••• employment research
Building my brand
Millennials see socializing as key workplace practice
Research released by communications firm Weber Shandwick and the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) found distinct differences in what Millennials think makes or breaks their reputations at work compared to older generations, especially when it comes to networking and socializing on the job. The survey reveals Millennials’ hyper-focus on their reputations at work – 47 percent of Millennials report that they think about it all or most of the time compared to 37 percent of Gen Xers and 26 percent of Baby Boomers. Surprisingly, although Millennials have grown up in this digital revolution, they place even greater value on their in-person interactions at work and after hours than their older, less digitally-bred colleagues.
While job performance and punctuality top the list of reputation-builders at work for all the generations surveyed, networking and socializing during off hours are more important to Millennials than any other generation. Thirty-four percent of Millennials see meeting with colleagues outside the office as a positive driver of their work reputation, compared to 14 percent of Gen Xers and 15 percent of Boomers. “Hanging out with colleagues after work might have been a nice way to kick back for a Gen Xer but for Millennials it’s a critical component of building their rep or brand at work and they take it seriously,” says Leslie Gaines-Ross, chief reputation strategist at Weber Shandwick. “Our research shows that more than any other generation, Millennials believe that in addition to doing a good job, it’s important to connect with colleagues to build their careers and create lasting impressions.”
Millennials also place a higher value on building and maintaining a positive digital presence as a reputation booster at work compared to the other generations. Seven in 10 U.S. adult workers who report to be social media users say that their work reputation is more important than their social media reputation. However, one in five Millennials (21 percent) – more than any other generation – believe both their work and social media reputations are equally important.
“In today’s digital world, it’s nearly impossible to keep your work and personal lives completely separate. Millennials give greater weight than other generations to their digital and in-person reputations, which shows the influence of having grown up digital,” Gaines-Ross says.
When it comes to behavior that can harm one’s reputation at work, Millennials are less aware than their older cohorts how hearsay and feeding the grapevine can damage their reputations. Millennials are less likely to see the danger in saying negative things about coworkers than Gen Xers and Boomers (64 percent vs. 74 percent vs. 79 percent, respectively) and engaging in gossip about colleagues (64 percent vs. 72 percent vs. 74 percent, respectively). Millennials are also more likely to believe that not socializing with colleagues outside of work can hurt their reputations (20 percent compared to 7 percent for Boomers).
“Millennials place a greater value on the importance of in-person interactions and relationship-building than Gen Xers and Boomers,” says Sarab Kochhar, director of research at the Institute for Public Relations. “Overall, our research demonstrates how levelheaded Millennials are about building their reputations at work based on good job performance, being on time and being polite and courteous.”
Weber Shandwick and IPR partnered with KRC Research to conduct Millennials@Work: Perspectives on Reputation to find out what the three generations currently in the workforce – Millennials (ages 18 to 34), Gen X ers (35-50) and Boomers and beyond (51+) – think about their reputations at work. Six hundred employed U.S. adults were interviewed through an online survey for the study.
••• economic research
Going my way?
Sharing-economy picks up steam
Peer-to-peer or sharing-economy platforms are growing in popularity with American travelers and consumers, according to findings from a nationwide survey commissioned jointly by the Travel Technology Association and the Internet Association. Approximately one in two Americans report engaging in the peer-to-peer economy in 2015 (46 percent), up 144 percent from 19 percent as reported by PricewaterhouseCoopers in December 2014. Specifically, approximately one in four report engaging short-term rental platforms (23 percent), up 277 percent from 6 percent, and 28 percent report engaging ride-sharing platforms (28 percent), up 249 percent from 8 percent.
“The rapid growth of sharing economy platforms is a testament to the unique power of the Internet and innovation to better the lives of individuals and grow our economy,” says Internet Association President and CEO Michael Beckerman.
Moreover, “Unlike other emerging technologies, growth in the peer-to-peer sector is spread across demographics,” says Travel Tech President Steve Shur. “For instance, short-term renting isn’t just for Millennials. We found usage to be distributed evenly across ages.”
The millions who utilize these platforms are members of a broader culture shift where users look to the sharing economy to move around town, find a place to stay when traveling, do household work and have food delivered at the press of a button. Findings revealed interaction with one app dramatically increases user inclination to engage others.
