Trends InView (September 2010)

Trends InView
September 2010

News and observations from September 2010

© 2010 by M/A/R/C® Research
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Insurance/Bank Switching Stabilized for Now – *
Doctor Visits Up – QSRs/Value Meals on the Rise
Data weighted to match age/gender census data

Apr ‘09 20%
Peaking in September Sep ‘09 24%
of last year, bank
Jan ‘10 19%
switching has stabilized
in 2010. May ‘10 19%
Sep ‘10 19%
Consider switching based on fees

Doctor visits continue to be on the rise as the
Insurance defection has number of consumers putting off a visit is
stabilized as well, with fewer down again in September.
consumers expecting to switch
providers in 2010.
Jul '08 18%
Nov '08 21%
Apr‘09 40%
Apr '09 22%
Sep ‘09 38%
Sep '09 24%
Jan ‘10 34%
Jan ‘10 21%
May ‘10 33%
May ‘10 18%
Sep ‘10 32%
Sep ‘10 16%

Who says customer reviews
are only made by critics?
Shoppers who said they had reviewed a product or brand
online in the last month were twice as likely to give
favorable marks than negative ones.

While restaurant visitation has stabilized, consumers are reportedly
frequenting less expensive types of restaurants and/or QSRs.

More $ No Change Less $

Sep '10 6% 30% 22% 20% 22%
May '10 7% 35% 22% 23% 12%
Jan '10 5% 29% 28% 26% 13%
Sep '09 6% 29% 28% 26% 11%
Apr '09 6% 37% 23% 23% 12%
Nov '08 5% 23% 32% 31% 10%
Jul '08 5% 27% 32% 26% 10%
Same Types Less Often/ Less Often/ As Often/
Same Types Less Expensive Less Expensive

* Based on online exit surveys conducted Jul ’08, Nov ’08, Apr ’09, Sep ’09, Jan ’10,
May ’10 and Sept ’10 among a minimum of 2000 consumers ages 18+

©2010 by M/A/R/C® Research
Page 2  Sep ‘10

Advertising & Marketing
 A survey commissioned by the Mobile Marketing Association found that
60% of U.S. adult cell phone owners had noticed an advertisement that
allowed a mobile response and almost 40% had seen one in the past week.
The top two preferred mobile response methods were texting a keyword
to a short code or calling a specific phone number. (PR Newswire, 9/8/10)

 A new e-mail marketing study reports that transactional-based e-mails that
cross-sell other products or services have a 20% higher transaction rate than
plain transactional e-mails. Also, transactional e-mails that have a social
media “share” feature like “forward to a friend” have a 55% higher click-rate
than transactional e-mails without the social media option. (PR Newswire, 9/8/10)

Entertainment/Media
 A new research report states that by the end of 2010, more than 10 million Americans will own e-readers
and will have bought more than 100 million e-books, doubling the 3.7 million e-reader owners in 2009
and tripling the 30 million e-books sold last year. (New York Times, 9/1/10)

 A survey of where Americans get their daily news found that 46% get
their news from an online source three or more days per week. That
number is up from 29% in 2004 and 37% in 2008.
(Pew Research press release, 9/12/10)

 The number of U.S. households that own web-enabled consumer
electronics is forecast to reach 98 million by 2014, with web-to-TV video
content generating $17 billion in revenue by that time. (Business Wire, 9/21/10)


Health
 A survey of Americans with employer-provided health insurance found only 52% felt their employer or
union would continue to offer health insurance, down from 59% in the same survey during 2009. The
survey also found that 59% of Americans are either very or extremely satisfied with the quality of
medical care received in the past two years, the highest level since the survey started in 1988. (Benefits
Selling, 9/2010)

 A new report from the Centers for Disease Control shows that the rate
of smoking among U.S. adults has plateaued, with 20.6% of adults
smoking in 2009 and 2008, and down very slightly from 20.9% in 2007.
Cigarette sales, however, have dropped significantly, down 8.4% from
2009 and 20.1% from 2004. The drop in sales from 2009 can be due to
the federal cigarette tax increase of 61 cents per pack, so smokers
appear to be smoking less, but still smoking. (PR Newswire, 9/7/10)

