Multilevel normative tensions under partial outdoor smoke-free policies: A qualitative case study in Seoul, South Korea

Abstract

Objective

This study explored normative perceptions and tobacco use practices under partial outdoor smoke-free regulation in Yeouido, a high-density business district in Seoul, South Korea.

Methods

This qualitative single-case study used semi-structured online interviews with 18 adults who currently used tobacco (14 male, 4 female) and had sustained connections to Yeouido. Data were collected from April to May 2023 and analyzed using a six-step qualitative analysis procedure.

Results

Participants recognized Yeouido's smoke-free transition through local policy cues such as signage, enforcement, and the limited availability of designated smoking areas. However, workplace culture continued to reinforce tobacco use as a means of stress relief and relationship-building. Despite broader societal disapproval, workplace interactions reinforced in-group norms that legitimized continued tobacco use. Participants adapted by changing when, where, or how they used tobacco rather than quitting, and perceived that tobacco use was displaced to less regulated spaces.

Conclusions

Partial outdoor smoke-free policies may produce adaptive rather than reductive behavioral responses in dense workplace settings. Effective tobacco control may therefore require coordinated strategies that address normative dynamics across individual, organizational, and societal levels, alongside complementary settings-based interventions.

Highlights

• •Participants adapted tobacco use under partial outdoor smoke-free policies.
• •Participants perceived tobacco use shifting to less regulated spaces.
• •Crowded designated smoking areas may weaken tobacco denormalization.
• •Workplace culture sustained tobacco use for stress relief and networking.
• •Normative tensions across levels call for coordinated tobacco control.

1. Introduction

Smoke-free policies are a core tobacco control strategy for reducing tobacco demand. International guidance recommends complete smoke-free environments because no level of secondhand smoke exposure is considered safe, even with ventilation (World Health Organization [WHO], 2003). Compared with partial bans that permit designated smoking areas [DSAs], complete bans have consistently been associated with greater reductions in smoking prevalence, cigarette consumption, secondhand smoke exposure, and related health harms (Catalano and Gilleskie, 2021; Frazer et al., 2016; Tabuchi et al., 2016).

Nevertheless, partial smoke-free policies remain common. In 2022, 71 of 195 countries continued to permit DSAs in some settings, particularly hospitality settings (World Health Organization, 2023b). Such exemptions may preserve opportunities for tobacco use and its social acceptability, consistent with tobacco industry efforts to promote DSAs as an accommodation strategy (World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. Tobacco Industry Tactics: Smoke-Free Environments [Internet], 2023).

South Korea also follows a partial ban approach. Since the National Health Promotion Act introduced tobacco control measures in 1995, smoke-free restrictions and cessation support services have expanded (Park et al., 2024). Despite these efforts, approximately one in five adults continues to smoke (Organization for Economic co-Operation and Development. Health at a Glance 2025: OECD Indicators, 2025), and DSAs remain legally permitted in most public venues except educational and healthcare facilities, contributing to the country's weak smoke-free policy implementation rating (World Health Organization, 2023a, Republic of Korea, 2026a).

Seoul provides an important urban context in which conflicts over secondhand are especially visible. Since 2011, the city has progressively expanded outdoor smoke-free areas through municipal and district ordinances. Yeouido, a major business district, offers an instructive case. Most outdoor public spaces were designated smoke-free, restrictions were extended to some privately managed open spaces through coordination with landowners, and open-air DSAs were installed, creating a partial outdoor smoke-free environment (Korea Health Promotion Institute, 2020). Yeouido therefore illustrates how district-level authorities can extend smoke-free regulation beyond the national baseline to address local public health concerns (Azagba et al., 2024).

Less is known about how people who use tobacco respond to these partial regulatory environments. Smoke-free policies are known to strengthen quit intentions by denormalizing tobacco use (Brown et al., 2009; Kelly et al., 2018), yet their normative effects are shaped by interactions across individual, organizational, and societal levels (Cislaghi and Heise, 2018). In some settings, regulation reinforces anti-smoking norms, whereas in others it may prompt adaptive responses when organizational practices and local contexts remain permissive (Ritchie et al., 2010; Zhou et al., 2016). Under partial regulation, DSAs may simultaneously reduce tobacco use in some spaces while signaling continued legitimacy in others.

This study explored how people who use tobacco perceived and responded to partial outdoor smoke-free regulation in Yeouido. Specifically, it addressed three research questions: (1) How do people who use tobacco perceive the normative signals of partial outdoor smoke-free regulation? (2) How are tobacco use norms reconstructed across individual, organizational, and societal levels? and (3) How do these local normative dynamics relate to policy compliance and behavioral changes?

