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The majority of men (67%) say the most important attribute
they can possess is honesty, followed by being smart (54%),
successful (53%), caring (51%) and good-humored (45%). The
stereotypical masculine traits - including strength (32%),
toughness (19%), athleticism (15%) and aggressiveness (11%)
- are considered less important.
Three-quarters of men who are fathers (73%) are willing to
be stay-at-home dads, up from 60% in 2004. An added 19% are
already stay-at-home dads, up from 15% in 2004. Most men (72%)
say that dads should often tell their children they love them,
with 41% saying men should be able to express their true feelings
to others, and 32% saying it is okay to cry.
However, some traditional masculine views have not changed.
For example, 61% of men say the guy should be the primary
breadwinner in a relationship and 69% say men should control
the family finances.
The median number of leisure hours Americans have available
each week dropped 20% in 2008 to 16 hours, compared to 20
hours in 2007. Americans say that the median amount of time
spent working - including housekeeping and studying - was
46 hours per week in 2008, up slightly from 45 hours in 2007.
Generation Xers (ages 32-43) report working the most hours
(55 per week), compared to 50 hours per week for both Millennials
(18-31) and Baby Boomers (44-62).
Twitter and similar social networking services are being
enthusiastically embraced by young adults. Nearly one in five
(19%) online adults age 18 to 24 have used Twitter or another
online networking service, as have 20% of online adults age
25 to 34. However, use of these services declines steadily
after age 35 with 10% of 35- to 44-year-olds and 5% of 45-
to 54-year-olds using Twitter. The decline is even greater
among older internet users: 4% of 55- to 64-year-olds and
2% of those 65 and older.
Surveys show that the use of Twitter highly correlates with
the use of other social media such as blogging. Twitter users
are also much more likely to be using wireless technologies
(laptops, handhelds and cell phones) for internet access,
or cell phones for text messaging.
A 2009 survey by Abrams Research of over 200 social media
leaders from across the U.S. and Canada reports that 40% of
respondents picked Twitter as the number one social media
service for businesses. LinkedIn came in a distant second
(21.3%), followed by YouTube (18.8%), and Facebook (15.3%).
When these same respondents were asked which corporation
has done the best job of using social media, the most popular
ones were Zappos (online shopping site), the Obama (campaign
and presidency), CNN, Comcast ("Comcast Cares"), Jetblue,
Dell, Burger King, NPR, and New York Times and Ford.
More than one-half of U.S. Hispanics (52% or 23 million)
are online. In comparison, 53.8% of blacks are online, as
well as 68.6% of non-Hispanic whites, and 74.8% of Asians.
Projections show that 60% of Hispanics (or 29 million) will
be online by 2012. The chart below shows how much time Hispanics
spend online per week.
Despite the current economic situation, 26% of small business
owners (100 or fewer employees) are expected to spend more
on advertising in 2009 than they did in the prior year; another
60% plan to spend about the same.
Broken down by media type, over one-half of small business
advertisers plan to spend the same or more on online advertising
(69%), Yellow Pages (54%), newspapers (51%), and direct mail
(51%).
The Vegetarian Times reports that one in 10 Americans (10%)
follows a vegetarian diet for the most part, with 3.2 % being
vegetarian and 0.5% being vegan. Of Americans who aren't vegetarian,
5.2% say they are interested in being a vegetarian in the
future.
The reasons people choose to be vegetarian vary. The most
common ones include animal welfare (54%), improve their health
(53%), environmental concerns (47%), natural approaches to
wellness (39%), food safety concerns (31%), want to lose weight
(25%) and want to maintain weight (24%).
Most vegetarians are women (59%). Some 42% of vegetarians
are age 18-34, 41% are age 35-54 and 17% are age 55 or older.
Most (57%) have been vegetarian for more than 10 years, compared
to 14% who have been so for less than two years.
A 2009 joint study by Ohio State University and Temple University
of 8,550 preschoolers shows that about 20% of 4-year-olds
are obese. This includes 13% of Asian children, 16% of whites,
almost 21% of blacks, 22% of Hispanics and 31% of American
Indians. Overall, more than one-half million 4-year-olds are
obese.
The increasing obesity among minorities likely includes factors
such as possible genetic differences, poverty, less educated
parents and diets high in fat and calories.
