••• beverage research
Move over, soda
Daily soft drink consumption declines; coffee and tea increases
As major beverage manufacturers plan to increase global marketing expenditures, 38 percent of adult Americans are drinking fewer carbonated soft drinks compared to just one year ago, according to a study from Vancouver, B.C., research company Vision Critical. This is the largest year-over-year drop among non-alcoholic beverage categories tested and suggests that some consumers are actively paring back on daily carbonated soft-drink consumption.
Concerns over the perceived healthfulness of carbonated soft drinks are the main driving force behind the decline in consumption. Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that carbonated soft drinks are not good for their teeth (64 percent) and over half say they have too much sugar (53 percent). Despite these concerns, more than one-third of Americans see carbonated soft drinks as their guilty-pleasure beverage (39 percent) or drink them as an indulgence (33 percent). Females are more likely to see carbonated soft drinks as a guilty pleasure or indulgence (43 percent) than males (34 percent), keeping them engaged in the category despite concerns over the healthfulness of their beverage choices.
The decline in daily carbonated soft-drink consumption is being driven by females and older consumers, both of whom are also more likely to consume tea or coffee daily. Males had a 7 percent net year-over-year decline in daily soft-drink consumption, compared to 30 percent for females. Older respondents are also less likely to report daily consumption of carbonated soft drinks while their intake of tea and coffee increased.
To combat health-related concerns, beverage manufactures have released new low-calorie or diet alternative soft drinks, such as Coke Zero, Pepsi Max and Dr. Pepper 10. Despite these efforts, regular soft drinks still dominate consumers’ self-reported share of beverage consumption (60 percent on average), with diet and zero-/low-calorie soft drinks showing more modest consumption patterns (28 percent and 12 percent, respectively).
Compared to coffee and tea, carbonated soft drinks still fill unique needs and occasions. Soft drinks are the top non-alcoholic beverage for “while on the go” and “during a typical lunch,” while tea/coffee is number one “to kick off my day” and “when I’m feeling tired.” Preference for these beverages is split for “a quick afternoon pick-me-up” and “as an evening treat,” suggesting that both are thought of as indulgences that help keep consumers alert.
www.visioncritical.com
••• millennials research
Come on, get happy
U.S. youngsters feel happiest during summer and on Saturdays
Nearly six out of 10 Americans ages 15-to-25 consider themselves to be happy and only one out of eight feel unhappy, according to a study from InSites Consulting, a Ghent, Belgium, research company. Good music makes American youth the happiest but being challenged/getting somewhere and contact with friends/family come in second and third, respectively. Learning something new, sex and holidays are the last items in the top five of sources of happiness.
Youngsters were also asked to describe the days in their lives that they would never forget and which emotions they felt on that specific day. Out of the 401 stories shared, about 45 percent were linked to a happy feeling. About 16 percent were sad and 14 percent were surprises. The most recurrent special occasions making youth happy were: meeting the love of their life; getting married; earning a degree or a driver’s license; an extremely good sports achievement; and the very first kiss.
Events that made youngsters unhappy were their parents divorcing, being diagnosed with a serious illness, being cheated on by their partner and losing someone they care about. Meeting the love of their lives and extreme physical experiences like mountain climbing or skydiving were the most frequent surprises in youths’ lives. U.S. youngsters linked a mere 12 percent of unforgettable experiences to a feeling of fear. They link this emotion with instances of aggression, changing schools or the risk of losing their job. Aversion (5 percent) and anger (7 percent) were least present in the stories. For aversion, youngsters talked about the TV footage of 9/11 or being involved in a fight. Anger was most linked with the end of a relationship or the bereavement of someone they cared about.
It is no surprise that youth in the U.S. feel the happiest in the summer, topping out in August. January and February are depressing months for many but thanks to the winter festivities, December manages to do better than the autumn months of October and November and the spring months of February and March.
Most youngsters all over the world consider Saturdays to be mainly happy days. Only in India does Sunday come first, whereas Swedish youngsters dislike Sunday as much as Monday. In most areas, youths ages 15-to-25 say they are at their best between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. The Spanish, Chinese and Russian prime-time is slightly later: from 10 p.m. until midnight. Everybody seems to experience the lowest level of happiness between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.
www.insites.eu
••• nonprofit/charities
Not a charitable assessment
Americans’ predictions for non-tax-deductible charitable gifts
In the quest to reduce the budget deficit and the national debt, one possibility that has been raised numerous times is reducing or eliminating tax deductions for charitable giving. According to data from Grey Matter Research, Phoenix, a majority of Americans believe removing the charitable deduction would decrease giving to nonprofit organizations. However, among Americans who itemize their deductions, a majority feel their own charitable giving would remain unchanged.