 A recent survey found that almost one-third of Americans said they would be interested in using their
smartphone to track and monitor their personal health and 40% would be willing to pay a fee to have
their health information automatically sent to their doctor through some type of remote monitoring
device. Forty percent of respondents also said they would be willing to pay a monthly fee for a service
that would send text or e-mail messages to their smartphone reminding them to take medicine, refill a
prescription or provide access to their health records. (PR Newswire, 9/8/10)

 According to syndicated vaccine usage data, more than 690,000 Americans had received this year’s flu
vaccine by September 9. (Business Wire, 9/9/10)

 Research by the American Society for Microbiology found that Americans are washing their hands more
often after using a public bathroom. In this year’s study, 85% of restroom users were observed to wash
their hands, compared to 77% in 2007. (WebMD.com, 9/14/10)

 A recent survey found that the number of Americans who think the health care reform law did NOT go
far enough in reforming the health care system outnumbers those who oppose the law by 2 to 1. Forty
percent of those surveyed said the law needs to do more/cover more Americans, while 20% said the
federal government shouldn’t be involved in health care in the first place. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 9/26/10)

 Surveys over the past ten years by the Centers for Disease Control
show that the number of Americans taking at least one prescription
drug has risen 4 points to 48%, while the number of people taking 2
or more prescription drugs has risen 6 points to 31%. Spending on
prescription drugs has almost doubled in the ten-year period to
$234.1 billion. (Chain Drug Review, 9/27/10)


Food/Restaurants
 The gluten-free food market is forecast to grow 15-25% per year from
2009 to 2012, eventually reaching $2.6 billion in 2012. Sales of gluten-free
items have already risen almost 75% from 2004 to 2009. In 2007, only 611
new gluten-free products were introduced to the North American market,
but in 2009 that number rose to 1,999; through the first seven months of
2010 over 1,500 new gluten-free products were launched.
(Nutraceuticals World, 9/1/10)

 A survey from the National Restaurant Association found that 44% of restaurant
owners said their sales declined in July, up from 43% in June. (Los Angeles Times, 9/2/10)

 A recent survey found that when Americans are reading the nutrition labels on packaged food products,
the ingredients they want to maximize are: whole grains, dietary fiber, calcium, vitamin C and protein.
The top five ingredients that people look to avoid when reading the nutrition label are: fat, sugars,
cholesterol, sodium and trans fats. (Sun-Sentinel, 9/2/10)

 Almost two-thirds of Americans surveyed say that eating or drinking items made with high-fructose corn
syrup is okay in moderation and 46% say they don’t know enough about it to really decide if it is good or
bad for their health. Thirty-five percent of consumers said they are actively avoiding foods or beverages
that list high fructose corn syrup on the ingredients label. (PR Newswire, 9/28/10)

Travel/Transportation
 The “2010 Portrait of American Travelers” shows that 16% of
leisure travelers intend to take more overnight leisure trips in
the next 12 months, while 14% said fewer trips were on their
calendars. (Hotel & Motel Management, 9/1/10)

 Survey data also showed that almost 20% of American travelers
have a travel-related app on their smartphone and almost 30%
have used their smartphone to compare airfares or hotel rates,
or share information/photos about their travel experiences.
(USA Today, 9/4/10)


Population/Culture
 Almost 90% of Americans think they have a problem balancing work
and life issues, with over half saying that it is a “significant problem”
in their lives. Over 40% said their employers are not doing enough
to help them with work/life balance problems, and over one-third
said their work/life balance has gotten worse since the recession
started. (PR Newswire, 9/1/10)

 According to a report from the Pew Hispanic Center, the number of
illegal immigrants in the U.S. fell for the first time in 20 years to 11.1
million in 2009. The reasons for the drop include the economic recession, an increased presence of law
personnel along the U.S./Mexico border and more enforcement of hiring laws in workplaces. The states
that saw the greatest drop in illegal immigrants were Florida, Nevada and Virginia – all of which are
suffering from a decline in housing construction due to the economy. (New York Times, 9/2/10)

 A new survey of young Americans found that fewer voters ages 18-29 self-identify as Democrats this year
than did in 2008. (New York Times, 9/3/10)

 Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that by 2050, over 20% of the U.S. population will be age 65 or
higher. (Houston Chronicle, 9/8/10)