A 2009 report by McKinsey Global Institute shows that Americans
in the top-income category ($210,100 average annual earnings)
have enjoyed rising incomes and growing employer-paid healthcare
benefits, making their out-of-pocket spending on healthcare
a relatively small and affordable portion of total spending.
The higher-middle-income category ($84,800 average annual
earnings) and the lower-middle-income group ($41,500), have
also seen rising benefits and incomes - but at a much slower
rate, making the uncovered portion of their healthcare costs
more and more expensive. In the bottom-income category ($14,800
average annual earnings), incomes have been stagnant, and
their employers are less likely to pay for their health insurance.
The report reveals that this group is finding any healthcare
insurance and/or services difficult, if not impossible, to
afford.
In 2005 (latest available data), employer-paid health benefits
only covered 22 percent of households in the bottom-income
group, contrasted with 56 percent of the lower-middle, 81
percent of the upper-middle, and 89 percent of the top income
group
One in five adults (19%) visit blogs, communities or social
networks on a daily basis. This includes 33% of Generation
Y (people mostly in their 20s), 17% of Generation X (mostly
in their 30s and early 40s), 11% of Baby Boomers (mid 40s
to early 60s), and 8% of seniors.
Almost one-half (47%) of these say that the sites have influenced
(from a little to a lot) their decision to purchase particular
brands or services. This includes 26% who changed their mind
about buying because of what they read on the site.
Baby Boomers (63%) and Generation X (59%) are more likely
to visit corporate Web sites of product or service providers
than people from the other generations.
A recent B-to-B survey shows that marketing departments of
most business-to-business companies (66%) are increasing their
digital spending in 2009 while reducing spending on print
(33%). The report also shows that 70% of marketers spend more
than 20% of their budget on digital, and that the average
marketer is putting 35% of its marketing dollars into digital.
The added spending in 2009 will go for banners, search, webcasts,
video, e-mail and social media. Some 47% of those surveyed
said they planned to boost their social media spending this
year, while only 7% said they planned to cut back.
About 62% of the marketers surveyed said their main marketing
objective is new-customer acquisition, compared with 20% who
said customer retention and 12% who said branding.
According to a recent survey by comScore World Metrix, more
than one trillion text messages were sent in 2008 (more than
3.5 billion messages per day). This is almost triple the 363
billion text messages transmitted in 2007.
Numbers show that wireless subscribers are also sending more
pictures and other multi-media messages using their mobile
devices, with 15 billion MMS messages reported for 2008, up
from 6 billion in the prior year.
Marketing executives say that they are now placing renewed
focus on satisfying and retaining customers and investing
in research and insights. The chart below shows survey results
for the top marketing concepts, buzzwords, global areas of
opportunity and targeted customer demographics for 2009.
Bullets
- Job seekers age 32-42 are as likely to rely on Web-based
job databases (76%) as on connections through friends and
family (77%).
- Most moms (67%) go online at least once per week to find
homework help for their children.
- The most popular cocktail that adults order is the margarita
(34%), followed by a martini (9%), rum and cola (9%), daiquiri
(8%), piņa colada (7%) and Bloody Mary (7%).
- Almost two-thirds of women (64%) say that shopping for
clothes negatively affects their self-confidence. For those
who want to lose 30 pounds or more, that jumps to 80%.
- About 18 million Baby Boomers (24%) volunteered time to
a charitable or philanthropic organization in the past year.
Females (27%) were more likely to volunteer than males (22%).
Some 40 million Boomers (56%) say they try to buy from companies
that give back to the community. Most Boomers (70%) say
they feel responsible for making the world a better place.
- Some 23% of women say they are completely satisfied with
their sex lives, compared to 14% of men.
- Sixty percent of sports fans are married compared to 50%
of those who say they're not fans of any sport. Some 57%
of sports fans see themselves as optimists, compared to
43% of non-fans. About 29% of sports fans are college graduates,
compared to 16% of non-fans.
- The percentage of Americans who identify with some form
of a Christian religion now stands at 77%, down from 85%
in 1984 and 91% in 1948. During this same time, the percentage
of people who identify with no religion has increased from
2% in 1948, to 8% in 1984 and 12% today.
- Even though 67% of Americans believe that nuclear power
plants are safe, only 49% are in favor of building more
of the plants in the U.S. Those aged 63 and up (63%) are
more likely than other age groups (52% of age 44-52; 47%
of age 32-43; and 35% of age 18-31) to be in favor of building
more nuclear power plants.
