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Generalizing about Baby Boomers leads to several myths in
the marketplace. The following chart provides reality checks
for some of these myths.
The majority of American consumers (82%) are "green" - defined
as taking some action to improve/conserve the environment.
Only 5% of consumers have gone completely green. Their reasons
for being green include doing something good for the environment
(53%), impacting the future (42%), living a better quality
of life (34%), doing good for the community (33%), wanting
to make a difference (31%), and wanting to live simply and
use less (29%).
Some 42% have "green guilt" because they believe they don't
do enough to take care of the environment, down from 51% in
2007. Green efforts that most say they are willing to do are
bring their own bag to grocery stores (23%), turn off their
heat or air conditioning when not at home (17%), and recycle
old cell phones and used batteries (11%).
When it comes to companies advertising their products as
environmentally friendly, consumers are skeptical: 65% sometimes
believe the ad's claims, and 20% usually believe them. Just
3% always believe the ads, while 12% never do. More than one
in four consumers (42%) occasionally research green claims
made in the advertisements.
Most 35 to 64 year-olds (66%) say it's risky to buy an unfamiliar
brand, compared to 62% of consumers aged 18-34. The following
chart shows items with the least brand loyalty.
The Higher Education Institute at the University of California
reports that more than four in 10 college students in the
U.S. (43% of female and 42% of male) plan to continue their
education with the goal of achieving a Masters degree. Another
18% of women and 17% of men intend to get a Ph.D., and 11%
of women and 8% of men intend to get a medical degree. Some
4% of women and 5% of men plan to get a law degree.
The chart below shows results from a study by Harvard University's
Institute of Politics about college students' attitudes on
specific societal issues.
American consumers say they are more likely to look to newspapers
- rather than the Internet - to learn about product promotional
sales (68% vs. 42%), decide where to buy (54% vs. 45%), and
decide when to buy (43% vs. 30%).
More than half of newspaper readers with Internet access
(56%) researched or purchased a product they saw advertised
in the paper. Of those who followed up on a product, 67% researched
it online, 48% visited a store, 23% called a store, and 23%
asked a friend about the item. Of those who looked the item
up online after seeing an ad, 47% went directly to a Web address
from the ad; 31% used a search engine to find it.
A small majority of newspaper readers (52%) think they would
be more likely to purchase an item after they saw it advertised
in the newspaper. Some 48% say they would trust the product
more if they saw it in a newspaper after seeing it online.
More than one-half of Americans say they would give up all
forms of packaging designed for convenience if it would benefit
the environment. Only 10% say they are not willing to forego
any aspect of packaging perks for environmental benefits.
The chart below shows which packaging features Americans
are most willing to give up.
According to Opinion Research, 90% of Americans shop online.
Twenty-seven percent of them name Amazon their favorite retailer,
with 21% saying no one retailer was a particular leader. The
chart below lists some of the frustrations shoppers say they
experience when purchasing items online.
As online social networks continue to grow, it's helpful
to recognize the distinct audiences they serve. The chart
below provides gender and age detail.
Most Americans (58%) say they are overweight, with women
(65%) more likely than men (52%) to think so. Some 44% of
those who consider themselves overweight limit both the amount
and types of food they eat, as does 39% of the overall population.
Three in 10 overweight people (30%) don't restrict their diets,
compared to 36% of the population overall.
While 57% of Americans diet to lose weight, a larger percentage
(68%) do so to improve their general health and wellness.
According to Burst Media, the majority of Americans (66%)
go online to search out health and wellness information. Women
(72%) are more likely to do so than men (61%).
One-third (34%) are online seeking wellness information at
least once a week, with 11% doing so daily. People aged 25-34
are the most active online wellness information searchers
with 46% going online weekly, and 16% doing so daily.
The sources most used are WebMD.com (36%), Wellness.com (36%),
and condition-specific websites (35%). Twenty-eight percent
use healthcare provider sites, 28% go to government sites,
and 18% use corporate sites.
Nielsen Mobile reports that websites with mobile versions
have an average 13% higher (unduplicated) audience than websites
without a mobile version. Some websites geared to on-the-go
content (weather, games) see even higher increases in their
audience.
More than one-half of C-Suite executives (54%) are more than
50 years old. A majority (58%) have been in their present
position for fewer than three years, as have 48% of CFOs and
64% of COOs. CFOs (62%) are more likely to have been hired
from outside the company than CEOs (42%) and COOs (26%).
Most companies (65%) report that it's harder to find quality
candidates than it was three years ago, and 65% also think
that as Baby Boomers retire, the shortage is going to worsen.
Women make up 17% of CEOs, 5% of CFOs and 0% of COOs. Over
the last three years, 25% of companies report that the number
of women on their executive committees has increased, while
20% say it has decreased. Some 40% of companies plan to increase
the number of women on those committees in the following three
years.
Bullets
- Americans' reported fraud losses (such as losses from
identity theft) nearly doubled between 2005 and 2007 to
reach $1.2 billion.
