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Website categories that gained the most new visitors in 2007
include politics (35%), women's community (35%) and entertainment
news (32%). The following chart lists other categories posting
significant increases.
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Foreign language classes in US colleges show the highest
enrollments in Spanish (52%) and French (13%). Since 2002,
Spanish class enrollments have grown 10.3%, compared to a
2.2% rise in French. Languages with the fastest growing enrollments
are Arabic (up 127%), Chinese (up 51%), American Sign Language
(up 30%), and Japanese (up 28%).
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Some 70% of Americans with a religious affiliation say that
their religion is not the only way to eternal life. Details
on this view by faith are: mainline Protestants (83%), members
of historic Black Protestant churches (59%), Roman Catholics
(79%), Jews (82%), members of Evangelical churches (57%),
and Muslims (56%). This Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
study also showed that 68% believe there is more than one
true way to interpret the teachings of their own religion.
About 25% of Americans left the faith of their childhood,
including 44% of Protestants who changed denominations as
adults. More than one-quarter of people who are not affiliated
with a faith still decide to attend religious services at
least occasionally.
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More than eight in 10 people (82.4%) use more than one medium
at a time. Television is the most popular media to combine
with Internet use. Some 75.6% have gone online while watching
TV, with 42.9% doing so regularly. Men aged 18-24 (51.2%)
are more likely than the average adult (15.9%) to say they
frequently or always go online when watching TV.
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While virtually all age groups use e-mail, the chart below
shows which other activities online users - who own cell phones
- participate in by age.
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Most 18-25-year-old social networking users (80%) visit these
sites at least once a month. However, 72% say they would stop
going if they had to pay a fee. Other user preferences are
detailed in the chart below.
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In 2007, 72% of used car shoppers (who are Internet users)
conducted at least some of their shopping process online,
with 94% finding consumer-generated rating and reviews at
least somewhat helpful. About 23% of used car shoppers ultimately
found the car they purchased online, a 44% increase from 2006.
This was the first year that the Internet surpassed all other
shopping methods in locating the vehicle they purchased.
Women take 15.9 weeks to find their car and men take 14.1
weeks. Men (49%) are more likely than women (38%) to know
what make of car they want before they begin shopping. While
women (22%) are more likely than men (13%) to be open to any
vehicle that meets their requirements.
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More than one-half of cable subscribers (52%) want to be
able to pay for individual channels rather than pay for a
full package, as is currently required by cable companies.
Some 35% like the package system, and 12% are undecided, with
71% saying they don't like to pay for channels they don't
watch.
One concern for the pay-per-channel option is that smaller,
lesser-known channels would not be able to survive. Women
(47%) are more likely than men (37%) to be concerned about
this problem.
A large majority of subscribers (82%) think the cost of cable
is too high, including 46% who say it is much too high.
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US political campaign spending on television ads is expected
to reach $3 billion in 2008, up from $2.3 billion in 2006
and $1.7 billion in 2004. Less than 2% of political ad budgets
will be spent online, much less than the 50% to 80% of the
budgets that will be spent on broadcast TV advertising.
In many cases, the push TV ads are sending people to the
candidates' Web sites, where they are greeted with requests
for donations, e-mail addresses and campaign merchandise for
sale. So, while the Internet is not getting its fair share
of political ad dollars yet, it is already being used as a
commanding one-two punch to raise awareness and funds.
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More than one-half (56%) of Hispanic-Americans surveyed said
they spent at least one hour online each day, which was slightly
more than the 50% who spent an hour or more watching TV. Three-quarters
of respondents say they multitask, indicating they always
or very frequently used the Internet and TV simultaneously.
Of those, 44% e-mailed or instant messaged about the shows
they were watching and 40% researched products being advertised
on TV. More than one-third went to the Web site for the show
being watched.
Although individual Hispanic-American Internet usage is greater
than that of the general US population, the group is still
under-represented online, especially in broadband access.
While 50.8% of all US households are online via broadband,
only 35.2% of Hispanic households have this technology.