2. Methods

This qualitative single-case study used Yeouido as an instrumental case to explore how partial outdoor smoke-free policies shape related norms and behaviors among people who use tobacco.

2.1. Setting

Yeouido is a high-density financial and commercial hub in Seoul comprising office, commercial, and residential areas. Longstanding concerns about secondhand smoke exposure made it a focal site for local tobacco control (Korea Health Promotion Institute, 2020).

Outdoor smoke-free policies were introduced in 2018 and progressively expanded through 2022. By 2023, approximately 1.9 km² (about 85% of Yeouido excluding marginal green spaces) had been designated smoke-free. A 2018 amendment to the Yeongdeungpo-gu ordinance enabled the district to designate privately managed open spaces and adjacent roads as smoke-free with consent of at least one-third of property owners (Korea Health Promotion Institute, 2020). Designated public and private smoke-free areas were subject to district enforcement and a KRW 100,000 fine (approximately USD 66).

As of December 2023, Yeouido had thirty-one DSAs: nine fully open smoking facilities equipped with ashtrays and twenty-two open smoking facilities with more than 50% of wall surfaces open. Eleven facilities were managed by the district office; and the remainder by individual building managers.

Yeouido comprises three broad zones. Areas A and B are mainly office and commercial zones, whereas Area C is primarily residential. Tobacco use is concentrated in workplace environments, where enforcement is generally stricter and DSAs are more densely distributed in Areas A and B. Fig. 1 shows the spatial distribution of smoke-free areas (blue) and DSAs (two types of icons).

Fig. 1.

Spatial distribution of outdoor smoke-free areas and designated smoking areas in Yeouido, Seoul, as of December 2023 – here.

2.2. Participants

Participants were adults who currently used tobacco and had been connected with Yeouido for at least two years through residence, work, or other regular activities. Current tobacco use was defined using operational definitions from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [KNHANES]: (1) current combustible cigarette smoking, defined as having smoked at least 100 combustible cigarettes during one's lifetime and currently smoking combustible cigarettes within the past 30 days; or (2) current use of electronic cigarettes [e-cigarettes] or other tobacco products within the previous 30 days. One participant, who had spent fewer than two years in Yeouido but visited the area at least five days per week was retained as a supplementary contrast case. This interview was included in the formal coding process, although no theme or interpretation depended solely on this participant.

Purposive sampling sought variation in sex, age, tobacco product type (combustible cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or dual use), and primary connection to Yeouido (work, residence, both, or other) (Robinson, 2014). Recruitment reflected the substantially higher prevalence of tobacco use among men in Seoul, resulting in a predominantly male sample (14 men and 4 women). Participants were recruited through online advertisements, offline notices, and snowball referrals. Eighteen adults completed the interviews, and all 18 interviews were included in the analysis (Table 1).

Table 1.

Individual characteristics of adults who currently used tobacco in Yeouido, Seoul, April–May 2023 (n = 18).

Case ID	Sex	Age	Tobacco use type	Duration in the area	Primary connection to the area	Main activity area
#1	Female	44	Dual	10y	Work	Area A
#2	Male	32	Cigarette	2y 6 m	Others (Business)	Area C
#3	Male	29	E-cigarette	2y 2 m	Work	Area B
#4	Male	28	Dual	2y	Work	Area A
#5	Male	34	Dual	2y 5 m	Residence	Area C
#6	Male	46	Cigarette	7y 4 m	Work	Area C
#7	Male	39	Dual	10y 9 m	Work	Area B
#8	Male	32	Cigarette	7y 6 m	Work	Area B and C
#9	Male	42	E-cigarette	3y 9 m	Work	Area B
#10	Female	42	E-cigarette	2y	Residence	Area A
#11	Male	31	Cigarette	4y	Work	Area B
#12	Female	30	Dual	3y 10 m	Work	Area B
#13	Male	37	Cigarette	2y 4 m	Work	Area B
#14	Male	43	Dual	17y	Work and residence	Area B and C
#15	Male	39	E-cigarette	10y 5 m	Work	Area A
#16	Male	27	Cigarette	1y	Others (Personal)	Area A, B and C
#17	Female	23	Cigarette	20y	Residence	Area C
#18	Male	38	Dual	7y 6 m	Work and residence	Area B and C

2.3. Data collection

Semi-structured online in-depth interviews were conducted from April to May 2023 Interviews lasted 30–55 min and followed an interview guide covering tobacco-use practices, perceived normative changes, and experiences of outdoor smoke-free regulation (Supplementary File 1). With participants' consent, interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and checked against the recordings for accuracy.

