Women who Smoke Cigars....

"This data is very exciting to female cigar smokers because it demonstrates in a tangible way that women are an important demographic. It’s our goal to continue to determine the size and scope of this market so that industry will begin to create products with women in mind." said Heather Haddad, founder of The Association for Women Cigar Smokers.

Among the findings of the survey...

The survey admits that numbers relating to the size of this consumer group are yet unknown, the average female respondent smokes 3-5 cigars a month, averaging 1 per week. Expenditures seemed to be inline with consumption, on average (43%) spend between $101-$500 a year on cigars - with 24% of the women spending between $501 - $1001 per year. Some 82% of the women indicated their buying decisions were influenced by "personal experience" with the brand.

Most interesting....When women were asked...

"In this survey, women were asked how they feel when smoking cigars. The survey indicated that women’s feelings about themselves were very different from those of men while smoking cigars. Women responded that they feel powerful (24%), attractive (25%), strong (15%), fun (43%), and rebellious (22%) when cigar smoking. Men, when asked the same question, responded in much lower numbers. Instead, men felt peaceful when smoking cigars (97%), a sentiment that was shared by 76% of women".

Refuting Stereotypes

When a woman enters a cigar shop, she is often treated as an amateur. Are women cigar-amateurs? The results of this survey suggest not. Not only did women of all ages respond to the survey but many had decades of cigar experience. When asked what their motivations for cigar smoking were, 59% of women said that their motivation was that they like the taste of cigars.

This response suggests that respondents are true passionados and not motivated solely by image. Women are smoking a lot of cigars, spending money on cigars, reading cigar magazines and should not be overlooked.

Demographic Information for Female Respondents:

Age: The range was 18 to 87. The median was 39. The mean was 40. The modes were 43 and 45.

A valuable source of information, thank you Heather and Colin!