Seniors offer packaging suggestions

The Primelife Advisory Network (PLAN) is a not-for-profit group of more than 1,000 members nationwide, age 50 and older, who evaluate and provide their viewpoints on products and services geared toward or featuring mature Americans. Based on meetings and surveys conducted with PLAN members, seniors had the following tips for packaged goods makers on how to make their products more userfriendly for seniors:

  • Increase print size (at least 12-point type is recommended, with good contrast).
  • Make packaging square instead of round so things don’t tend to roll and slip out one’s hand.
  • Include instructions on how to open packaging.
  • Adjust package size to contents (things are too large for grocery bags and medicine cabinets).
  • Use some method to differentiate pharmaceutical bottles; they all look the same.
  • Products should include the price (it’s hard to keep track of how much you’re spending).
  • Create a pull-tab for boxes such as Uncle Ben’s Rice and pancake mix to make them easier to open.
  • Always include an 800-number where consumers can call for information.
  • Put important information in red type and large print so it can be found quickly and easily.
  • Flip caps are preferred to twist tops to ensure the product andcap stay together.

Credit card offers multiply on Internet

A growing number of credit card issuers are turning to the Internet to attract new customers, according to Behavioral Analysis Inc. (BAI), a Tarrytown, N.Y., marketing research and consulting firm. The last half of 1995 saw the number of credit card issuers with sites on the World Wide Web increase from 10 to almost 50, says Lisa Itzkowitz, marketing director at BAI. In addition, a number of card issuing institutions have sites under construction.

Visitors to at least 11 sites, including those of Advanta, American Express, Bank of America and Chemical Bank, are able to apply for credit cards on-line. A number of other banks have set up sites that allow customers to request applications or information on-line, the BAI study found. Among these card issuers are Bank of the Commonwealth, Barnett, First Hawaiian and Glendale Federal.

Other bank card issuers, including Citibank, First USA and Wells Fargo provide visitors to their Web site with application forms which can be downloaded, completed and faxed back to the card issuer. "As a cardholder acquisition channel, the Internet is clearly in the developmental stage," Itzkowltz says. We don't expect large volumes of new card accounts to generated through the Intemet, at this time. However, given the rapid pace of activity we have seen in the past few months, we will continue to monitor developments on the Internet very closely."

All the sites provide some information about their credit cards, and several provide an 800-number that can be used to apply for the card. BAI studies the credit card marketplace on an ongoing basis and issues Mail Monitor, a syndicated service that tracks credit card acquisition programs, on a quarterly basis. Mail Monitor, a joint venture of BAI and Market Facts, Inc., is available to all credit card issuers.

Quirk’s Survey finds many parents of young children ready to buy car

Sweeping rebates and a blizzard of promotions may not be the answer to an automaker’s problems, but better marketing to families may be, finds a new survey from Parenting magazine and Roper Starch Worldwide Inc. The survey found that, despite the recent slowdown in sales, nearly one in four (21 percent) families with children under the age of 12 plan to buy a new car in the next two years, compared to 16 percent of non-parents. And marketers should take note: 39 percent of America’s 12 million "Parenting Leaders" (what Parenting and Roper have identified as the most quality conscious, brand loyal and civic minded of parents with kids aged 12 or younger) say they plan to buy a new car by 1997.

The survey, conducted for Parenting by Roper Starch Worldwide polled 602 parents about their vehicle preferences and shopping habits. Among the key findings:

  • At a time when sales of used cars and leasing programs are on the upswing, Parenting Leaders are one of the few groups in which the majority buy new cars. More than half (51 percent) of Parenting Leaders say they purchased their cars new, versus 40 percent of all other adults.
  • An overwhelming majority (77 percent) of Parenting Leaders say automobile safety is "extremely important" in their choice of a new car, versus 64 percent of the genera! public.
  • Parenting Leaders are twice as likely as the general public (18 percent vs. 10 percent) to own a sports utility vehicle; 15 percent of them own a minivan, versus 6 percent of the public.

Parenting Leaders are both happy and skeptical customers of the automobile industry. They are far more likely to say their next car will be from the same manufacturer as the car they drive most often (34 percent vs. 27 percent). Yet, they are more than cautious of the people who sell them their cars.