New codes became infrequent after the fourteenth interview. Four additional interviews were conducted to broaden accounts from female participants and residents. The study received approval from the Institutional Review Board of the authors' institution on April 4, 2023 (IRB No. 2304/001–005).

2.4. Data analysis

We used a six-step qualitative data analysis: (1) iterative reading and data management, (2) analytic memoing, (3) first coding, (4) second coding, (5) third coding, and (6) representation of findings (Lee and Kim, 2014). First coding generated initial codes and categories, second coding reorganized relationships among categories, and third coding integrated them into overarching themes. Throughout the process, analysis moved iteratively between description and interpretation using inductive and deductive reasoning.

The first author (Cho) conducted the primary analysis and development of the codebook using Microsoft Excel®. The corresponding author (Yoo) reviewed the developing codebook and thematic structure through regular analytic discussions. Coding differences were resolved through discussion until a shared interpretation was achieved.

2.5. Reflexivity and rigor

Both authors are public health researchers based in Seoul but outside the study site, with professional experience in tobacco control research and prevention programs. As researchers who do not use tobacco supportive of smoke-free policies, we recognized that our perspectives could have influenced data collection and interpretation. To minimize bias, interviews were conducted non-judgmentally, and interpretations were examined through analytic discussions, reflexive memoing, and field observations.

Rigor followed Sandelowski's criteria (Sandelowski, 1986). Truth value was supported through purposive sampling of participants with diverse relationships to Yeouido. Applicability was enhanced through thick description of the study setting, participant characteristics, and contextualized quotations in the Results. Consistency was strengthened by clearly defined research objectives and analytic procedures. Neutrality was supported through team debriefing and external expert review. Two experts, one specializing in tobacco control and the other in sociology, reviewed the study findings and provided feedback on the preliminary thematic structure. They did not independently code the transcripts or serve as evaluators of analytic validity. This study followed the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (Supplementary File 2) (O'Brien et al., 2014).

3. Results

Table 2 summarizes the characteristics of the 18 participants aged 23–46 years. Most were connected to Yeouido through work or residence, while two regularly used the area for other purposes. Their main activity areas were concentrated in Areas B and C, followed by Area A. Most had a college degree or higher, and more than half reported e-cigarette or dual use.

Table 2.

Aggregated characteristics of adults who currently used tobacco in Yeouido, Seoul, April–May 2023 (n = 18).

Variables	Category	Count	%
Sex	Male	14	77.8
	Female	4	22.2
Age (years)	20–29	4	22.2
	30–39	9	50.0
	40–49	5	27.8
Education	High School Graduate	2	11.1
	College Degree	14	77.8
	Graduate School Degree	2	11.1
Primary connection to the area	Work	11	61.1
	Residence	3	16.7
	Work and Residence	2	11.1
	Others	2	11.1
Main activity area*	Area A	5	27.8
	Area B	10	55.6
	Area C	8	44.4
Tobacco use type	Cigarette	7	38.9
	Electronic cigarette	4	22.2
	Dual	7	38.9
Total		18	100

Notes * Multiple responses were allowed for main activity area; percentages used the total sample as the denominator.

The final framework comprised four overarching themes. Table 3 summarizes their categories and subcategories, while Fig. 2 illustrates the relationships among the themes across societal, organizational, and individual levels. (Table 3; Fig. 2).

Table 3.

Qualitative themes, categories, and subcategories concerning responses to partial outdoor smoke-free regulation among adults who currently used tobacco in Yeouido, Seoul, April–May 2023.