Ridesharing passengers (38 percent) and drivers (44 percent) as well as short-term rental guests (47 percent) are respectively 65 percent, 91 percent and 68 percent more likely than the average American to participate in the other ecosystem. Fifty percent of ridesharing passengers and 57 percent of short-term rental guests find the service for accommodations/ridesharing valuable or extremely valuable and are more likely to do so by 34 percent and 59 percent, respectively.
Most ridesharing passengers (73 percent) and short-term rental guests (62 percent) plan to utilize services in the other category in the next two years and are more likely than the average American to report this by 52 percent and 37 percent, respectively.
Many ridesharing drivers (31 percent) and short-term rental hosts (24 percent) plan on becoming providers on the accommodations/ridesharing platform in the next two years and are more likely than the average American to report this by 182 percent and 101 percent, respectively.
Whether booking a stay on HomeAway, Airbnb and Flipkey, riding with Uber, Lyft and Sidecar or interacting with the plethora of other peer-to-peer options, Americans are deriving value by interacting with multiple peer-to-peer platforms.
Nearly nine out of 10 previous ridesharing passengers and short-term rental guests rate peer-to-peer services as valuable or extremely valuable (both 89 percent).
Of more than 1,000 respondents, no previous guest rated the impact of short-term rental as negative.
Becoming a guest reverses opinions on short-term rental: 26 percent of non-users would be less inclined to visit a city if short-term rentals were banned, a number that increases by a 127 percent to 59 percent for previous guests.
Nine out of 10 previous ridesharing passengers and short-term rental guests plan to use these platforms again soon: respectively, 91 percent and 88 percent anticipate they or a family member will engage in the next two years.
As more and more Americans engage with, find value in and ultimately return to these peer-to-peer platforms, local, state and federal policymakers will need to come to grips with this dynamic industry and what it means for travelers and communities large and small, urban and rural.
The Travel Tech/Internet Association survey was conducted online from November 23 to 24, 2015 by Survey-Monkey among a national sample of 1,017 adults aged 18 and over. Data for this survey have been weighted for age, gender, household income, region and device type using U.S. Census Bureau data to reflect the demographic composition of the United States. The margin of error is +/-3 percentage points with a confidence rate of 95 percent.
••• social research
Differences over our differences
Bullying takes many forms
While its pertinence shifts from time to time, bullying never seems to fade from the media entirely and maybe for good reason since most Americans believe the problem isn’t going away. Six in 10 adults (60 percent) agree bullying in schools today is more common than when they were in school, with women more likely than men to feel this way (65 percent vs. 53 percent, respectively).
Nearly three in four adults (73 percent) say they have some experience with bullying in school (grades K-12) – whether they were the victim, the instigator or are simply aware of someone else’s ill-treatment. Millennials and Gen Xers are more likely than older generations to have experience with bullying (84 percent and 81 percent vs. 66 percent Baby Boomers and 47 percent Matures).
Around four in 10 adults each say they recall being personally bullied (43 percent) or know of someone else it happened to (40 percent) while in school. But it appears some adults may not want to fess up to their own wrongdoings as just 10 percent admit they bullied someone else while in school. Those who were bullied themselves are three times as likely as those who weren’t to say they bullied someone else (16 percent vs. 5 percent, respectively).
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,219 U.S. adults surveyed online between February 17 and 22, 2016.
About one in five adults (21 percent) who were bullied or witnessed it say they experienced cyberbullying. Moreover, nearly nine in 10 (86 percent) adults agree technology has made it easier to bully someone. Unsurprisingly, Millennials are much more likely to have experienced cyberbullying than any other generation (39 percent vs. 14 percent Gen Xers, 10 percent Baby Boomers and 8 percent Matures). This number jumps to an astounding 60 percent when looking at younger Millennials ages 18-24. Women, more so than men, agree technology is making it easier to bully someone (88 percent vs. 84 percent, respectively).
Among those who experienced bullying, nearly all (98 percent) encountered face-to-face bullying – either verbal (88 percent) or physical (68 percent). Women are more likely than men to have verbal experiences (92 percent vs. 83 percent, respectively), while men are more likely to have physical ones (78 percent vs. 58 percent women).
