While no one is certain the trend will become more widespread, marketers can't blame Alexa Smith for not calling it to their attention if it does. Findings from her focus groups indicate that many types of marketers will be affected by this trend, yet their reaction so far has been only one of passiveness.


And what does Smith think about that?

"I think marketers are being shortsighted."

The trend which the president of the Research Department, a division of Idea Generation, Inc., is referring to is what the Los Angeles school board has recently faced amid heated debate - year-round class schedules in the city's schools. While the trend is nothing new - it began in the late 1960s and early 1970s in response to growing suburban areas and communities which couldn't build schools fast enough - it's been relatively slow in developing.

Thousands on system

Currently, about 150,000 or 25% of the Los Angeles Unified School District's students are now on some form of year-round schedule, and nationally, just 350,000 students in 425 schools are doing the same. While the concept waned for some time as student numbers dropped, the issue is once again being considered, at least in the West, due to the rising immigrant population and limited school funds.

The renewed interest in the concept led Smith to conduct focus groups - on her own - to find out the dramatic lifestyle implications the system had on people and to provide insight to some of her clients as to how they might develop new product categories to meet consumer needs.

The focus groups were conducted in February, 1986, among four groups of women, two in Van Nuys, Cal., and two in Irvine, Cal. The women in Van Nuys had children who were not yet experiencing the year-round class schedules but felt the threat of it. The women in Irvine had children who were attending year-round schools. Generally, the focus groups raised lifestyle concerns among those who weren't experiencing it and showed how those who were experiencing it adjusted to the schedule.

"Heat-proof" lunches

One of the biggest concerns among the groups in Van Nuys was how they would prepare lunches that could withstand the summer heat. The women in Irvine said they prepared meals that were " heat-resistant " - sandwiches made with peanut butter and jelly instead of meat and mayonnaise; packing frozen yogurt and packaged products such as juice; adding ice cubes to small bags of vegetables, and for snacks, trail mixes containing foods like peanuts and raisins.

Finding child care was another concern among some of the Van Nuys women. Actually, said Smith, this problem is easier to solve under the year-round system because vacations are staggered throughout the year, such as three, 30-day breaks, instead of one, three-month break.

"Under the traditional system, mothers have this big gapping hole with which to find people who can provide child care," says Smith. "With the year-round schedule, child care has appeared easier to find because someone is needed for just two or three weeks at a time. The reality is that it's easier to arrange child care for a short time than it is for a three-month gap."

The shorter vacation breaks may be easier for people to arrange child care but many of the Irvine women said they caused other problems.

No family vacations

In more crowded schools, vacations are staggered to ease the demand for space, so children from the same family may be on different schedules or "tracks." This conflict essentially eliminates the opportunity for any family vacations.

The Van Nuys women were also concerned that the year-round school system would cause a decrease in the quality of their children's education. As a matter of fact, just the opposite is believed to be true, says Smith. Many educators think that academic performance is often better in year-round schools because children learn and retain more when breaks from classroom work are shorter.

"Kids don't have to relearn skills or lessons that were taught earlier, nor do teachers need to spend precious time reteaching them," says Smith. This is especially important for Hispanic, Asian and other students from non-English speaking homes. "When they go back home for three months and speak their native language the whole time, they seem to forget their English."

Should the year-round class system become more prevalent, a variety of marketers would be affected by the change. These marketers may want to anticipate this potential trend by testing new product categories now so that they stay ahead of the trend, rather than try catching up with it once it's here, says Smith.

"If year-round class schedules become more widespread, the food industry may want to make packaging design changes so that lunch box foods stay cold and fresh," says Smith. "Clothing manufacturers ought to consider new apparel lines suitable for school, yet cool and comfortable enough to handle the summer heat. The movie industry, which normally releases its blockbuster hits for youth during the summer months, may want to spread them out during the entire year. Traveling and vacation-related industries, such as vacation areas, rental cars, hotels and airlines will want to appeal to more year-round traveling."

Too esoteric?

Smith believes that marketers have not shown real interest in her research findings and their implications for the marketplace because they think that the year-round school system is esoteric and too regional and that it won't affect them. Perhaps they need to be convinced that more people are behind it

"There's some resistance to the year-round schedule because it's a very emotional issue," says Smith. "It's like changing the Sabbath to a Wednesday.