Teens say they are eating healthier
More than half of teens surveyed say they have changed their diet over the past year and are eating healthier foods, and more than half express a desire to eat better in the future, according to results from New York-based BuzzBack Market Research’s 2005 Teen Health and Nutrition Survey.
Accomplishing their eating-related goals has significant psychological rewards in addition to the physical benefits as they feel a real sense of satisfaction and pride. However, teens’ desire to “eat better” is sometimes thwarted due to a perceived lack of products that effectively combine healthy, convenient (quick to make/eat on the go), affordable, and good-tasting qualities.
For most teens, being healthy means looking good (i.e., being in shape and not gaining weight) and feeling good (having energy, eating the right foods, and having a balanced diet). Like adults, teens feel pressure from media/society to look a certain way. Less than 40 percent of teens surveyed say they are happy with their current weight. Although primarily concerned about how they look and feel now, many teens also think about the future and how their current diet could impact their health later in life. Products that can help alleviate these concerns are appealing.
Teens today are very aware of the wide array of food choices available to them. They believe that diet can have a direct impact on their health, well-being, energy levels, and performance in sports, weight and appearance. They prefer to eat foods that are good for you but don’t want to sacrifice taste. Teens today are also constantly on the move - they want foods that are quick to prepare and can be eaten on the go. Perhaps because they are so active and still growing, snacking is a significant part of their eating routine.
The study affirms that teens are receptive to change and love trying new products - of the teens surveyed more than two-thirds tried a new snack, food or beverage within the last year, and among younger teens, the percentage was even higher (75 percent).
For teens, two of the most important attributes for new products are “fresh” and “convenient.” Teens also tend to find food with added benefits (e.g., extra vitamins) more appealing than foods with reduced levels of ingredients (e.g., reduced salt, reduced carbs). Approximately one in five teens express interest in products with no caffeine, products with extra caffeine, and vegetarian or vegan products. Although a minority, these segments may be fast growing and soon large enough to support niche offerings. Teens appear to wholeheartedly embrace the concept of you are what you eat: they look to food as a means to help them look good, feel good, and have more energy.
The findings suggest some new product opportunities. There may be an opportunity for more to-go breakfast foods, as breakfast is the meal that is most often skipped or eaten on the run. With respect to beverages, the demand among teens for bottled waters and fruit juice-based products is large and growing. Teens are also looking for healthier sodas that taste good. Teens are interested in healthier snacks, but do not want to sacrifice taste and, at least for older teens, need options that fit their budget.
Although both male and female teens exhibit high levels of involvement in food selection, females tend to be even more involved and analytical. Females are also more concerned about their weight and, therefore, more cognizant of a food’s caloric and fat contents. A larger percentage of females than males eat foods perceived as especially healthy and low-calorie (e.g., water, smoothies, fruits and vegetables). More females than males also say they would be interested in vegetarian or vegan options, and look for foods with added nutrients. Males, who are comparatively less interested in weight-control and more interested in foods’ performance and strength-enhancing properties, find foods with added protein more appealing. One interesting finding is that females are as interested as males in having a lot of energy (and they are exercising with the same frequency), yet a much higher percentage of males are consuming “energy” drinks and foods. There may be an opportunity for performance/energy enhancing products that are perceived as more gender-neutral or are specifically targeted to females.
The differences between younger (13-16 years old) and older (17-19) teens have some interesting marketing implications. This survey indicated that younger teens are exercising even more frequently than older teens (who may have a larger number of activities vying for their time). Thus younger teens may be especially good targets for replenishing, energy and performance-enhancing foods and beverages. Older teens, on the other hand, perhaps because they are so busy, place a lot of emphasis on convenience - both quick/easy to make and able to be consumed on the run. Older teens also purchase more food themselves so they are more price sensitive. For more information visit www.buzzback.com.
Most researchers see increased use of online research in next six months
Market researchers worldwide are expecting their companies’ use of online research and online access panels to increase in the next six months, according to a survey conducted by Greenfield Online Inc., Wilton, Conn., and its European subsidiary Ciao. Study results indicate that 76 percent of market researchers surveyed in North America and 85 percent in Europe are predicting their use of online to increase.
The Greenfield/Ciao Online Research Barometer study interviewed 572 market researchers worldwide in November 2005 to provide a snapshot about the adoption of the Internet for market research surveys. The study has been fielded twice yearly since mid-2004.
“The Barometer indicates that online is maturing and evolving as a research methodology, yet still experiencing growth,” says Nicolas Metzke, senior vice president of survey completion at Greenfield/Ciao. “The study suggests that the lifecycle of online usage in North America is a flattening curve, with 24 percent of researchers expecting no change in usage. This compares with 13 percent in Europe. However, no researchers anywhere are predicting that their online usage will decline.