With verbal bullying the most prevalent form, it comes as little surprise that many believe this is still on the rise. Two-thirds (66 percent) of all adults agree children today are more likely to bully each other verbally/emotionally than when they were in school.
However, this hardly means that physical bullying is going away any time soon. Just 35 percent of all adults agree children are less likely to bully each other physically today than when they were in school. Interestingly, Millennials are more likely than any other generation to agree with this sentiment (46 percent vs. 34 percent Gen Xers, 29 percent Baby Boomers, and 28 percent Matures).
According to those who have experience, the most common reasons for bullying are physical appearance (62 percent) and social awkwardness (54 percent). Other top reasons include: race/ethnicity (34 percent); unusual qualities (32 percent); high level of intelligence (27 percent); behavioral or emotional disorder (27 percent); physical disability or illness (25 percent); socioeconomic standing (25 percent); sexual orientation (23 percent); intellectual disability or cognitive impairment (21 percent); sexual history/reputation (18 percent); not conforming to gender stereotypes (18 percent); gender identity (14 percent); and alcohol/drug use history/reputation (8 percent).
Most shockingly, while nearly half of adults (46 percent) say they personally witnessed bullying while they were in school, just one-quarter (26 percent) say they helped someone who was being bullied.
Six in 10 adults (61 percent) agree overprotecting school age children from bullying could be bad for their ability to stand up for themselves. However, most still think something needs to be done as only 26 percent believe a good strategy for handling bullying is to ignore it.
Men, more so than women, are fans of the “tough love” approach to addressing bullying: 65 percent of men agree overprotecting school age children from bullying could be bad for their ability to stand up for themselves, compared to 57 percent of women; nearly three in 10 men (29 percent) say ignoring bullying is a good strategy, compared to only about one in 4 women (24 percent). Interestingly, nearly half of adults (47 percent) say they would rather find out their child is being bullied than that they are a bully.
This Harris Poll was conducted online, in English, within the United States between February 17 and 22, 2016 among 2,219 adults. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Poll surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in our panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
••• lifestyle research
Millennials aren’t the only distracted ones
Study compares generational habits
Millennials are often perceived to be constantly connected to their electronic devices but it turns out that older respondents are more distracted by their devices than their younger counterparts during mealtime, according to findings from the Nielsen Global Generational Lifestyles survey. Fifty-two percent of Baby Boomers and 42 percent of Silent Generation respondents say their mealtimes are not technology-free, compared with 40 percent of Millennials and 38 percent of Generation Z. Similarly, the highest percentages of Baby Boomers and Silent Generation respondents say they eat most of their dinner meals at home while doing something else, like reading or watching TV, at 30 percent and 29 percent respectively.
Nearly six-in-10 Millennials (58 percent) say they eat out at least once a week, twice the percentage of Baby Boomers (29 percent). And 30 percent of Millennials say they eat out three or more times per week. Generation Z and Millennial respondents also show a preference for convenience when eating away from home, as 52 percent in each group say they eat at quick-service restaurants and 28 percent say they eat at street food vendors frequently. Conversely, 61 percent of Baby Boomer and Silent Generation respondents indicate a preference for full-service restaurants.
Other findings from the Global Generational Lifestyles report include:
The majority of older respondents turn to TV to get the news but the medium still holds sway for nearly half of Millennial (48 percent) and Generation Z (45 percent) respondents.
Reading was selected as a top spare-time activity among Generation Z – higher even than playing video games or reviewing social media.
Millennials are roughly two times more likely than Generation X to leave their current job after two years.
More than half of Generation Z and Millennial respondents (52 percent and 54 percent, respectively) want to live in a big city or urban neighborhood.
Approximately half of younger respondents say they save money each month but they aren’t confident in their financial futures.
