Hold the caffeine, please
Nearly 20 percent of American households have at least one adult who is on a caffeine-free diet, according to a recent nationwide survey by Decision Analyst, Inc., Arlington, Texas.
Taken earlier this year, the survey found that 19.8 percent of the nearly 10,000 households randomly sampled had at least one adult on a caffeine-free diet. The percentage of households with at least one adult on a caffeine-free diet rises markedly after the age of 45, reaching a peak level of 24.1 percent in the 55 or older age goup.
"Since the U.S. adult population, on average, is growing older, caffeine-free products will tend to grow in popularity during the next decade, especially among older women," says Jerry W. Thomas president/CEO of Decision Analyst, Inc. "More than twice as many women as men are on caffeine-free diets. This survey provides further evidence that women are more health-conscious and more diet-conscious than men are," Thomas says.
"Regardless of the type of diet (lowfat, low-sodium, low-calorie, etc.), a higher percentage of women are dieting, compared to men. Women tend to take better care of themselves than men do," Thomas adds. "That is probably one of the reasons women tend to live longer than men."
The survey found little difference in the percentage of caffeine-free dieting based on household income or education. That is, regardless of the household’s income or education level, the incidence of caffeine avoidance was about the same. Likewise, differences in the level of caffeine-free dieting were minimal from one region of the U.S. to another. "The Midwest Region was slightly lower than the West, South and Northeast Region s," Thomas says.
Decision Analyst’s survey of caffeine-free diets has a margin error of +/-1 percent.
Public believes research is useful
Research on research shows that while refusals to co operate in survey research are on the rise, respondents believe that research surveys serve a very useful purpose and that participating in surveys is in their own best interest. This surprising dichotomy was revealed in the Council for Marketing and Opinion Research (CMOR) Respondent Cooperation Survey, as reported in the June 1996 issue of The Frame, the newsletter of Survey Sampling, Inc., Fairfield, Conn.
The purpose of the survey was to help the marketing and opinion research industry better understand and address the problem of declining respondent participation in surveys. The sample forthe CMOR study was donated by Survey Sampling. It consisted of 1,920 adults nationwide, of which 480 participated.
The CMOR study clearly shows thatrespondents think surveys provide an opportunity for feedback on products and services, but there are obstacles to participation that include the timing of the survey call, the subject matter, and the length of the interview.
Refusal rates increased from 53 percent in the 1992 Walker Industry Image Survey to 58 percent in the 1995 CMOR study. According to CMOR results, there’s no large core of refusers. Among those who participated in the CMOR survey, 37 percent s aid they had refused another survey in the past year. CMOR concluded that "potential respondents come and go; you just can’t get them all for a given study."
Three other facts were confirmed by the CMOR study: 1 ) Shorterinterviews arebetter. 2) Incentives possibly help; 80 percent of those who were given an incentive said they would be willing to participate again, compared with 70 percent who received no incentive. 3) Disclosing interview length up front actually hurts and has no effect on future willingness to participate.
The amount of research conducted and telemarketing, which competes with research for the public’s time, continue to Wow. According to CMOR, 80 percent reported receiving a telemarketing call in the past year, and these people reported an average of about 16 such calls. In another survey, conducted among 1,000 adults nationwide by Issues and Answers Network, Inc. (I&A), an average of 28.3 telemarketing calls and 4.2 market research calls were received in the past year. The I&A survey showed that 70 percent of households own an answering machine and an average of 30 percent of calls are screened. I&A revealed that 56 percent of respondents agee that they screen calls because they receive too many telemarketing calls, whereas 36 percent screen calls because they receive too many market research calls.
Confidence in food safety hits seven-year high
Consumer confidence in food safety has reached the highest level in seven years’ tracking in a national survey by Food Marketing Institute (FMI), Washington, D.C. This year, 84 percent of supermarket shoppers say they’re confident that supermarket food is safe - up 13 percentage points over 1995. And, their reliance on supermarkets to ensure product safety doubled to reach the highest level in 10 years. The findings come from FMI’s report Trends in the United States: Consumer Attitudes & the Supermarket, 1996.
The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) is a nonprofit association conducting programs in research, education, industry relations and public affairs on behalf of its 1,500 members including their subsidiaries - food retailers and wholesalers and their customers in the United States and around the world.
More than nine in 10 consumers (92 percent) consider product safety important when they shop. Spoilage continues to be their greatest concern - 49 percent say it’s the leading food safety threat. This year, the proportion of shoppers who rely primarily on their stores to ensure safe products doubled - 16 percent, up from 8 percent in 1995 - while reliance on themselves declined (25 percent, down from 36 percent).