Olympics big with teens around the world

The Olympic Games, which includes many of teens’ favorite sports, is the single most popular sporting venue among teenage boys (71 percent) and girls (62 percent), according to The New World Teen Study, a survey of 6,500 teens conducted in 26 countries by The BrainWaves Group, a New York global consulting and trends company.

"The Olympics are young people’s favorite athletic package because in the global teen culture sport is a dominant theme, with boys and girls both active participants and spectators," says Elissa Moses, managing director, The BrainWaves Group.

In the U.S., 71 percent of teen girls and 68 percent of teenage boys named the Olympics as their favorite televised sports competition. Globally, the Olympics enjoys its highest popularity rating in the Middle East where it is the favorite of 85 percent of both teen boys and girls. Australia follows in third, where the Games are the favorite of 84 percent of the males and 80 percent of teen females.

However, any similarity between the tastes of teen boys and girls ends with the Olympics. A majority of teen boys (63 percent) cite basketball as their favorite sport followed by soccer in third (58 percent). In fact, on a global basis, basketball is teens’ overall favorite spectator sport. Swimming is the overall teen favorite sports activity according to 52 percent of those surveyed.

Teen girls voted gymnastics their second most popular sport (57 percent), followed by basketball (51 percent). But only 17 percent of the boys voted gymnastics their favorite spectator sport.

The U.S. and Sweden have the highest internet awareness

A series of consumer surveys conducted across Europe and the United States has found growing awareness of and interest in using the Internet. Research carried out in July by a group of affiliated market research firms, the International Research Institutes (IriS), found that while the U.S. had the highest overall level of Internet use, consumer support of the Internet in some European countries was surprisingly strong. Despite the high level of personal computer use in the U.K. and Germany, the highest levels of Internet use were found in Scandinavian countries, particularly Sweden.

The group completed between 500 and 1,300 consumer telephone interviews per country to measure awareness and use of personal computers communicating across the Internet. In both France and Germany, roughly three-quarters of those surveyed were unfamiliar with the Internet, and fewer than 3 percent had personal experience with the Internet either at home or at work. In contrast, almost half of those surveyed in the Netherlands and over 70 percent of those surveyed in Sweden had heard of the Internet.

According to Damien Schnyder, president of IriS, the U.S. leads the world in general consumer use of the Internet, although surfing the Net is still more often done at work than at home. While 8.4 percent of U.S. consumers surveyed use the Internet at the office, 5.7 percent use it at home. Roughly four in 10 of these home users are "Internet Intensives," says Schnyder, because they use the Internet both at home and at work. Similar Internet use was seen among European Internet users as well.

Teen spending on the rise in ’95

U.S. teens will have spent a projected $109 billion in 1995, representing a 10 percent increase (not inflation-adjusted) over last year. Teen spending has increased each year since 1993.

These are among the findings in a new survey by Teenage Research Unlimited, (TRU), Northbrook, Ill. It polled 2,034 demographically selected respondents, ages 12 through 19. Teen spending of their own money (i.e., money teens earned or received from allowance, gifts, employment, etc.) has increased over last year: Teens will have spent $67 billion of their own funds in 1995, compared to $63 billion in 1994. Teen spending of family dollars has similarly increased: Teens in 1995 will have spent $41 billion of family money, compared to $36 billion spent last year.

"The biggest reason why total teen spending is up is that teen spending of family money is sharply rising," says Peter Zollo, TRU president. Historically, "teen spending of family money correlates to the state of the U.S. economy, while teen spending of their own money is more recession-proof," he says.

Boys and girls spend virtually the same amount of money a week in total - $67 spent by males, $65 spent by females. In the past, males spent more of their own money, and females spent more family dollars. For the first time in several years, however, males and females spent approximately the same amount of family and their own money in 1995.

Teens in 1995 will have a combined income of $102 billion, which amounts to a 6 percent increase from last year. Last year’s combined income was $96 billion. The major sources oare: parents on an as-needed basis (46 percent); occasional jobs (46 percent); regular allowance (29 percent); part-time jobs (26 percent); and full-time jobs (11 percent).