If charitable gifts were no longer tax-deductible, only 30 percent feel there would be no real change in giving in the U.S. Six percent believe charitable donations would actually rise. However, almost two-thirds of Americans say charitable giving in the U.S. would decrease, including 29 percent who believe it would decrease a little and 36 percent who believe it would decrease a lot.
While the issue of reducing or eliminating charitable deductions has become politically charged, how Americans feel about the issue does not vary much according to their political party or perspective. Sixty-three percent of Republicans, 68 percent of Independents and 61 percent of Democrats believe charitable giving in this country will decrease if contributions are no longer tax-deductible. Similarly, this is the perspective among 62 percent of those who identify themselves as politically conservative, 62 percent of self-described moderates and 72 percent of political liberals.
Where there is some variation is by age and ethnicity. The older the respondent, the more likely he or she is to believe that cutting the charitable deduction will result in a lot less giving in America. Half of all Americans under age 35 feel giving will decrease, including just 20 percent who believe it will decrease a lot. The proportion who believe giving will decrease a lot almost doubles among people ages 35-to-49 (36 percent) and rises even more among those 50-to-64 (42 percent) and those 65+ (51 percent). In total, 77 percent of Americans 65+ believe giving will decrease nationally if the charitable deduction is eliminated.
African-Americans are also more pessimistic than others. Forty-five percent of African-American respondents believe charitable giving will decrease a lot if gifts are no longer tax-deductible, compared to 36 percent among Caucasians, 30 percent among Asian-Americans and 25 percent among Latinos.
People who actually donated money to a charitable organization are no more likely than those who gave nothing in the past 12 months to feel giving will decline if these changes are made to the tax code but bigger givers are a bit more pessimistic. Among Americans who gave $500 or more to nonprofit organizations in the last year, 42 percent feel giving will decline significantly (compared to 33 percent among those who gave less than $500).
Although the typical American believes giving overall will decline without the charitable deduction, ironically those who itemize their deductions often do not believe their own giving will decline. Eleven percent of the itemizers feel their own household’s giving will decrease a lot if the charitable deduction is eliminated and another 24 percent believe their own giving will decrease a little. But over 60 percent feel their own giving will not change and 5 percent believe it will actually increase if their gifts are no longer tax-deductible. Feelings about this do not vary significantly by household income or amount given.
www.greymatterresearch.com
••• financial services
Dialing up the security
Seeking a safer way to make mobile payments
While the number of smartphone users has exploded to nearly 50 percent of all U.S. consumers, the majority of Americans remain quite skeptical of smartphone-generated payment solutions and are not likely to give up traditional forms of payment in the near future, according to a survey from Radius Global Market Research, New York.
Security tops the list of consumer concerns about mobile payments, with half of all American consumers saying potential security problems and fraud significantly influence their likelihood to use smartphone technology to make purchases. In comparison, only 14 percent say security and fraud don’t influence their future likelihood to make those purchases.
Interestingly, the segment most likely to make purchases via smartphone, consumers under 35 and those identifying as digitally savvy, are also the most likely to be concerned with security and fraud issues. Fifty-four percent of consumers under the age of 35 are concerned with fraud. That figure rises to 62 percent among digitally-savvy consumers.
Complicating messaging efforts further is the fragmented nature of mobile payment service delivery. Several branded product and service providers are involved in executing a single smartphone-generated transaction and thus responsibility for flawless delivery is spread across several partners. “Consumers appear to be very aware of the entire delivery chain associated with mobile payments,” says Chip Lister, managing director of Radius. “The company you keep will be extremely important in marketing efforts. Individual brand reputations of retailers, device makers, software developers, service providers and financial institutions will be scrutinized. In consumers’ minds the complete transaction is only as strong as the weakest link, especially as it relates to security.”
www.radius-global.com
••• auto research
Is 'Subaru Love' more than a gimmick?
Subaru owners most likely to recommend; Detroit makes lag
To recommend or not to recommend – that is the ultimate question for automakers. When it comes to recommending vehicles to friends and family, the five top-rated vehicles are Subaru, Toyota, Honda, Lexus and Volkswagen, according to analysis from Worthington, Ohio, research company BIGinsight using the Net Promoter Score (NPS) metric system.
However, it is important to note where these top-five brands were in 2010. Toyota appears to be rebuilding trust among its customer base after a significant drop in 2011, which was likely due to recalls. Lexus encountered similar recall issues that likely impacted customer loyalty, as its NPS is down from 2010. Subaru owners seem to be more passionate advocates as that brand’s NPS has steadily risen. Volkswagen shows the greatest increase among the top five since 2010. Kia, although not in the top five, appears to be gaining steam, jumping more than 500 percent from 2.8 percent in 2010 to 18.1 percent in 2012.
Detroit automakers haven’t fared as well, as they remain well behind their competitors in regards to customer opinion. However, the NPS has increased considerably for GMC and Ford since 2010.
www.biginsight.com