The global love(/hate) affair with fast food
Across the globe, there’s a counterintuitive trend: Consumers love to indulge in their fast-food cravings but still actively try their hardest to battle their bulging waistlines. An overall 55 percent of people globally say that they eat what they want, when they want, yet 71 percent say they watch their food carefully and strive to be healthy, including 61 percent of Americans (59 percent of American men and 63 percent of American women), according to Chicago research company Synovate’s Healthy Living study. The survey also showed that when it comes to food and weight, people are not always logical. It’s not uncommon for a person to supersize a meal and then order a diet soft drink to wash it down.
While Americans still like to consume fast food, the U.S. is not necessarily the top fast-food nation. With 68 percent of people agreeing that they like the taste of fast food too much to give it up, Bulgaria easily surpassed the second-place U.S. and U.K. (44 percent each) as having the biggest fast-food junkies. Bulgaria is in the grips of “fast-food passion,” says Stoyan Mihaylov, managing director of Synovate in Bulgaria, as Bulgarians still find fast-food chains a novelty and, to some degree, quite trendy, compared to more mature fast-food markets like the U.S. and U.K.
Overall, more than a third of all respondents across the 12 markets surveyed say they like fast food too much to give it up. But many make themselves feel better by paying for their actions in other ways, with 37 percent saying they exercise in order to compensate for other bad habits, including one-quarter of Americans (26 percent).
Twelve percent of Americans weigh themselves every day, more than any other country surveyed. Canada and the Netherlands tied for second place, with 8 percent of people weighing themselves on a daily basis. Even though Americans may have bigger waistlines, they are also the most conscious about it and try catch weight gain right away in order to stop it.
So what strategies do people around the world use to battle their bulges? The top responses across all 12 markets were increase physical activity (45 percent), reduce food intake (41 percent), change types of food eaten (27 percent) and avoid sugar (26 percent). The No. 1 way that Americans respond to weight gain is by reducing food intake, with 55 percent claiming this is their first response, followed by an increase in physical activity (45 percent) and avoiding sugar (23 percent).
The two groups most likely to link food to mood are American and British women. An overall 29 percent of respondents across all 12 markets agreed that they tend to eat junk food when feeling down, comprised of 34 percent women and 24 percent men. This jumped to 55 percent of all British women and 54 percent of their American sisters.
Most people firmly place the responsibility for obesity with the individual. Globally, a quarter of all respondents blame unhealthy food choices and another 23 percent (including 30 percent of Americans) say it’s due to unhealthy food habits, like eating at irregular hours. The third-most popular choice was genetics, meaning 18 percent of people globally believe it cannot be helped, while a further 18 percent think obesity is due to lack of exercise. Eleven percent nominated no self-discipline as the reason for the world’s growing obesity issues, with more people in the U.K. (19 percent) and the U.S. (17 percent) saying this than anywhere else. For more information visit www.synovate.com.
You can still find teens where they live and breathe: the mall
On a typical visit, 68 percent of teens spend two or more hours at the mall, with more than a quarter (28 percent) spending upwards of three hours, according to research from Columbia, Md., research company Arbitron Inc. and Scarborough Research, New York. While they are at the mall, teens are engaging in a wide variety of activities, which fall into four broad categories: shopping (71 percent), eating (57 percent), socializing (49 percent) and entertainment (40 percent). Ninety-five percent teen shoppers age 12-17 in the U.S. who have visited a mall in the past 30 days say they notice some type of mall advertising. These teens also spend significant amounts of time and money in the mall and are feeling the pinch of the current economic crisis.
In terms of money spent, more than half of teens spent $50 or more on their last visit, while 29 percent spent $100 or more. Though a majority of teen mall shoppers go to the mall the same amount or more than they visited six months ago, many are indeed aware of and concerned about the economy and many have changed their thinking and/or behavior related to shopping: 77 percent are concerned about how the economy will affect their families’ future; 66 percent pay attention to advertising that features items for sale at the mall; 75 percent say discounts on mall-purchased items are more important to them than they used to be; 37 percent of teen mall shoppers say they go to the mall less often than they did six months ago; 62 percent say their frequency of visiting malls has increased or stayed the same; and 54 percent say they have spent more or about the same amount of money on a typical visit to the mall then they did six months ago. For more information visit www.arbitron.com.
Back up your green claims - consumers are watching!
Twenty-three percent of U.S. consumers say they have no way of knowing if a product is green or actually does what it claims, according to research from BBMG, a New York branding company. But 77 percent agree that they can make a positive difference by purchasing products from socially- or environmentally-responsible companies and are actively seeking information to verify green claims.
To find the necessary information, consumers are most likely to turn to consumer reports (29 percent), look at certification seals or labels on products (28 percent), consider the list of ingredients on products (27 percent) and least likely to look to statements on product packaging (11 percent) or believe company advertising (5 percent).
Mitch Baranowski, co-founder of BBMG, says that “At a time of growing demand for accountability, consumers are rewarding brands that align with their values, punishing those that don’t and spreading the word with their family, friends and peers.”
When asked unaided which companies come to mind as the most socially- or environmentally-responsible companies, 7 percent of Americans named Wal-Mart; 6 percent said Johnson & Johnson; 4 percent Procter & Gamble; 4 percent GE; and 3 percent Whole Foods. When asked to name the least-responsible companies, 9 percent named Wal-Mart; 9 percent said Exxon Mobile; 3 percent GM; 3 percent Ford; 2 percent Shell; and 2 percent McDonald’s.