Shoppers’ overall satisfaction with their primary supermarkets is the highest in five years. Almost two in five (38 percent) give their primary supermarket a rating of 9 or 10 (10 is the top mark), up from 34 percent in 1995, and three-quarters give 8-10 ratings. Store loyalty is strong as well: 87 percent of shoppers have not switched stores in the past year. Two-thirds would definitely recommend their primary supermarket to others, up significantly from 1995 (56 percent). Four in 10 consumers (42 percent) have shopped at theirprimary supermarket for 10 years or more, one in four (27 percent), 15 years or more.
The 1996 Trends survey was conducted by Abt Associates Inc. Other highlights:
- Shoppers continue to average just over two trips to a supermarket in a typical week, unchanged over the past five years. The average household spent $82 a week on groceries, up $2 over 1995, about equal to the overall inflation rate.
- Those most satisfied with their primary supermarket spend the largest proportion of their grocery dollars there. On average, consumers spend 82 percent of their total grocery dollars at their primary stores, but those rating the store a 10 spend 87 percent. Those who give a 5 or less rating spend only 69 percent at their primary supermarket.
- The 10 most important factors to consumers this year are: a clean, neat store; high quality fruits and vegetables; high quality meat; courteous, friendly employees; "use before" or "sell-by" dates marked on products; accurate shelf tags; low prices; convenient location; fast checkout, and a store layout that makes it easy to shop.
- Shoppers took money-saving steps less often than last year. Fewer look in the newspaper for grocery specials almost every time they shop, for example, or use cents-off coupons and compare prices at different supermarkets. However, more than half of consumers are purchasing store brands or lower priced brands instead of national brands.
- Products and services have become more widely available, enhancing the overall convenience of supermarket shopping. These include: payment by credit and debit cards; ATMs; ready-to-eat takeout foods; marinated or preseasoned meat or poultry that’s ready to cook; floral departments, and postage stamps.
- Nearly half of consumers (46 percent) say they eat meals at home that were not prepared there. Half buy ready-to-eat food from their primary supermarket at least once a month. Yet, fast-food restaurants gained ground as their primary source (48 percent). The restaurant share grew to one-fourth of consumers; the supermarket share dropped to one-eighth (12 percent).
- Taste is still the most important factor in selecting food, followed by nutrition, price and product safety. All these factors are somewhat or very important to at least nine in 10 consumers. Nutrition and product safety increased in importance this year.
- About six in 10 consumers (58 percent) are very concerned about nutrition. Their greatest, concern continues to be fat. Shoppers are still dissatisfied this year with the healthfulness of their diets. Almost three-quarters (74 percent) believe their diet could be at least somewhat healthier, but almost all (97 percent) claim they’re changing their eating habits to ensure a healthy diet.
Women like mall interviews
Need women’s opinions, but don’t know where to fred them? Not sure they would even want to answer your questions? How about the mall. You’ll find plenty of women there, and the vast majority of them willing to participate in market research surveys.
Elrick and Lavidge, an Atlanta marketing research firm, recently polled more than 255 women at malls across the nation to fred out how they felt about mall interviews. Nearly 95 percent of those surveyed described participating in mall research as "very enjoyable" or "somewhat enjoyable."
Only five percent of respondents expressed a negative attitude toward mall surveys. Interestingly, the degree of enjoyment did not change as the length of the survey increased, leading researchers to conclude that those who agree to participate are committed to the process. Respondents were evenly segmented by age, income and geographic location.
Survey finds American women "self care confident"
In an ever-changing health care environment, many American women are "self care confident" and are exerting more control in their personal health care decision making, according to a national study. The Femstat 3 Report: American Women and SelfCare, a nationally projectable survey of just over 1,000 American women, explores women’s attitudes toward personal health care, as well as common self care practices. It reveals that women are proactive in their health care management, with the majority of respondents (87 percent) staying informed of trends and practices for self care, and more than three-quarters (77 percent) using over-the-counter medications to self treat.
The Femstat 3 Report: American Women and Self Care reports on a January 1996 telephone survey of 1,045 American women, age 18 and older, living in the continental United States. Data collection and analysis was conductedby Penn & Schoen Associates, Inc. of New York City. Advanced probability sampling techniques were employed in the selection of respondents. Completed interviews were weighted to provide an accurate representation of the ethnic/race breakdown in the country as reported by the U.S. Census. The margin of error for the findings is +/-3.1 percent.
Eileen G. Fishbein, associate professor at the Georgetown University School of Nursing and an author of the report, said the implications of the study for health care professionals are profound since the majority of respondents (60percent) want to make informed decisions, rather than be told exactly what to do.