Theme	Category	Subcategory
Recognizing Yeouido's smoke-free transition within broader tobacco control norms	Local policy cues	Visual signages
		Lack of designated smoking areas
		Crackdowns
	Shifting societal norms on tobacco use	Declining smoking prevalence
		Disappearance of tobacco-friendly spaces
		Proliferation of tobacco regulations
		Perceived legitimacy for regulation
	From “smoking island” to “smoke-free island”	Comparative perception of stricter tobacco use norms in Yeouido
		Positive changes in Yeouido's tobacco use practices
Workplace culture of tobacco use as coping and relational practice	Hidden persistence of “smoking island” in Area B	Workplace environment tolerant of tobacco use
		Ongoing tobacco use in Area B
	Perceived benefits of workplace tobacco use	Tobacco use as a personal coping strategy
		Tobacco use for internal networking
		Tobacco use for entering external work relations
Negotiating tobacco use under a partial smoke-free environment	Implicit cues permitting tobacco use	Temporal and spatial gaps in enforcement
		Peers who use tobacco and traces of use
	Increase in concealed tobacco use	Adapting to restrictions without cessation
		New smoking areas inside and outside the workplace
	Efforts to maintain tobacco use in the workplace	Use of electronic cigarettes as alternatives
Perceived displacement of tobacco-related harms	Persistence of tobacco-related harms	Perceived relocation of tobacco use to less regulated spaces
	Demand for more designated smoking areas	Desire for more comfortable spaces for tobacco use
		Justification through rights-based and spatial-separation arguments
		Perceived marginalization of people who use tobacco
	Complementary measures alongside spatial regulation	Addressing the underlying causes of tobacco use
		Importance of pricing policies

Fig. 2.

Thematic map of tobacco use norms and practices among adults who currently used tobacco in Yeouido, Seoul, April–May 2023 – here.

3.1. Theme 1. Recognizing Yeouido's smoke-free transition within broader tobacco control norms

Participants generally recognized Yeouido's smoke-free transition through visible local policy cues. Pavement markings, warning boards, and other signs were the most frequently mentioned indicators of formal restrictions and possible fines:

“In Yeouido, smoke-free signs are everywhere. You see them as you walk around, even on the pavement. It feels like the whole area is one big smoke-free zone.” (#17; case ID from Table 1)

The limited and uneven distribution of DSAs further constrained where tobacco could be used. Repeated encounters with enforcement and fines outside DSAs reinforced awareness of the restrictions, and some participants felt public authorities exerted substantial pressure on them to comply:

“Making the financial district alleys (Area B) smoke-free was a good decision. But beyond those areas, booths are almost nonexistent, so it's hard to use tobacco.” (#13)

“I used to use tobacco in front of the company building (Area A), but since enforcement began, I only use it on the rooftop now. Others also seem wary of getting caught.” (#15)

Participants situated these local changes within broader shifts in societal tobacco use norms. Smoking was increasingly regarded as unacceptable compared with the past, as reflected in declining prevalence, fewer tobacco-friendly spaces, and other measures such as taxation and advertising restrictions. In this context, Yeouido's regulations were commonly regarded as legitimate measures for maintaining public order.

Some participants described Yeouido as having changed from a “smoking island” to a “smoke-free island”, referring to reduced tobacco use on the streets and less secondhand smoke in shared spaces. This perception was particularly evident among participants with shorter-term connections to the area:

“Yeouido felt stricter about tobacco use than other places—more intense than Busan, for instance. Outside the DSAs, it was hard to use tobacco, and people seemed to use tobacco less on the streets.” (#16)

3.2. Theme 2. Workplace culture of tobacco use as coping and relational practice

Area B was often described as diverging from Yeouido's broader smoke-free transition. In this financial and commercial hub, tobacco use was comparatively tolerated. Several participants perceived little change in their own practices or those of their colleagues, while overcrowded DSAs reinforced the presence of other people using tobacco:

“There are many office workers here in Area B, and tobacco use seems still common. I often see people from nearby companies using tobacco on the ground floor.” (#7)

These patterns appeared closely tied to workplace culture. Participants described tobacco use as an efficient way to manage stress in high-pressure settings marked by heavy workloads and chronic overtime. Tobacco-use breaks also facilitated informal communication and rapport with supervisors and colleagues, affecting work relations as well. Even those who did not use tobacco took part in these interactions:

“Stress levels are very high in our industry. People use tobacco to cope, or sometimes just because their superiors ask them to join—there is a culture where not using tobacco can make you seem unusual.” (#8)

“In my company, employees are free to go out for tobacco-use breaks, and even those who do not use tobacco often join. Work-related conversations often take place during these breaks.” (#11)

Accounts indicated that tobacco use also served as a means of initiating and maintaining external work relationships. Short breaks with clients created relatively informal opportunities to exchange information, assess interest in potential projects, and reduce the pressure associated with formal meetings:

“When working with external clients, we typically talk during tobacco-use breaks. A short break allows about 10 minutes of conversation to gauge their interest in the project.” (#18)

3.3. Theme 3. Negotiating tobacco use under a partial smoke-free environment

Participants generally responded to expanding smoke-free regulation by adjusting when, where, or how they used tobacco rather than stopping. Temporal and spatial gaps in enforcement, including weekends and privately managed properties, were interpreted as opportunities for continued use. The presence of other people who use tobacco, group gatherings, and improvised ashtrays also signaled low-risk spots for tobacco use:

“When one or two people start to use tobacco somewhere, others naturally gather. Once a few accumulate, that place gradually becomes known as a smoking spot. (#6)

A recurring pattern across interviews was that tobacco use became less publicly visible without becoming less common in Yeouido. Some workplaces provided indoor smoking rooms, while informal spots were identified in cafés, restaurants, bars, and spaces near office buildings:

“Since our company has an indoor smoking room, I don't feel the need to go out on the street to use tobacco. Except for commuting hours, there's no reason to go outside.” (#3)

Others maintained tobacco use through alternative means such as e-cigarettes, perceived as less odorous and conspicuous in shared spaces:

“Since some people dislike the smell of cigarettes, I started looking for ways to reduce it. That's why I switched to e-cigarettes.” (#9)

Experiences differed, however, in workplaces where few colleagues used tobacco. In these settings, expanding restrictions were accompanied by feelings of social blame or guilt. Some women also reported more solitary and concealed tobacco use:

“At my previous job, over half my colleagues smoked, so socializing often involved it. But in my current company, no one smokes. With smoking banned in most places, it now feels almost criminal.” (#12)

3.4. Theme 4. Perceived displacement of tobacco-related harms

Relocation to adjacent or less regulated spaces was a recurring response to Yeouido's regulation. Participants perceived tobacco use shifting to less regulated spaces and intensifying conflicts where regulatory boundaries were unclear:

“Our apartment is a shortcut to the subway station, so office workers pass through and use tobacco along the way. After the smoke-free policy was introduced, tobacco use there actually increased.” (#5)

Participants therefore called for a coordinated approach, including expanded DSAs, clearer signage, and separate facilities for combustible cigarettes and e-cigarettes. While accepting smoke-free regulation, they opposed the marginalization of people who use legal tobacco products and sought greater input into policy design:

"DSAs can protect people who do not use tobacco while reducing inconvenience for those who do. Adequate facilities and stricter enforcement need to work together” (#6)

Office workers identified workplace stress and culture as limiting the effectiveness of spatial regulation alone. Quitting often seemed unrealistic without changing jobs, as stress and alcohol could trigger relapse. One participant temporarily quit through a company-sponsored cessation-incentive program but relapsed after it ended:

“My previous company paid employees who remained abstinent for a set period. I quit for a while, but after a few drinks, I started again. Some kind of sustained incentive seems necessary.” (#14)

Others criticized the policy incoherence between restricting tobacco use spaces and the continued availability of tobacco products, calling for better alignment between pricing and non-pricing measures:

“The government raises prices to reduce tobacco use but also profits from tobacco taxes. More of that revenue should go toward public health measures, such as creating better smoking areas.” (#14)

4. Discussion

This study explored how people who use tobacco perceived and responded to partial outdoor smoke-free regulation in Yeouido. Visible policy signals reinforced perceptions that tobacco use was increasingly restricted, while workplace cultures continued to give tobacco use practical and relational value. Participants therefore often adapted when, where, or how they used tobacco rather than discontinuing it. Together, the findings show how responses to partial regulation reflected interactions among societal norms, organizational practices, and individual circumstances.

Participants recognized Yeouido's smoke-free transition through signage, enforcement, and the limited availability of DSAs. They interpreted these local cues within broader societal shifts toward lower tolerance to tobacco use, and most regarded protecting people who do not use tobacco from tobacco-related harm as a legitimate policy objective. This is consistent with evidence that even people who use tobacco tend to support smoke-free policies, particularly in areas with children and non-hospitality venues (Boderie et al., 2023).

Despite this broad acceptance, workplace environments continued to sustain tobacco use. Tobacco-use breaks were linked to stress management, informal communication, and relationship-building with colleagues and clients. Participants' accounts centered on adaptation rather than cessation, suggesting that organizational norms outweighed broader societal norms. This pattern reflects evidence that descriptive norms within close reference groups may outweigh broader injunctive norms when behaviors are embedded in everyday social relationships (Montes et al., 2023; Van Kleef et al., 2015).

Organizational norms also varied within Yeouido. Participants in workplaces with established tobacco-use networks reported continuity in their practices, whereas those in workplaces with weaker tobacco-use networks more often experienced isolation, guilt, or stigma. Female participants similarly tended to report more solitary and concealed tobacco use. This echoes evidence of stronger stigma toward women who use tobacco in Asian contexts, together with gender-specific pathways including weight control, psychological coping, and marketing tobacco use as liberation (Kim et al., 2022; Tsai et al., 2008). Future research should purposively include more women who use tobacco to examine how gendered norms shape workplace practices.