Forty-one percent of Americans could not name a single company that they consider the most socially- and environmentally-responsible. Seventy-one percent of consumers agree that they avoid purchasing from companies whose practices they disagree with. Fifty-five percent refer products based on a company’s social and environmental practices, and 48 percent tell others to discontinue using products based on a company’s social and environmental practices.
Raphael Bemporad, co-founder of BBMG, says “Consumers are redefining what truly matters and evaluating purchases based on both value and values. By delivering price, performance and purpose brands will be able to close the green trust gap.” For more information visit www.bbmg.com.
Literal WOM more influential than virtual
Referring a product or service is not a new idea - it’s been around as long as people have - but is the way people make recommendations changing with the times? Despite increased online activity, real-life referrals are still more influential to consumers than those received online, according to a study conducted by Chicago research company Mintel.
Most people who bought a product or service based off a recommendation did so on a referral from a friend/relative or husband/wife/partner (34 percent and 25 percent, respectively). Only 5 percent of respondents bought based on the recommendation of a blogger, the same for a chat room.
“It’s interesting to find that as much time as we spend online, we still prefer a personal recommendation from someone we know and trust,” says Chris Haack, senior analyst at Mintel. “Young adults are somewhat more likely to turn to the Internet for advice and referrals, but even they listen to their peers first.”
Most people base a recommendation on price and convenience. Especially in the current economic climate, where shoppers are compelled to find the lowest price, it’s not surprising that more than 64 percent of respondents state that price drove them to recommend a product or service, while quality (55 percent) and convenience (33 percent) follow behind.
Asian and Hispanic respondents are considerably more likely to recommend a product they saw advertised. Asians (14 percent) and Hispanics (10 percent) are also more likely to report being influenced by bloggers to purchase a specific product or service.
“The sheer number of people that purchase based on recommendations proves marketers need to pay attention to word of mouth,” says Haack. “It’s becoming easier for businesses to lose control of their marketing messages, so companies need to carefully monitor and respond to consumer conversations about their brands.” For more information visit www.mintel.com.
Women skip the lipstick testers and shop online
The state of the economy appears to be taking its toll on beauty purchases across most retail channels, with the exception of one: the Internet. According to Emerging Channels Series: Beauty Care Products, Special Focus: The Internet, a study from Port Washington, N.Y., research company The NPD Group, the Internet gained one percentage point and was the only retail channel to experience an increase in the number of women who reported mentions for beauty products.
The Internet has a higher ratio of women saying they spent more, relative to those who said they spent less on beauty in the past year. The average annual beauty spending per woman is $86 for this channel. The ease of shopping online and product availability continues to be what is driving Internet shoppers who spend more via this channel than in the prior year.
Women who spent more on the Internet also purchased more beauty products in general and started buying more expensive brands and products than in the previous year. Higher gas prices also had a positive impact on Internet spending. More consumers opted to shop for and buy beauty products online, instead of driving to a store.
About two in three Internet shoppers who shopped for beauty online, but did not make a purchase, said they use the Internet to gather information and make price comparisons through different Web sites, preferably ones that offer various brands or a combination of multibrand and single-brand Web sites. For more information visit www.npd.com.
Most see global warming as fact, not fiction
If doubt is an impediment to effective action, then it’s good news that nearly two-thirds of those surveyed in a study feel global warming is scientifically demonstrable. When asked by Denver-based Resolution Research whether global warming was a “scientific fact” or “merely a theory,” 62 percent said it was fact. Perhaps it is even better news that fully 77 percent of the respondents under the age of 25 agree that the reality of global warming has been made evident by science. Those who feel global warming is “merely a theory” are somewhat more likely to live in rural settings, and substantially more likely to be Republican. While 50 percent of the Republicans feel global warming is a matter of speculation, only 11 percent of the Democrats feel the issue is merely a theory.
Those within the Obama administration whose efforts focus on creating a greener economy will probably see good news in the finding that 58 percent of the Democrats and 49 percent of the Independents feel the government should be regulating U.S. business compliance with green practices. Far fewer of the Republicans (30 percent) were inclined to agree. There is also evidence of increasing support for governmental regulations regarding green practices among individuals; a sentiment more pronounced among Democrats (43 percent) than either Republicans (23 percent) or Independents (26 percent).
And lastly, if despair is an impediment to effective action, then it’s probably good news that only 6 percent of the respondents are convinced that too much damage has already been done to meaningfully curb its effects. In contrast, 57 percent feel current efforts to curb global warming are headed in the right direction and 36 percent feel our collective response needs to be all the more intensified if we are to succeed in minimizing its impact.
Overall, the survey findings might suggest that there’s cause for a bit of polite celebration for a movement that began protesting the environmental apathy so prevalent on the first Earth Day in 1970. What began at a time when only 1 percent of the population expressed appreciable concern about the environment has grown today into a sizeable group who are convinced of the scientific validity that climate change poses an imminent threat. A vast majority now feel that continued and concerted action is needed at both the individual and institutional levels to effectively address it. As movements go, that’s probably good news. For more information visit www.resolutionresearch.com.