"Women today are self care confident," says Dr. Fishbein. "Women’s health care is no longer about going to a professional who says, ’I want you to take this pill three times a day for the next seven days.’ Today, women will ask, ’What is this pill? What does it do? What are its side effects?’"
Only 37 percent of respondents say they would prefer to be told exactly what to do by ahealth care professional. About two-thirds (60 percent) of American women say that they are more likely to make their own decisions about taking care of themselves after getting information from a health care provider.
The study also indicates that American women are actively involved in preventive health care regimens. Respondents say they are careful to: get enough sleep (83 percent); maintain balanced and nutritional diets (81 percent); fimit their sun exposure (77 percent); and perform self breast examinations (79 percent). Respondents also believe they take good care of themselves by exercising (61 percent), reducing stress (70 percent), and taking vitamins and supplements (65 percent).
"Findings from report indicate that women want to take the initiative with regard to their personal health care and seek out information to learn how to do so," Dr. Fishbein says.
Half (50 percent) of respondents report that their primary health care provider is their leading source of information about ways to take better care of themselves. Magazines and newspapers are the second most frequent choice, cited by 24 percent of the respondents, and 7 percent say they rely on electronic media. Few women say they count on their family and friends as the most important source of health advice.
Tina Raine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Georgetown University School of Nursing and Georgetown Medical Center and another author of the report, says that American women clearly want to actively participate with their doctors in their health care decision making.
"Women are reading more about health issues and asking more questions so they can work as educated partners with their health care providers," Dr. Raine says. "This strong interest in self care reflects the gowing empowerment of women in the health care marketplace."
Execs say direct mail is king
Of the wide array of marketing communications tools currently in use at large and mid-sized U.S. companies, a recent Gallup study of marketing directors and vice presidents revealed that direct mail is rated "the best" in achieving six out of seven critical marketing objectives, including:
- Generating sales (25 percent),
- Cost-effectiveness (39 percent),
- Educating a consumer or business
decision-maker on a complex issue (42
percent), - Selling a product directly to households
or businesses (38 percent) - Informing a consumer or business
on a new product or service (35 percent),
and - Easy for tracking results and effectiveness
(43 percent).
Only in the case of "increasing brand identity" was direct mail ranked behind magazines, television, and newspapers.
This first-ever Gallup Organization Direct Mail Study was commissioned by Pitney Bowes Mailing Systems.
"The message is clear: direct mail is king," says Tom Shimko, vice president, marketing, Pitney Bowes U.S. Mailing Systems. "It is the primary business marketing communications tool and will continue to be in the foreseeable future. Marketing executives at U.S. companies agree, nothing is as effective as mail in generating sales, educating consumers and business decision-makers, and tracking results. Given the improvements in addressing technology and the ability to segment audiences and direct information to specific customers and prospects, its simple to see why direct mail is the top marketing tool. And, when you consider the postage discounts associated with the Classification Reform scheduled for July 1, companies that invest in advanced mailing technologies will reduce postage expenses and improve upon delivery performance."
According to the Gallup Study, direct mail is the most common communications medium, with 77 percent of U.S. companies using it. The marketing executives interviewed reported that direct mail generates, on average, 5 percent of their company’s revenue. This proven impact on the bottom-line explains why 65 percent of companies using direct mail have increased direct mail budgets in the past five years by an average of 25 percent. Furthermore, 18 percent of these companies have increased budgets by 90 percent or more.
The study found that the average large and mid-sized company allocates 2 percent of sales volume or revenue to the marketing communications budget, and 22 percent of this budget is allocated to direct mail. More importantly, despite the availability of alternative media - including the Internet, which 28 percent of U.S, companies use, and telemarketing -marketing executives said direct mail budgets will continue to remain the same for the next five years.
Of companies using direct mail, 89 percent use direct mail to generate leads and 48 percent use the medium to generate sales orders. On average, U.S. companies reported that their direct mail lead generation response rate was 20 per 1000 or 2 percent. These companies use many different forms of direct mail, including: brochures (86 percent), direct mail letters (80 percent), flyers (77 percent), newsletters (69 percent), postcards (55 percent), catalogs (35 percent), invoice inserts (25 percent), and package inserts (22 percent). The average large and mid-sized U.S. company sends 672,100 direct mail or catalogs pieces each year, according to the study.
The Gallup Organization conducted the Pitney Bowes Direct Mail Study in December 1995 through a random telephone interview sampling of 129 Dun & Bradstreet mid-sized companies (100-499 employees), and 122 Dun & Bradstreet large companies (500+ employees) in the U.S. Data was weighted to represent the correct proportion of mid-sized and large company populations.