Zollo reported that the gap in earnings between males and females has closed significantly this year; for example, last year, males earned roughly $18 more per week than females. This year, the difference in income between males and females has narrowed to $5. Older teens continue to earn dramatically more money than younger teens.

Zollo also says that besides earning and spending "significant sums," teens know how to handle money. Sixty-six percent have savings accounts, one in five teens have checking accounts, 17 percent own stocks or bonds and 5 percent have mutual funds. Additionally, 41 percent of teens are interested in getting a credit card in their own name, 37 percent of teens aged 18-19 already have a credit card in their own name, and 12 percent of total teens say they have access to their parent(s)’ credit card.

For the fourth consecutive year, the 12- to 19-year old population has increased in the U.S. There are currently 29.1 million U.S. teens - compared to 28.5 million last year - representing a 2 percent rise. The increase represents a trend: As more kids of the baby boomers reach their teen years, this teenage demogaphic group is projected to continue to grow until at least the year 2010.

Top California retail markets announced

The rankings of the best and worst performing retail markets in California during the five year period 1989-1994 were released today as part of the 1996 edition of the California Retail Survey, published by the Sacramento- based market advisory firm of the same name. The Survey’s rankings show that the top ten markets expanded at annual rates in excess of 40 percent during the last fivef teens’ income years. The fastest growing local retail market is Palmdale, with local retail sales up by 132.3 percent since 1989. Following Palmdale are the cities of Clovis, Moreno Valley, Roseville, and Fountain Valley, each with retail sales growth in excess of 40 percent during this five year period. By comparison, statewide retail growth during this five year period equaled 1.2 percent. To be included in the rankings of "major markets," a city must have 1994 retail sales in excess of $500 million.

Thirty-one major California markets had negative growth in the past five years. The worst performer was the City of Downey, which saw its retail market contract by 18.4 percent, representing a sales decline of $146.5 million.

Among the thirty-four retail markets in the state that have retail sales in excess of $1 billion, the City of Santa Clarita was the best performer, with a growth rate of 43.8 percent. Other billion dollar markets that rank high include Thousand Oaks, Cerritos, Bakersfield, and Redding. Among these billion dollar markets, the City of Long Beach had the worst performance, with a sales decline of 14.7 percent. The City of Los Angeles, the largest market in the state, saw its retail market decline 5.9 percent, representing a drop in sales of $1.05 billion over the last five years.

Retail sales and outlet data used in the survey are derived from tax returns filed by each of the 333,000 retail establishments in California.

Latin dress trends and codes

Anyone ever seen a Latin American woman wearing tennis shoes on her way to work? Probably not. According to an article in Latin America Perspective, a newsletter published by Market Development, Inc. (MDI), San Diego, it’s a look reserved for New York female executives. Latin women almost always prefer high heels. When considering working women in the Americas, the female shoe consumer profile varies drastically throughout the region. However, the demand for a comfortable, professional-looking wardrobe is increasingly similar for all.

In Latin America, the increase in women joining the workforce is already generating growth in the casual apparel market in the middle and upper-middle price range. Data show Latin women in Mexico and Argentina look to the U.S. for elegant and practical clothing: the multi-purpose outfit, informal but not too casual. While seasons and sizes in Latin America tend to be different from those in the U.S., American imports fit comfortably into the style of middle- and middle/upper-class Latin women.

On the quality/style/price scale, American clothing reportedly falls between the cheap/low quality products from the Far East and the high-end European designer imports.

Comfortable clothes that look good tend to be primary considerations when Mexicans pick what to wear, followed by fabric type and durability. According to the MDI Mexico Poll, almost 90 percent of Mexican: consider comfort as a priority when selecting clothing. Data also seem to support the "dress to impress" attitude common among many Latin consumers. Wearing clothes that look good tends to be important to 73 percent of Mexicans, with women feeling quite strongly about this issue. Also, more than two-thirds of respondents agreed that looking the best is a priority, while only one-fourth concurred with the statement "clothes shouldn’t call attention to one’s self."

Among other findings, one-third of respondents considered keeping up with fashion to be important. As for shopping, buying clothes seems to be a "planned" event for the majority of Mexicans (only 14 percent stated buying on impulse) while an overwhelming 83 percent do not consider shopping for clothing to be a chore.