District-level indicators provide context for these findings. Smoking prevalence in Yeongdeungpo-gu declined from 16.3% in 2017 to 13.0% in 2024, while workplace secondhand smoke exposure declined from 13.1% to 10.0% (Korea Health Promotion Institute, 2020; Yeongdeungpo-gu Public Health Center, 2025). These figures are not specific to Yeouido and should not be interpreted as outcomes of this case study. Participants' accounts nevertheless indicated that outdoor smoke-free regulation primarily shaped where rather than whether tobacco was used.

The relocation of tobacco use to privately managed or less regulated spaces has also been reported in other smoke-free contexts (González-Salgado et al., 2020; Park et al., 2016). Participants perceived overcrowded DSAs as increasing the visibility of tobacco use and gatherings (Alesci et al., 2003; Klein et al., 2012), while exemptions preserved opportunities to use tobacco within or near otherwise smoke-free settings. Such partial policy designs may weaken the denormalization of tobacco use by sustaining socially embedded tobacco use practices. Participants' calls for better-managed DSAs also reflected the tension between national provisions permitting smoking facilities and local efforts to expand smoke-free areas. Policymakers should therefore consider progressively regulating where and how smoking facilities are installed as expanding smoke-free areas.

Workplace stress, organizational culture, and social interaction consistently emerged as influences on continued tobacco use, supporting settings-based approaches alongside spatial restrictions (Baay et al., 2024). Mobile cessation clinics including counselling and nicotine replacement therapy were implemented alongside Yeouido's expansion of smoke-free areas (Korea Health Promotion Institute, 2020). However, no participants reported using these services, and this study was not designed to evaluate their implementation or effectiveness. Instead, participants described influences on continued tobacco use at individual, interpersonal, organizational, and policy levels. These accounts underscore workplaces as settings where these influences intersect. Further research should examine how workplace settings can facilitate integrated multilevel tobacco-control interventions.

The increasing diversity of tobacco and nicotine products further complicates smoke-free regulation. Following data collection, South Korea expanded the legal definition of tobacco to include synthetic nicotine products (Republic of Korea, 2026b). Continued diversification of non-combustible and smokeless products may challenge regulatory frameworks that rely primarily on visible smoke as the basis for restriction. Ongoing monitoring of public perceptions and product-use practices will therefore be important as evolving tobacco and nicotine products may normalize tobacco use and create challenges for smoke-free environments.

This study has several limitations. As a qualitative case study conducted in a single district, the findings are context-specific rather than directly generalizable to other outdoor smoke-free policies. Eligibility was restricted to people who currently used tobacco, excluding those who successfully quit in response to the policies. People who did not use tobacco, employers, and policy implementers were also not represented. Limited socioeconomic and occupational information constrained subgroup analysis, while the small number of women and absence of older participants limited gender- and age-related analyses.

Despite these limitations, this study offers context-specific insight into how partial outdoor smoke-free regulation interacted with societal norms, organizational culture, and individual adaptation within a dense workplace setting. Future research should examine emerging policy cases and track post-implementation normative change to inform context-sensitive tobacco control in complex urban environments.

5. Conclusion

This study showed how partial outdoor smoke-free regulation in Yeouido, Seoul, interacted with social norms and tobacco-use behaviors among people who use tobacco. Smoke-free regulation should be understood as a multilevel process shaped across individual, organizational, and policy levels, in which adaptation may occur without straightforward reductions in tobacco use.

Studies in human

This study was performed in compliance with relevant laws, regulatory frameworks and guidelines where the research took place. This study was approved by the Seoul National University Institutional Review Board (SNUIRB). (Approval No. IRB No. 2304/001–005)

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Eunbyeol Cho: Writing – original draft, Project administration, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization. Seunghyun Yoo: Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Methodology, Conceptualization.

Informed consent and patient details

Written informed consent to take part in the study and to publish the article has been obtained from all participants or their legal representatives. The privacy rights of participants have been observed.

Funding

None declared.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

Supplementary material 1

Semi-structured interview guide.

Supplementary material 2

Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) checklist.

Data availability

The data underlying this article are not publicly available due to the sensitive nature of participants' personal and spatial information, which may risk identifying individuals. Data may be made available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author, in accordance with applicable ethical and privacy guidelines.