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Most morns want better cooking skills

Is cooking an act of drudgery or does it provide food for the soul? The results of a recent Corningware national survey indicate that the more you know about cooking, the more personal fulfillment it offers. The survey results help explain why the new breed of kitchenware stores are targeting consumers in search of more than just pots and pans by offering a full schedule of classes and demonstrations. "Our survey, which targeted moms between 18 and 49 with one or more children aged 12 or younger, indicates that they have a great desire to improve their cooking skills and cook from scratch more often," says Lynne Recktenwald, vice president-marketing, Coming Consumer Products Co., Inc., Elmira, N.Y. "And the data provides an undeniable link between cooking skill knowledge and personal satisfaction from cooking." The survey was conducted in conjunction with Find Your Inner Chef @ Corningware eScho01, which teaches home cooking fundamentals on-line at www.comingware-eschool.com.

Essentially, the survey revealed that the more culinary skills and techniques home cooks possess, the mote they enjoy cooking and, consequently, the more likely they are to cook meals from scratch and entertain Mends and family.

The survey indicated:

  • Those who already know how to cook really enjoy cooking.
  • Those who don’t know how to cook well enjoy it less.
  • Most respondents believe they could become much better cooks if an easy way to learn more techniques was available to them. Unfortnnately, only 13 percent of those surveyed gave themselves an "A" for excellent when asked to grade themselves as cooks. The remainder selected: "B" or above average, 43 percent; "C" or average, 41 percent; "D" or below average, 3 percent. Just as revealing are these attitudes about enjoyment of cooking:
  • 46 percent of home cooks enjoy cooking all or most of the time - and a majority of this group consider themselves above-average cooks;
  • 31 percent enjoy cooking some of the time;
  • 20 percent don’t like it but consider it a necessity;
  • 3 percent claim to hate it.

Above-average cooks are 50 percent more likely to say they enjoy cooking than those who rate themselves as average or below-average cooks. Most importantly, a majority (59 percent) believe they could be much better cooks if there were an easy way to learn more techniques. This sentiment was repeatedly echoed by seven out of 10 younger moms (age 18-34) who graded their cooking average or below.

Respondents who enjoy cooking are 30 percent more likely to cook from scratch, and those who cook from scratch are far more likely to consider themselves above-average cooks. Of those 64 morns who cook from scratch, 95 percent enjoy cooking and 86 percent grade themselves an "A" or "B." Of those women who don’t always cook from scratch, 73 percent enjoy cooking and only 48 percent rate themselves above average.

Whether a good cook or a bad cook, virtually all respondents (92 percent) agree that their cooking is healthier than store-bought or restaurant food.

In order to cook from scratch, home cooks need to have mastered a number of basic cooking techniques, and those who enjoy cooking have those skills. These accomplished cooks are significantly more likely to bake, grill, roast, sautd, steam, broil, stir-fry and braise. Respondents who don’t enjoy cooking are more likely to microwave, boil and fry. Virtually all participants have a microwave and use it to reheat, but only one in three actually use it to cook from scratch - implying a lack of knowledge about the many applications of this efficient kitchen tool.

Whether they enjoy cooking or not, eight out of 10 home-cooks agree that they are very interested in learning easier and faster ways to prepare dinner from scratch. That’s probably because 98 percent of families surveyed eat together an average of five times per week, and four dinners during the week are from scratch. When they’re not cooking from scratch, they’re using pre-packaged items and quick helpers twice per week and takeout once per week. Contrary to what might be supposed, only one-third took their family to dinner at a fast-food restaurant in the week prior to the survey.

Most importantly, almost two-thirds of all home cooks want to cook from scratch morn often. Also, there is a big difference based on whether they already cook from scratch: 68 percent who don’t already cook from scratch want to do so, while only 41 percent of those who already cook from scratch want to increase the frequency.

On average, most of those surveyed have a repertoire of 11 dinners which they prepare time and time again. By contrast, one-fifth of those surveyed, who insisted they always prepare dinner from scratch, have a significantly larger repertoire - 15 dinners - they repeatedly prepare. The correlation between knowledge/skill, enjoyment and number of menu selections is quite strong.

Using recipes is still very popular among the best and worst of cooks, although a quarter of respondents don’t know where to look for quick, interesting recipes. Only 36 percent believe that once you learn basic skills, you don’t need to rely on recipes. Seven out of 10 respondents are Intemet users, and 40 percent of them look for recipes on the Internet.