 An analysis of Census data found that the number of grandparents who act as primary caregiver for their
grandchildren rose 8% between 2000 and 2008 to 2.6 million grandparents. Fifty-three percent of the
caregiver grandparents are white, 24% are African-American and 18% are Hispanic. More than half of the
grandparent caregivers said they have been caring for their grandkids for three or more years. (Pew Research
Center press release, 9/9/10)

 When asked to define their “basic needs,” American Baby Boomers went beyond food, clothing and
shelter to include health care coverage, internet access, weekend vacations, professional haircuts and/or
hair coloring, and the ability to go shopping for birthdays and other special occasions. (Boston Globe, 9/10/10)

 A survey of American parents found that two-thirds think their children will need
to be able to speak Spanish fluently when they grow up and 34% think being able
to speak Chinese will be important in the next 50 years. Sixty-seven percent of
parents think that being able to speak a second language is more important than
playing sports and 63% think it is more important than knowing how to play a
musical instrument. (Business Wire, 9/13/10)

 Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2009 American Community Survey found that
people are marrying later, if at all. In 2000, 34.5% of people ages 25-34 had never
been married, but in 2009 the number rose to 46.3%. (USA Today, 9/29/10)


 A study of data from the 2009 and 2010 Current Population Survey’s Annual Social & Economic
Supplement found that there was a 13% increase from 2009 to 2010 in the number of opposite-sex
couples who were living together. Given that the change from 2008 to 2009 was only 2% and from 2007
to 2008 was just 5%, the 13% increase in one year was surprising. The study noted that there was no
change in their data reporting system that could have caused the increase to appear. A comparison of
recently “formed” couples living together with those who had been living together for some time before
the survey found that increased unemployment in the past year may have been the contributing factor
to the rapid increase in co-habitation. (US Census Bureau, 9/15/10)

 Data from a series of surveys from 2003, 2006 and 2010 revealed that the American definition of a
“family” is changing. There was a drop of 11% from 2003 to 2010 in the number of people who only
define a family as being a husband and wife with or without kids, as more people said that a family can
also be made up of a same-sex couple with children or married gay and lesbian couples. (New York Times,
9/15/10)


Homes & Housing
 Data from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies shows
that Americans are cutting back on home renovation spending, with
the total amount dropping 25% to $107.7 billion for the year ending
September 30. Homeowners are still remodeling and renovating, but
with the purpose of staying in their home longer instead of upgrading
it to sell. (Buffalo News, 9/13/10)

 A survey by Apartments.com found that almost 60% of current
apartment renters are choosing to rent because they prefer it, with the
top reasons being not having to be responsible for maintenance, not being able to afford owning a
home, wanting to live in particular neighborhoods and having more flexibility if they need/want to move.
(PR Newswire, 9/14/10)

 Data from the American Institute of Architects’ Home Design Trends Survey shows that homeowners are
turning away from specialty rooms and towards energy efficient house features. In the Q2 2010 survey,
the percent of architects who said their clients wanted home theaters dropped 38% from Q2 2009, and
interest in dedicated hobby/games rooms dropped 9%. On the up-swing in popularity are energy
management systems, geothermal heating/cooling systems and back-up power generators. Other
popular house features include ramps/elevators, a master bedroom on the first floor and outside living
rooms. (AIA press release, 9/15/10)

 The average size of an American house has dropped 6% since 2007, from 2,309 square feet to 2,169
square feet. A recent survey of homebuilders found that 95% are building smaller homes due to
customer demand. (San Diego Union-Tribune, 9/26/10)

 Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2009 American Community
Survey found that fewer Americans are moving. In 2006, 83.2% of
people had not changed residences in the past year, but in 2009
the number rose to 84.6%. (USA Today, 9/29/10)


Fashion/Clothing
 A new study commissioned by Vogue found that eight in ten women are
looking for clothing and accessories that are not “fads” but will last for more
than one season, with 65% of brands purchased in 2010 being “classic”
brands compared to 35% contemporary brands. (Business Wire, 9/14/10)

