Commitment, Resistance,

Disengagement en Game-Playing:



Understanding (non-) compliance with the smoking
ban in Dutch bars


Willem Bantema University of Groningen
(wbantema@gmail.com)

Compliance with the smoking ban in bars

Background smoking ban in bars
Introduced: July 2008

Enforced by the NVWA agency

Bar owners can be fined, clients are not
Outline
1. Central argument: motivational postures
2. Study design
3. 5 postures and empirical results
4. Postures and self-reported compliance
5. Conclusion



Motivational postures


- Valerie Braithwaite (1994; 1995; 2003; 2009; 2011)

- What are postures?

- Social distance



Study design

Surveys (completed: N=400)
- Self-reported compliance (scale)
- Motivational postures (scales)

In-depth interviews (N=23)





Commitment





47 %
Capitulation


5 %
Resistance
23 %
Disengagement

5 %
Game-Playing
Df





20 %
Summary

0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Commitment Capitulation Resistance Disengagement Game Playing
47
5
23
5
20
Postures of bar owners (%) : N=356
Postures and self-reported
compliance
Variable

Commitment


Capitulation Resistance Disengagement Game-Playing


.46 **

.01

-.11 **

-.23 **

-.33 **


Size (larger) .11 .15 ** .12 ** .10 ** .10 **
Ventilation (yes) -.14 ** -.23 ** -.25 ** -.23 ** -.21 **
Point at customers (easy) .21 ** .31 ** .28 ** .27 ** .24 **
Smoker -.08 * -.11 ** -.09 * -.08 * -.03
Ex-smoker .00 -.03 -.01 -.01 -.02
Economic impact (higher) -.01 -.09 * -.09 * -.08 * -.05
Detterence (higher) -.02 -.12 ** -.14 ** -.15 ** -.11 **

Adjusted R (model 1) .50 .38 .37 .41 .43
* p<.05 ** p<.01
Postures and self-reported
compliance

Variable

Commitment


Capitulation Resistance Disengagement Game-Playing


.46 **

.01

-.11 **

-.23 **

-.33 **


Conclusion
Postures can explain differences in (non-)
compliance

Regulator or regulation?

The role of legitimacy?






Self-reported compliance
If the weather is bad, I permit smoking in my
establishment or smoking inside this
establishment is permitted after midnight

This establishment complies with the smoking
ban
Items - Commitment (=.82)
Complying with the smoking ban is the right thing to do

Its my responsibility to ensure that people dont smoke in my
bar

I feel a moral obligation to comply with the smoking ban

Complying with the smoking ban is a responsibility that
should be willingly accepted by all bars


Items - Capitulation (=.73)
If you cooperate with the NVWA, they are likely to be
cooperative to you

The NVWA is encouraging to those who have difficulty
meeting their obligations through no fault of their own

Even if the NVWA finds that I am doing something wrong,
they will respect me in the long run as long as I admit my
mistakes

No matter how cooperative or uncooperative the NVWA is,
the best policy is to always be cooperative with them



Items - Resistance (=.64)

Once the NVWA has branded you as non-compliant, they will never
change their mind

The NVWA is more interested in catching you for doing the wrong
thing, than helping you do the right thing

Its important not to let the NVWA push you around

Bars have to take a stand against the NVWA

Im dissatisfied with the practice of the NVWA

Items - Disengagement (=.73)
I dont care if the NVWA thinks that I am not doing the right
thing

I personally dont think that there is much the NVWA can do
to make me comply with the smoking ban, if I dont want to

I dont really know what the NVWA expects of me and Im not
about to ask

I dont care what the NVWA thinks of me

Items - Game-Playing (=.72)
I enjoy talking to fellow bar-owners about loopholes in the
smoking ban regulations

I enjoy spending time to work out how changes in the
smoking ban (regulation) will affect me

I enjoy the game of finding ways to evade the smoking ban