“In North America the study results show that most researchers have primarily migrated telephone studies to online in the last 12 months, while mall studies were the second most common study methodology to be migrated to the Internet,” says Metzke. “However, in Europe, while telephone-to-online is still the most common switching that has occurred, half of researchers say they have replaced also face-to-face studies with online in the last 12 months.”
The two most important reasons for conducting market research studies online remain time (mentioned by 82 percent of researchers worldwide) and competitive pricing (79 percent). In North America the ability to incorporate multimedia technologies into surveys and having access to complex target groups are greater considerations than they are in Europe, where researchers are more likely to use online methodologies to simply gain access to respondents.
The study also reveals differences in usage of online research by industry sector. Consumer goods is the industry most using online research worldwide. In North America, finance, health care and retail are also very important markets. In Europe, researchers are more likely to be conducting online studies for the telecommunications, information technology and media research industries.
“We’ve seen in our business that besides one-off ad hoc studies, online is being used more and more for tracker or longitudinal, omnibus studies and custom panel research, and the Barometer findings show that this is an industry trend,” says Gunnar Piening, senior vice president of sales and operations, Europe and Asia, at Greenfield/Ciao. “Both short- and long-term tracking studies are increasingly being undertaken online. Only around a third [36 percent] of market researchers using online report that they use it for one-off ad hoc studies only. The hardest part in attracting researchers to online tracking studies is making the switch because of the initial loss of data consistency, but the advantages of online have made it a very attractive option for many.” For more information visit www.greenfield.com.
Consumers choosing ‘healthy’ over ‘diet’
Consumers are rejecting diets and dieting in favor of healthy choices they can live with over a lifetime, according to The National Study of Public Attitudes and Actions Towards Shopping and Eating from St. Petersburg, Fla.-based research firm HealthFocus International.
In fact, confidence that weight can be managed by diet and exercise is down significantly from 93 percent in 1990 to 88 percent today. “Shoppers tell us that diets are just recipes for failure. Even if successful in the short-term, the weight comes back on later unless real lifestyle adjustments are made,” says Linda Gilbert, president of HealthFocus International. “Toward that end, shoppers are more interested in ‘eating healthier’ than in dieting.”
The study shows that while more shoppers today describe themselves as overweight, fewer are dieting to lose weight. Only 8 percent of all shoppers choose healthy foods or beverages primarily to “lose weight,” while 30 percent make choices to “ensure future good health.” And, 75 percent of shoppers strongly agree or agree that it is more important to eat light rather than diet. “Almost nine in 10 shoppers agree that eating from all of the food groups in moderation is a healthy way to eat,” says Gilbert. “Healthy and unhealthy choices co-exist in a balanced diet for consumers, so companies need to find the intersection between health and indulgence that will increase their product use without compromising consumer satisfaction.”
While the study concludes that the low-carb diet has gone the way of other fad diets, HealthFocus predicts that the focus on limiting carbohydrates will have a lasting impact on how consumers think about health and weight management. The focus will be on smart carbs such as fiber to help manage blood sugar levels and satiating proteins to satisfy one’s appetite.
The survey found that heart-healthy diets prove to be the most popular diet choice (52 percent of all shoppers), followed by a diet low in fat (38 percent) and a diet high in fiber (38 percent). Low-calorie diets and vegetarian diets trail with 22 percent and 8 percent, respectively. For more information visit www.healthfocus.com.
Virus and ID theft fears replace spam concerns
Results from the Consumer Email Study from New York-based DoubleClick Email Solutions show a merging of personal and professional e-mail usage, and a declining concern with regard to spam. While consumers have become increasingly reliant on the channel, they have also become increasingly sophisticated in their use of e-mail and are more comfortable with marketers leveraging data to make communications more relevant.
According to the data, 57 percent of respondents view their work e-mail at work during the day at least occasionally, while almost as many view work e-mails from home in the evening (55 percent) and on weekends (54 percent). In addition, 48 percent of respondents check their personal e-mails at least occasionally at work during the day, with 21 percent doing so all the time.
This data shows a constant usage of e-mail and, for marketers, it calls into question the notion of a “best” time of day or day of week for deploying e-mail campaigns. It also highlights the importance of effective preference management and data capture to ensure consistent and relevant communication with customers.
Almost half of all respondents report owning at least three e-mail accounts. While 95 percent consider one of their addresses to be their primary account, almost three-quarters of respondents (72 percent) use a single address for making online purchases. The average consumer has maintained the same e-mail address for four to six years, while two-thirds of respondents have never changed their e-mail address. Those who did change their address did so most often due to changes in employment or ISP, especially when upgrading to broadband. Of particular interest is the value that consumers place on free e-mail addresses, which have been maintained for an average of six years, probably due to their accessibility from home, work or the road.