- The top 10 newspapers in the U.S. (those with the highest
circulation) have seen their circulation drop 26% over the
last four years while the number of households has increased
10.9%. In almost one-half of the largest 50 U.S. metropolitan
markets, newspapers' free-standing inserts no longer reach
50% of households.
- The average household has 2.5 people and 2.8 television
sets. A full 82% of households have more than one television.
- Two-thirds (66%) of Americans don't mind product placements
in television shows and movies, and 16% of them do not notice
them.
- About four in 10 consumers (38%) check out online product
or service reviews when they first begin shopping for an
item. Some 27% check them out when trying to decide between
two or three products, and 21% do so to confirm they are
purchasing the right product.
- One-quarter of Americans (25%) would rather pay a premium
for mobile downloads than get them free with advertising.
Among 16-24 year olds, that number increases to 35%, while
it drops to 17% among 35-44 year olds.
- Almost one-half of teens aged 13-19 (45%) believe that
having a cell phone is the key to their social life. Some
38% think cell phones should be free and paid for by mobile
advertisers (like broadcast TV), and 39% say they will never
get a landline telephone.
- A recent Forrester Research survey gathering consumers'
ratings on 114 companies in 12 industries measured usefulness,
ease of use and enjoyability. The companies getting the
highest marks were Barnes & Noble, the credit-card provider
USAA, Borders, Amazon and Costco. Those receiving the lowest
scores were the Internet service of Charter Communications,
Medicaid, the health plan Blue Shield of California, and
the TV services of Charter and Time Warner Cable.
- Nutrition is the most popular wellness topic that Americans
(38.4%) research online.
- One in five men (20%) say they would give up watching
television, and 10% would give up sex, if it meant they
would never lose their hair.
- Almost three-quarters of men (72%) report that the women
in their lives can influence their health behaviors, while
only 51% of women think they have an effect.
- Some 20% of Americans in the highest socio-economic group
(as measured by maternal education level) are obese by age
40, compared to 31% of those in the lowest socio-economic
group.
- Three in 10 children who live apart from their father
(30%) do not have any contact with him.
- Only one-half of men with erectile dysfunction have used
prescription medication. Most men with this condition (79%)
say they would be comfortable taking medication, but only
40% are comfortable talking with their doctor about it.
- The number of visits Americans made to doctors offices,
hospitals and emergency rooms increased 26% from 1996 to
2006; the U.S. population only increased 11% during that
time.
- Some 16% of Americans have used cocaine and 42% have used
marijuana. Less than 2% of citizens of most other countries
have used cocaine and less than 19% have used marijuana.
- Hospitals in the Southern U.S. states accounted for 38%
of emergency room visits in 2005-2006, in the Midwest for
26%, in the Northeast for 20%, and in the West for 16%.
- One-quarter of men and women over age 40 (25%) have skipped
scheduled mammograms or prostate cancer screenings.
- Some 53% of Americans think the legal driving age should
be 18. This includes 67% of women and 49% of men.
- Most married people (57%) are happy in their marriage,
with 56% saying they would definitely marry the same person
again given the chance to start over. Only 7% say they are
in unhappy marriages.
- Most women (74%) get annual mammograms. Those who are
comfortable with their appearance (68%) are more likely
than those aren't (59%) to have had a mammogram.
- More than one-half of Americans who fly (54%) say they
have sat on the floor in an airport to be close to an outlet
where they were recharging their electronic devices. Another
31% have walked to another terminal to find an available
outlet.
- One-quarter of women (26%) believe they have less opportunity
for advancement than their male counterparts, 18% say they
have fewer training and learning opportunities, and 17%
say they have less flexibility.
- In order to keep good workers at a company, 63% of employers
allow flexible work schedules, 62% provide funding for training
and certification, 56% increase salaries, and 29% allow
telecommuting.
- About 15 million women post to blogs at least once per
week, and 21 million read and comment on blogs once a week.
Four in 10 women say that blogs are reliable sources of
information.
- Nearly one-half of hiring managers (49%) have discovered
a lie on a candidate's resume. The most common lies are
exaggerations of job responsibilities (38%), overstating
their skills (18%), and listing phony degrees (10%).
- Two-thirds of employees (66%) say they would speak to
their manager about a problem they are having at work, but
39% would prefer to speak about it to a friend.
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