The Nielsen Global Survey of Generational Attitudes was conducted Feb. 23-March 13, 2015, and polled more than 30,000 online consumers in 60 countries throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East/Africa and North America. The sample includes Internet users who agreed to participate in this survey and has quotas based on age and sex for each country. It is weighted to be representative of Internet consumers by country. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. However, a probability sample of equivalent size would have a margin of error of ±0.6 percent at the global level. This Nielsen survey is based only on the behavior of respondents with online access. Internet penetration rates vary by country. Nielsen uses a minimum reporting standard of 60 percent Internet penetration or an online population of 10 million for survey inclusion.
••• health care research
Skip the fads
Consumers prefer well-rounded diets over weight-loss gimmicks
Data from Chicago research firm Mintel shows that rather than jumping on the latest fad bandwagon, many Americans are adopting a sensible attitude towards dieting, as 91 percent of U.S. consumers believe it is better to eat a well-rounded diet than use diet products.
Indeed, Mintel research reveals concern over the healthiness of diet foods and drinks, as well as diets in general, is high, with almost eight in 10 (77 percent) U.S. consumers agreeing that diet products are not as healthy as they claim to be, and three in five (61 percent) consumers believe that most diets are not actually healthy. Meanwhile, nearly three-fourths (72 percent) of adults agree that dieting is worth the effort to achieve their ideal weight, yet just under seven in 10 (67 percent) consumers acknowledge it is difficult to stick with a diet long-term.
“Consumers are somewhat skeptical about diet products and instead of purchasing traditional diet-specific products they are turning to a well-balanced diet and products that support it. The diet industry faces downward pressure as U.S. adults remain skeptical of the ingredients in diet-specific products, their effectiveness in managing weight and the fact that in reality a magic weight-loss pill likely doesn’t exist,” says Marissa Gilbert, health and wellness analyst at Mintel.
While consumers accept the need to diet, for the majority of Americans, temptation can prove too much, as 80 percent of U.S. consumers acknowledge that they try to eat healthily but some indulgent foods are just too tempting. But proving a little bit of what you crave does you good – some 84 percent of Americans believe it is important to treat themselves to their favorite foods. “Most Americans don’t want to feel deprived while dieting, and despite good intentions, indulgent choices are tempting. However, many believe dieting is worth the effort in order to achieve their ideal weight,” says Gilbert.
When asked about the methods and tools used for dieting – more than any other – dieters (past and present) are turning to calorie restriction to manage their weight. Indeed, half (50 percent) of U.S. consumers who have managed their weight by diet have counted the calories making it the number one dieting method. The second most popular dieting method is the use of meal replacement shakes and bars (24 percent), followed by raw food or a vegetarian and vegan diet (19 percent), a high protein diet (18 percent), a nutrition based diet (17 percent) and utilizing a diet application on a mobile device (17 percent).
“Calorie restricting is a traditional method for losing weight and something consumers turn to without additional costs or resources. When consumers simply choose to reduce their calorie intake they are likely forgoing the use of diet-specific products and services. Alternatively, they may have learned calorie restriction while on a diet program and while no longer active, could still use a similar approach on their own,” says Gilbert.
Overall, half (55 percent) of U.S. consumers are currently trying to lose, maintain or gain weight through diet. Women aged 18-34 (44 percent) are most likely to be trying to lose weight by dieting compared to an average of one-third (32 percent) of Americans. Men, largely those 55 or older (42 percent), are most likely to say they have never dieted for weight management compared to an average of one quarter (26 percent) of all Americans.
It seems the nation’s dieters are setting lofty goals, as those currently dieting to lose weight want to shed a substantial amount. Women aged 55 or older have the biggest weight-loss goals, making up the largest segment of American dieters hoping to lose 20 or more pounds. What’s more, Mintel research indicates that older dieters are much less likely than their younger counterparts to seek out diet information. Consumers age 55 or older who manage their weight with diet are nearly half as likely as 18-24 year olds to consult friends or family for diet information (28 percent vs 44 percent).
“This mature segment likely relies on their past experience with diets to inform their current choices, but could benefit from an updated understanding of the specific types of diets that work best for their life stage. Our research shows that older adults have the biggest weight-loss goals, so despite being a good target for diet-focused products and services, they are less likely to be seeking diet information. Within this older segment, men are least engaged in weight management, making male non-users most difficult to reach while presenting an area of great opportunity,” says Gilbert.