The University of Otago study found participants valued comfortable and relaxing outdoor smoking areas, and these areas were framed smoking as acceptable and normative.
Previous research has confirmed the link between alcohol use and smoking, but it is thought the Otago research, which examined whether and how outdoor bar areas facilitate and normalise young adult smoking, is a first.
Professor Janet Hoek, of the public health department at the university’s Wellington campus, said such outdoor areas should be taken more seriously because they provided an opportunity for young people to take up smoking.
Developing a more detailed account of how tobacco and alcohol use were intertwined helped create "a stronger platform for policy makers to intervene".
"Smoking is no longer a socially accepted practice so spaces that normalise smoking are inconsistent with smokefree goals," she said.
Twenty-two people aged 18 to 25 who had recently smoked in a bar or nightclub took part in the study, undertaken by Julia Brillinger and Dr Louise Marsh, both of the University of Otago department of preventive and social medicine, and Prof Hoek.
Some participants, particularly those who considered themselves social smokers, said they would not smoke if the designated area was "ages away" or not comfortable.
Lead author Ms Brillinger said New Zealand could follow precedents set by other countries which had already introduced smoke-free outdoor areas.
These had been implemented in some Canadian provinces and municipalities, in parts of the US, some Australian territories, Catalonia in Spain, and in Sweden.
"This study offers important insights, expanding our understanding of young adult smoking and its connections to drinking and the bar environment," she said.
The paper was published in the international journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