While spam still constitutes the largest portion of e-mail that consumers receive the overall percentage has dropped every year since 2002 (from 45.5 percent in 2002 to 30.3 percent in 2005), and while spam is still an issue that concerns a large number of consumers (55 percent are very concerned), viruses (75 percent), identity theft (67 percent), spyware (66 percent) and scams (61 percent) are of greater concern to consumers.
Consumers have consistent views of what constitutes spam, most of which match industry definitions, although almost half of respondents also consider permission-based e-mail that comes too frequently or that is no longer relevant as spam. With regards to dealing with spam, almost half of respondents check their bulk mail frequently, usually to confirm that no wanted messages have been incorrectly filtered into their bulk folder. More than 40 percent report finding legitimate e-mail in their bulk folders.
E-mail continues to drive commerce both online and in stores. While 78 percent of respondents have made a purchase as a result of an e-mail, 59 percent of respondents have redeemed an e-mail coupon in a store and almost one-third of respondents have clicked on an e-mail and made an immediate purchase. Another third of consumers reported clicking on e-mails for information and returning later to make purchases. For marketers, it is particularly important to factor this latter activity into their ROI analysis for their e-mail marketing programs.
It is also important for marketers to track the branding impact of their e-mail program. Seventy-four percent of respondents point to “a brand I know and trust” as the element most likely to drive a response to an e-mail. DoubleClick Email Solutions has commissioned a study, which will be released in early 2006, to examine this impact of e-mail on the marketer’s brand.
DoubleClick, working with ROI Research and the Greenfield Online panel of 900,000 U.S. households, polled 1,000 e-mail users via e-mail during May and June of 2005. All respondents recruited use e-mail/Internet one or more times per week, which reflects the usage of the larger online population (94 percent of the 18+ online population according to Nielsen, 2003). Trending information was derived using the data from previous years. The sample mirrored previous studies and reflects the online population as a whole. For more information visit www.doubleclick.com.
Canadian execs: business intelligence efforts aren’t working
According to a national online study of over 500 business decision-makers conducted by Vancouver-based Ipsos Reid on behalf of the Canada’s Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA) and business technology firm EDS, business intelligence (BI) activities received mediocre scores in terms of companies’ overall performance and involvement. The study shows that while overall awareness of various business intelligence components ranges from medium to high among BI decision makers and business executives, existing BI activities are fairly limited in practice, and require more resources and attention in the future.
When asked which of the following areas their organization is involved in, about four in 10 BI decision makers surveyed report to be involved in either business intelligence/knowledge management (45 percent), data mining (42 percent), environmental scanning/secondary research (41 percent) or competitive intelligence (38 percent). Only about one-third of BI decision makers surveyed indicate that their organization is involved in metrics/key performance (31 percent) indicators or primary market research (30 percent), while the level of participation in designing and implementing business intelligence programs (17 percent) and technical support/maintenance of BI software and applications (16 percent) is even lower.
When asked to rate their organization’s overall performance on particular areas of BI, the mean score for BI is only 6.8 (on a 1-10 scale). The scores for certain areas of BI are also somewhat mediocre - environmental scanning/secondary market research scores 6.3, data mining 6.5, primary market research 7.0, and competitive intelligence rates a 7.1.
When asked whether they think their organization should be spending more, less or about the same on BI in the future, the majority (about six in 10) of BI decision makers say their organization should be spending the same amount. However, a sizable minority (about one-third) say that their organization should be spending more in the following areas: business intelligence (36 percent), data mining (32 percent), market research (33 percent), competitive intelligence (34 percent), and environmental scanning/secondary market research information (27 percent). Very few (less than 9 percent in all cases) believe their company should be spending less in any of these areas.
Those at larger organizations are more likely to state that their organization should be spending more on BI initiatives. In fact, the percentage who say their organization should be spending more on each of the five BI areas is 50 percent higher than those from smaller organizations.
For the purpose of this study, BI is defined as a process for professionally gathering, processing, analyzing and disseminating decision-making information relevant to an organization. It can also be referred to as knowledge management. BI involves the collecting, filtering, analyzing and prioritizing data from various sources including: data mining (from customer records, databases and other internal sources); primary market research (from survey-based research, focus groups, etc.); competitive intelligence (organized collection of information about your competition); and scanning or secondary market research information (market data such as industry information on trends, technology, sales, production levels, inventories, viewership, readership information).
The findings are from an online Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of MRIA and EDS between November 7-15, 2005. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 514 adult Canadians from Ipsos Reid’s Canadian Internet Panel who are responsible for business intelligence within their organization. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within ±4.3 percentage points. For more information visit www.ipsos-reid.com or www.mria-arim.ca.