would You Smoke Havanas? (in the USA)
• How A.S.C.ers Feel About Fidel Castro
• When Do You Think the Cuban Embargo Will Be Lifted?
• How Much Will the Cost of Havana Cigars Rise
  After the Cuban Embargo is Lifted?

Health Issues

• Do You Worry About Smoking Related Illness?
• Would You Quit Smoking Cigars If Your Doctor Said To?

Swisher Nonsense

• How Far Would You Walk For A Swisher?
• Have You Ever Really Smoked a Swisher?

METHODOLOGY

During the process of building the web site I asked a couple of ASCers to critique the site under construction and make suggestions, etc. Bob Pultz, you know him, he's that Halbert guy (BTW, I still haven't figured out the Halbert part.) As I was saying, Bob Pultz said:
> BTW, I especially like the Methodology section. ;)

Well, I'm not crazy. With a review like that, I didn't touch a thing, here it is, word for word:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.

OTOH, if you're really into it, just drop me an email. I'll be happy to lay out all the statistical nuts and bolts for you.

Would You Like to See a Copy of the Survey's Questionnaire?