A national sample of 300 mothers between 18 and 49 years of age was administered by Leflein Associates, Inc., Fort Lee, N.J., using a CATI system. The national database of households with children was acquired through birth records and other public and private sources; qualified respondents had at least one child age 12 or younger, did some of the cooking for their household, and were not employed in a profession related to survey subject matter.

what would you call the new decade?

James Bond, Agen 007, would be proud. According to a survey conducted by ICR Survey Research, Media, Pa., for Ogilvy Public Relations, 20.4 percent of Americans surveyed believe the first decade of the new millenium should be referred to as "The Double O's." The poll involved a phone survey of a sampe of 318 people from December 21 through December 28. "The 2 K's" was a close second at 19.8 percent, a statistical dead heat.

Another name that fared well was "The Double Zeroes," witrh 15.1 percent. Less popular choices included "The Zeroes" at 7.7 percent. "The Naughts," with 5.5 percent and "The Double Z's," with 3.7 percent. The worst performer was "The Z's," with 1 percent. A significant 21.9 percent of those surveyed don't relaly know what to call the next decade.

Consumers say no to Internet tax

According to Los Angeles-based BizRate.com, an e-commerce rating site and marketing research firm, nearly 60 percent of consumers would make fewer purchases if they had to pay a sales tax on all Internet purchases.

The Flash Survey compiled feedbck from nearly 17,000 on-line buyers at the point-of-sale as part of a partnership between BizRate.com and Association for Interactive Media (AIM). The survey is the third in a series of taxation studies to gauge consumer buying behavior and awareness surrounding on-line Internet tax policy development.

The tax/tarriffs issue would have a greater negative impact on foreign merchants, according to the survey. Thirty percent of consumers said they would never buy from an on-line foreign merchant if they had to pay tariffs on such on-line purchases. More than 50 percent of on-line buyers said they would make fewer purchases from foreign merchants.

Survey results indicate that income, age, gender and even experience with Internet shopping would be factors in how shoppers would tailor their on-line spending habits if a tax were to be imposed.

Key findings include:

  • Buyers with income under $20,000 are less likely to make an on-line purchase if a sales tax is imposed.
  • Buyers under the age of 35 (63 percent) are more likely to reduce their on-line purchases due to a sales tax than older buyers (57 percent) are.
  • Men (65 percent) are more likely than women (53 percent) to make fewer purchases if faced with a sales tax.
  • Experienced on-line buyers (60 percent) said they would be more likely to reduce on-line due to a sales tax than first-time buyers (50 percent) would.

Other key findings:

  • Only three percent of respondents said they would never buy on-line if they had to pay a domestic sales tax on all on-line purchases.
  • Approximately 87 percent of on-line buyers said they do not purchase goods on-line solely to avoid a sales tax.
  • Computer and entertainment product buyers will be least likely to buy on-line a sales tax is associated with the purchase.
  • Gift buyers are least likely to react adversely to an on-line sales tax.

Survey profiles Bay Area Chinese-Americans

A survey of Chinese-American consumers in the San Francisco Bay Area reveals their strong preference for certain brands over key competitors in specific product categories as well as their demographic profile and language preferences. The study, commissioned by KTSF Television and conducted by Interviewing Service of America, Van Nuys, Calif., included interviews with a random sampling of 500 Chinese-American residents in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Following are some key findings from the interviews, which were conducted between July 20th and August 3rd of last year:

  • Telecommunications: AT&T has the dominant share of the Chinese residential market. MCI and Sprint area distant second and third. More than two-thirds of Chinese households make international calls monthly, placing an average of 3.8 calls. Over a third use 10-10 numbers to place international calls.
  • Fast-food restaurant patronage: Twothirds (65 percent) of Chinese consumers visit at least one fast-food/hamburger restaurant monthly. McDonald’s has the largest share by a wide margin (41 percent share), followed by Burger King with a 16 percent share. Jack in the Box, Carl’s Jr and In N’Out Burger have minor shares. About a third of Chinese consumers express no opinion as to their preference in terms of best value and best place for hamburgers, indicating the potential for chains to win new customers.
  • Banking: Bank of America has the largest share of Chinese bank customers with a 35 percent share. Wells Fargo follows with a 17 percent share. United Savings, American Savings, and Washington Mutual are the only other banks with a larger than 5 percent market share.
  • Soft drinks: More than haft (53 percent) of Chinese consumers prefer Coca-Cola by a wide margin over other soft drinks. Eight out of 10 Chinese consumers purchase soft drinks.
  • Computer ownershipiIntemet usage: Three-quarters of Chinese households own a home computer. IBM, Compaq, Apple, H-P, and Dell are the most popular brands, with IBM leading with 16 percent. Fifty-eight percent of Chinese households have access to the Intemet. AOL has the dominant share of Chinese Intemet usage, with a 39 percent share. Yahoo is by far the most popular Web site.
  • Headache remedy/pain relievers: Tylenol was widely preferred by the Chinese, used by 50 percent. Advil had a 9 percent share. Bayer Aspirin, Anacin, Excedrin, Aleve and other brands were also measured.
  • On-line stock/mutual fund trading: Twenty-two percent of Chinese households trade stocks/mutual funds on-line. Charles Schwab and E-Trade have the dominant share of the market.
  • Life insurance: Half (49 pement) of Chinese-Americans in San Francisco area currently have life insurance. New York Life is the life insurance preferred by Chinese-Americans in the San Francisco area. Met Life and Prudential also have a substantial share.
  • Shampoo usage: Pantene Pro-V is the most popular brand of shampoo amongst Chinese consumers, followed by Head & Shoulders.
  • Car ownership/purchase: Ninety percent of Chinese households own/lease a car; the average number of cars per household is 1.1. The most popular cars are Toyota (35 percent share), Honda (21 percent) and Nissan (11 percent). Almost three-quarters (73 percent) of the cars were purchased new. One out of four Chinese households plan to buy a new car in the next 12 months.
  • Air travel: Fifty-two percent of Chinese households (one or more members) have traveled by air internationally in the past 12 months. United, Singapore and China Airlines are the airlines most often utilized for international air travel. The most often utilized airlines for domestic travel are United (27 percent) and Southwest (16 percent).
  • Amusement parks: About four out of 10 Chinese households visited an amusement park in the past year. Disneyland (52 percent) is the most frequented amusement park, followed by Great America (19 percent) and Universal Studios (18 percent).
  • Las Vegas: Almost haft of Chinese households visited Las Vegas in the past year. MGM Grand, Circus Circus and the Mirage are the most popular hotels among Chinese-Americans.
  • Electronic equipment: Forty-three percent of Chinese households purchased electronic equipment in the past year. Computers, TVs, cell phones and VCRs were the most frequently purchased items. Circuit City, Good Guys and Frys were the most frequented outlets.

The study found that most interviewees remain dependent on their native language, despite the fact that the average Chinese-American has lived in the U.S. for 16 years. Almost half speak Chinese at home all of the time and another third speak predominantly Chinese at home. A vast majority (85 percent) elected to speak Chinese during the interviews rather than English. Consistent with their dependence on their native language, the majority recalls having read, seen or heard advertising in Chinese.

On-line directory scores with users

On-line shopping directories may only be five years old - as compared to the 100-year success of the print Yellow Pages - but a usage survey shows that consumers are using Bell Atlantic’s BigYellow to contact businesses and purchase products and services at nearly the same rate as the print Yellow Pages.

BigYellow, an on-line shopping directory, announced the results of an on-line site survey conducted by NFO Ad:Impact of 1,500+ respondents who visited the BigYellow site. The site visitor profile was comprised of both prior users (80 percent) and first-time users (20 percent).

The study found that 84 percent of prior BigYellow site users contacted a business based on a search, and 62 percent went on to purchase a product. This is a 52 percent conversion rate for prior Big Yellow visitors. For firsttime users, 67 percent contacted a business with 41 percent purchasing a product. In comparison, a 1998 NYPM Ratings Study of print Yellow Pages usage conducted by NFO Ad:Impact showed that 81 percent of Bell Atlantic Yellow Pages references resulted in contacts, with 57 percent resulting in a purchase.

Other findings show that the BigYellow visitor is typically a repeat visitor - 10 times a month. And, on average, visitors spend more than 10 minutes searching BigYel!ow’s business and residential listings each time they visit. The most frequently searched categories included retail shopping, restaurants, computers, entertainment, travel, auto, and home improvement. And, the visitors themselves were educated professionals. More than 60 percent had completed college. Executives, professionals, and those in a technical position accounted for 87.5 percent of the visitors. And, 90 percent of the visitors had household incomes of at least $50,000 per year.

The NFO Ad:Impact study was conducted for two weeks in April 1999 with a sample of 1,530 self-selected respondents answering 38 survey questions. Respondents who successfully completed the survey received a T-shirt incentive. Site visitors were randomly asked to participate in the survey via an nth pop-up window.