- Almost one-half of Americans age 35+ (45%) have set up
a trust or written a will. Forty-two percent have signed
up to be organ or tissue donors. Slightly more than one-quarter
(27%) have arranged for their funeral or completed a "do
not resuscitate" order.
- In an average day, Americans send 2.5 billion text messages
and 30.9 multi-media messages (such as photos).
- Almost two-thirds of Americans (64%) listen to radio
each day. Forty-seven percent of those listeners say it
doesn't matter whether the programming is from a local station,
compared to 28% who say it matters a lot.
- Hybrid car buyers (50%) are more likely than auto buyers
overall (23%) to be completely satisfied with their vehicle's
mileage per gallon, however they are also more likely to
say it's not the mileage they expected to get. Hybrid purchasers
say they get 42 miles per gallon, compared to 20-25 per
gallon for auto purchasers overall.
- More than two-thirds of children (68%) have their own
television, 67% their own personal game system, 47% their
own MP3 player and 44% their own cell phone.
- Single women do 12 hours of housework a week (includes
cooking, cleaning, basic work around house). Once married,
the wife does seven more hours of housework each week, while
the husband does one less hour. Women with children do about
28 hours of housework in a week.
- Some 17 million Americans over age 62 (approximately one-third
of people in that age group) are active online.
- Some 73% of online Americans say they are over-exposed
to advertising, but only 24% think their shopping habits
are affected by the ads.
- Women (47%) are more than twice as likely as men (22%)
to refuse to return to a store after experiencing rude or
inattentive salespeople in that store.
- Nine in 10 GenerationYers (aged 18-24) own a computer
and spend more time online than they do watching television.
Most (82%) have cell phones and 72% of those send/receive
text messages.
- Car buyers say the information they find on the Internet
(32%) has more influence over their purchase decision than
vehicle brochures (26%), information displays at the dealership
(23%), TV advertising (14%), magazine advertising (7%),
newspaper advertising (6%), direct mail advertising (4%),
and radio advertising (3%).
- Seven in 10 women who read magazines (71%) shop online,
compared to 34% of women overall.
- Those who watch television programs on their computer
are 47% more likely than those who watch on a TV set to
find the ads in the program useful.
- A recent survey of marketing executives shows that 55%
of them are "not too interested" or "not interested at all"
in incorporating social networking sites (i.e. Facebook,
MySpace) into their marketing strategies. And, only 10%
of respondents said they already use these social sites
in their marketing plans.
- One-third of bloggers have been contacted by a brand or
agency about being a brand advocate. Four-fifths of bloggers
say they discuss their everyday experiences with products
and brands, or post reviews of them.
- One quarter of cancer survivors (25%) are physically active
on a daily basis. Only 18% are obese, compared to 33% of
the general population.
- The number of emergency room visits Americans made in
2006 reached 119 million, up 36% from 1996. The average
wait time to see a doctor in the emergency room was 56 minutes,
up from 38 minutes in 1997.
- Some 81% of Americans say they woke up with back, neck
or shoulder pain during the past year, with 46% of them
saying the pain was physically debilitating.
- Healthy eaters (65%) are more likely than Americans overall
(42%) to stick to their shopping list at the grocery store.
- The main topics that parents of 11-14 year olds want their
children's doctor to discuss with the youngsters during
check-ups are (1) diet and nutrition, (2) exercise and sports,
and (3) physical changes during puberty.
- Two-thirds of women (66%) have considered fasting to lose
weight; 42% have done so. Two-thirds of U.S. smokers have
tried to quit, but failed. Of these, 40% have tried quitting
more than four times without success. Techniques that smokers
used in 2008 to successfully quit smoking include quitting
cold turkey (74%), nicotine replacement products (8%), gradually
cutting back (6%), oral prescription medication (4%) and
other (8%).
- Eight in 10 workers (82%) have trouble sleeping sometimes,
including 51% who have trouble sleeping every Sunday because
they dread going to work on Monday.
- Sales of business jets grew 25% to 1,138 in 2007, up from
886 in the previous year.
- Twenty-two percent of hiring managers look through social
networking profiles to help evaluate potential candidates,
up from 11% two years ago.
- Six in seven workers (86%) have a male boss, and almost
as many (76%) prefer working for a male.
- More than two-thirds of Americans who use search engines
(68%) click on a link within the first page of results,
up from 62% in 2006. Some 92% click on a link within the
first three pages, up from 90% in 2006.
- Seventy-five percent of workers say they are comfortable
looking for a new job while they are still employed, up
from 69% in 2002.
- Only 16% of those who use company blogs say that they
trust them. Among those who read blogs at least monthly,
24% trust company blogs, and 39% of those who blog themselves
at least once per month trust them.
- The number of Wi-Fi hotspots in the US - such as those
at cafes, airports, hotels - jumped 56% in 2007 to reach
nearly 67,000. Even though Wi-Fi is available in only 2.3%
of North American universities in 2008, it is expected to
be in 99% of them by 2013.
- Four out of five search engine queries (80%) are to locate
specific facts or topics. Some 10% are to find a particular
website, and 10% are seeking products and services for purchase.
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