*Eat, Sleep, Work: A recently released study conducted by BIGresearch reveals that Americans spend 60% of their waking hours working, the largest percentage ever.
Operating under the assumption that these long hours inevitably impact consumers' purchasing behaviors, the survey explored the role of search in their consumption of retail,
groceries, dining and new media, ultimately concluding that:
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Word-of-mouth is highly influential on purchases made by at-work consumers, with 95.6% indicating they regularly or occasionally give advice to their peers about products
and services, and 92.9% indicating they also seek advice from peers before making purchases;
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The workplace presents the perfect environment to create buzz for product introductions and new store openings. While taking a break from work, 67.8% at-work consumers
socialize with co-workers and 42.2% indicate they communicate with friends and family during the workday;
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14.5% of at-work consumers report that they shop at Wal-Mart most often for groceries. Kroger and Publix round out the top three grocery destinations among at-work consumers,
with 8.4% and 8.2%, respectively;
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At-work consumers get their fast-food fixes at McDonald's (23.3%), Wendy's (16.2%) and Taco Bell (8.0%); and,
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Applebee's, Chili's and Olive Garden are the top destinations of choice for casual ?dining.
Source: BIGresearch
*Teens: Globally Fickle: A 255-page report published by Sulake, owner of social networking site Habbo, delved into the habits of teenage consumers. More than 58,000 respondents
are included in the site's second Global Youth Survey, which was conducted over two months across 31 different countries.
The survey, which itself took on average 31 minutes to complete, offered subjects complimentary virtual "credits" towards their virtual rooms on the site as an incentive.
Findings include:
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Globally, Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Nike ranked among the most popular brands for teenage consumers;
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Despite still being the favored handset maker in 15 of 31 countries, Nokia lost ground to Sony Ericsson and Samsung, which have become favorites in countries that include
Germany, Denmark and Switzerland; and,
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While 38% of teens used their phones to listen to music in 2006, 71% now do so.
Source: Sulake
*Meet the E-Press: Waggener Edstrom Worldwide has released the results of a study on how young Internet voters utilize new media in their political choices.
Challenging apparent trends from previous reports during this election cycle, the Worldwide Young Internet Voter of 2008 Study suggests that the propagation of digital
communications--not the efforts of specific presidential candidates' campaigns--is the most essential aspect of engaging the demographic. Other notable statistics uncovered include
the following:
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Only 23% of those surveyed perceived a new enthusiasm generated by candidates campaigning online and by the new increase in political sources on the Internet;
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"Obamamania" is not creating an increased interest in the campaign (or his campaign), but the Obama campaign's proficiency in using the Internet to reach the Millennial
demographic is resulting in support among this age group;
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Of those surveyed, 57% believe they are more engaged in the election process because of digital communications;
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Nearly one-quarter (23.3%) have sent or received a text message about candidates;
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When asked which party is doing a better job advancing digital communications and campaigning online, 55% said Democratic and 13% said Republican; and,
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When asked which candidate is their presidential preference, 48.9% said Obama, 29.2% said McCain, 10.2% said "someone else" and 11.6% said they were undecided. PRN
Source: Waggener Edstrom Worldwide