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Nearly 40% of US healthcare consumers say they would travel
outside the country for medical treatment, if the quality
was the same and the cost was cut in half. Men (44.5%) are
more likely than women (33.3%) to consider a trip abroad for
treatment. Other factors affecting interest in medical tourism
are detailed below.
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Nine in 10 people who received health coaching as part of
a retail promotion (such as a product demonstration) said
they found it valuable to their health. Almost two-thirds
(64%) changed their dietary habits as a result of what they
learned. Some 54% visited the promotional sponsor's website
and 43% went to see their doctor.
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Today, more than four in 10 employers (42.8%) offer a consumer-driven
health plan. These include plans with a health savings account
(offered by 23% of employers); a high deductible plan with
health reimbursement account (12%); and a high deductible
plan without a health reimbursement account (9%). Some 91%
offer a dental plan and 86% offer a mail-order prescription
service.
In consumer-driven health plans, consumers have the primary
decision-making role regarding what care they receive. One
study found that patients of these plans were twice as likely
as patients in traditional plans to ask about cost, three
times as likely to choose a less expensive treatment option,
and chronic patients were 20% more likely to follow treament
regimes carefully. However, these consumer-driven plans can
cause consumers, especially those less wealthy and less educated,
to avoid getting needed health care because of the cost burden
and the inability to make informed choices. Also, those with
chronic conditions like diabetes are at a disadvantage since
the high annual deductible (typically around $3,000-$4,000)
doesn't allow them to save money in their accounts.
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Virtually all US physicians use the Internet for professional
information, and 83% of them say the Internet is essential
to their practice. However, two-thirds of doctors do not communicate
with their patients online - with the primary reason being
concerns about liability.
In a patient survey, more than one-quarter of respondents
said they would be willing to pay extra to get same-day appointments
and electronic access to their medical records and test results.
Interest in other online tools is detailed in the following
chart.
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More than four in 10 workers (41%) are looking for new jobs,
including 17% who are actively looking and 24% who are passively
looking (posting a resume online that wasn't for a specific
job, or listening to a job offer that comes their way).
Men (60%) are more likely than women (52%) to think it will
be easy for them to find a new job. Men are also more likely
to have been approached by a recruiting company or hiring
manager within the prior year (36% vs. 28%).
Specifically, managers (64%) think it would be easy to find
a new job, compared to 48% of non-managers. However, managers
(15%) are less likely than non-managers (19%) to be actively
looking, as well as passively looking (21% vs. 26%). One reason
for this difference is that managers typically feel more valued
by their companies (72% vs. 56%).
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Corporate suite turnover continues at a rapid pace for the
top US companies as well as other influential businesses throughout
the world. In the first quarter of 2008, management turnover
increased 55% for CEOs, 11% for CFOs and 10% for other C-level
management compared to the prior year. Similar increases were
reported for 2007 and 2006. The main factors behind these
record high numbers include corporate performance as it's
related to the executives' responsibilities; growing domestic
and international competition; and increasing market instability.
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In the next five years, 40% of Baby Boomers are expected
to retire, resulting in a costly skilled labor shortage for
US manufacturers.
A 2008 survey of 100 senior manufacturing executives representing
companies with $10 million to $1 billion revenue was conducted.
Eighty-one percent of respondents said they would be affected
by the shortage, estimating this will cost them an average
$52.2 million each. The cost is higher for companies with
more than $1 billion in annual revenue, where 44% say the
workforce shortage will run $100 million over five years.
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In a recent survey of 189 business-to-business marketers,
53% said blogs were either marginal or irrelevant in their
2008 marketing strategy. Looking back, 36 companies started
corporate blogs in 2006 with the number falling to 19 new
blogs in 2007. This year, only three new blogs were launched
in the first quarter.
Blog marketing experts suggest that these marketers give
corporate blogging another try by polishing voice on other
public forums first, becoming a resource rather than simply
promoting the brand, and finding a way to fill a unique niche
with their customers.
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