Networking not useful
More than half of surveyed corporate women officers don't believe networking in professional women's groups helps advance women's careers.
Seat-belt use quadruples since '82
Currently, almost two-thirds of U.S. adults (65%) say they buckled up the last time they rode in a car, a Gallup Organization poll shows. This figure is up significantly from last year's figure of 52% and is almost a four-fold increase since 1982 when just 17% used their belts.
Public acceptance of seat belts has been slowly gaining. In 1973, Gallup's first audit, 28% reported wearing their belts. Regular use, however, fell to 22% in 1977 and to 17% in 1982. Since then, more and more people have begun using the safety device, presumably urged by mandatory seatbelt legislation. Currently, 27 states and the District of Columbia have the law and another six states have legislation pending. Just two years ago, only New Jersey and New York had compulsory seat belt laws.
The recent Gallup polls show a higher level of reported seat-belt use by residents of those states with mandatory seat-belt laws (72%) than residents of other states (47%).
The findings from the lastest poll are based on telephone interviews with 506 adults, conducted in scientifically selected localities across the nation during from May 11-17. For results based on samples of this size, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling and other random effects could be five percentage points in either direction.
In addition to sampling error, the reader should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings.
Chevrolet revises stereotypes of female car buyers
Women represent 45% of all automobile buyers but influence a total of 87% of purchases, acccording to the Chevrolet Division of General Motors. These figures have caused Chevrolet to issue new guidelines to oppose old stereotypes their sales force may have about female customers.
According to Chevrolet, female customers are classified by the following categories:
- Value seekers - 19.9%. This group is optimistic and aggressive, seeking low operating cost but wanting dependable and maneuverable vehicles.
- Enthusiasts - 17.9%. They seek sporty, stylish performance cars; 87% prefer domestic to foreign makes.
- Comfort seekers - 16.6%. They want safety and dependability most and favor domestic cars.
- Luxury seekers - 15.4%. Confident and self-as-sured, they want style and luxury. They do not prefer domestic cars.
- Budget-minded - 13.1%. They want low-cost, reliable transportation.
- Domestic budget-minded - 17.1%. They pay the second-highest average purchase price ($12,398) and admit they overspend on their cars. But they see the cars as rewards and get full-sized, fully equipped models.
Dancing raisins surpass Doughboy in popularity
Move over Poppin' Fresh, you've been surpassed in popularity by the dancing California raisins.
According to a recent survey by Market Evaluations, a New York-based market research firm, the giggly Poppin' Fresh Pillsbury Doughboy is no longer the most popular animated product spokesman.
The survey, Cartoon Q, ranks such characters' popularity. For the first time since the firm began evaluating the competition in 1983, the Pillsbury Doughboy lost out in the fall survey. The winner: The California Raisin Advisory Board's singing raisins (who dance to the tune of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine") by a 44% to 40% margin.
President of Market Evaluations, Steve Levitt, says the gap in the April study was even stronger with the Raisins now ahead 55% to 37%.
According to Levitt, the Cartoon Q, or quotient, rating is determined by a national consumer panel of people six years old and up. The standings of the 325 cartoon characters tested are determined by the percentage of respondents who say the spokesman is "one of my favorites." The information is useful to agencies and advertisers in evaluating licensing fees and deter-mining the success of a campaign.
The raisins may be popular now but how long will it last, questions Johnny Thompson of Pillsbury public relations.
"I wished they had asked which one of the two characters is most long-lived. I guess I'm not sure how long (the raisins) will last."
But Poppin' Fresh has other competition to worry about. Results from the April survey show the Doughboy has fallen into a three-way tie for second place with Domino Pizza's Noid and Lever Brothers' Snuggle.
Despite this, Cartoon Q shows that the Doughboy has maintained its position over other well-known characters as Tony the Tiger (31% approval in the fall survey), Charlie the Tuna (27%), and the Keebler Elves (25%). Two other Pillsbury characters Poppin' Fresh beat in popularity were the Jolly Green Giant (22%) and Sprout (24%).
Morale decreasing among federal executives
Morale among federal executives is on the decline. A Federal Executive Institute Alumni Assn. survey shows that of 1,364 government managers, 61% wouldn't propose a federal career for young people. That's up from 51% a year ago. Agency morale was considered low among 51% of the surveyed, compared with 41% a year earlier.
Doctorates granted
According to the National Research Council, U.S. graduate schools awarded more than 31,000 doctoral degrees in 1985. By fields of study, the breakdown is:
- Engineering, mathematics and physical sciences, 7,696
- Education, 6,717
- Life sciences, 5,748
- Social sciences, 5,720
- Arts and humanities, 3,428
- Business and management, 793
- Other professional fields, 1,063.
Removing stock options
Because of last year's tax rewrite and proposed accounting changes, 73% of the major companies that have made a decision about incentive stock options have elected to eliminate them or substantially reduce eligibility, consultant Sibson & Co. reports.
Population statistics
Since 1980, the increase in the number of Hispanics in the U.S. has risen 16%, according to the Census Bureau. The number of blacks has risen 8% and the number of whites, 3%.
Now hiring
According to a Dun & Bradstreet Corp. survey, these percentages of surveyed companies expect to increase their employment in 1987:
- Finance, insurance and real estate, 34.5%
- Services, 27.9%
- Wholesale and retail, 27.8%
- Construction, 27.6%
- Manufacturing, 26.0%
- Mining, 22.7%
- Government, 21.5%
- Transportation and public utilities, 19.2%
- Agriculture, 8.3%.
Executive's computer use
A profile of computer use among senior executives by Jeffrey H. Moore, Stanford University, shows:
- 93% use a personal computer; 38% use a terminal
- 82% say computers save time in their work
- 64% use a spreadsheet package, the most frequently used type of software
- 60% use their computer for planning and decision support, the most common tasks
- 50% say they use a computer daily; 39% say they use a computer at least weekly
- 50% say their use of computers is increasing over time.
Many companies try self-funding for health benefits
Forty-six percent of surveyed corporations say they're avoiding customary medical insurance for some or all of the health claims offered by employers, a Johnson & Higgins study shows. Rather, they're paying for the claims themselves. Costs can be saved, they're finding, through self-funding, which eliminates some taxes and avoids state-imposed coverage requirements. Furthermore, the firms can use the money until the claims are paid.
Although self-funding can be a large risk, most companies buy stop-loss coverage from insurance carriers to take over whenever an individual's claim surpasses a specified limit, or when all claims go beyond the company's forecast by a specified amount. Stop-loss coverage enables a company to choose "as wide or narrow" a risk as it wants, Johnson & Higgins says.
Secretaries have clout
Almost 40% of the secretaries at smaller companies can purchase items costing up to $100 without consulting management, according to Mac-Donald Flanagan Inc., publisher of "The Secretary Book." One in 11 secretaries can make purchases of $2,100 or more.