 The most popular Halloween costume trends for 2010 are: modern vampire;
1980’s clothing styles; cast members of MTV’s Jersey Shore reality program;
Greek goddess gowns; Lady Gaga; and blockbuster movies like Avatar, Iron
Man 2 and Alice in Wonderland. (PR Newswire, 9/22/10)

Automotive
 Eighty-five percent of Americans are using seat belts when they are in a vehicle, up from 84% in 2009,
according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (Washington Post, 9/28/10)

 A recent survey of Americans found that over half are likely to consider an
alternative fuel vehicle when purchasing a new car in the next 12 months,
with the most common reasons being economics/better mileage,
environmental responsibility and reducing dependence on foreign oil.
(Business Wire, 9/7/10)


Technology/Communications
 A 2010 survey by the American Libraries Association found that two-thirds of public libraries offered
electronic books to their patrons, up from 55% in 2009. (Computers in Libraries, 9/2010)

 The number of adults age 50 to 64 using social networking websites
has increased 88% since 2009. Reasons include the ability to “bridge
the generation gap” by keeping in touch with their kids and
grandkids online, being able to re-connect with friends from the past
and finding online communities for support with chronic diseases or
other problems. (Sun-Sentinel, 9/3/10)

 The popularity of text messaging is spreading from American teens
to adults. In 2010, almost three-quarters of U.S. adult cell phone
users send and/or receive text messages, up from 65% in 2009.
(Pew Research Center press release, 9/2/10)

 Over three-fourths of Americans surveyed say they want to keep certain computer files or documents
private and not accessible by their spouse/significant other (17%), parent (26%) or children (39%). This
feeling extends to the office computer as well, with respondents saying they want to keep files private
from their co-workers (48%) or their boss (42%). (Business Wire, 9/16/10)

 Over 40% of smartphone or tablet app users have either reduced or completely stopped using separate
MP3 players, while 38% have cut back on using traditional AM/FM radios; 30% are replacing the
handheld videogame players with game apps; and 28% have switched from using separate GPS devices
to mapping apps. The same survey found that 41% of smartphone owners use their smartphone as a
substitute for their laptop computer when they are away from home and need to use a computer, and
15% do so even if they are at home. (PR Newswire, 9/22/10)

 A survey of Americans found that almost 30% think it is okay to
be “plugged in” – in contact with people via smartphone – during
a honeymoon, but only 6% think it is okay during the actual
wedding service. Similarly, over 40% think it is okay to be “plugged
in” while dining with family and friends at home, but that number
drops to 26% if eating out at a fancy restaurant. (Business Wire, 9/16/10)

 Two new mobile phone/smartphone surveys have found that Americans are keeping their mobile
devices for a longer period of time, with average ownership lasting 20.5 months in 2010, up from 17.3
months in 1999. (PR Newswire, 9/23/10)


Retail
 A survey of back-to-school shoppers reported that 60% would
be spending less money on school clothes this year, 56% are
shopping at discount stores or using school supplies left over
from the last school year, and 38% weren’t going to buy any
new computers, calculators or other electronics for school use.
(Business Wire, 9/15/10)

 During the first six months of the year, the most popular coupons
printed from the Internet were for food, clothing, restaurants/
restaurant chains, retailers, haircuts, pizza, automobile oil
changes, car washes and hair salons. (Business Wire, 9/15/10)

 Walmart, Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree have all reported that sales of multiple rolls of
paper towels or other multi-pack/bulk items drop late in the month, and sales of single rolls of paper
towels, small 5-bag packages of garbage bags and other smaller quantity items go up as consumers try to
stretch their government benefit checks or monthly paychecks to last until the new month begins. (New
York Times, 9/21/10)

 According to the National Retail Federation, Americans plan on
spending more for Halloween this year than in 2009: an average of
$66.28 per person compared to $56.31 last year. Most of that
amount will go towards a costume ($23.37), with the remainder
spent on candy ($20.29), decorations ($18.66) and greeting cards
($3.95). Over 40% of people surveyed said they would be dressing
up this Halloween and 11.5% said they would be dressing their pets
in costumes as well. (Columbus Dispatch, 9/23/10)


Economy/Finance
 A national survey found that almost 70% of Americans are optimistic
about the future of their household finances, with almost one-quarter
feeling “very optimistic” about the next two years. Just over 80% said
that they are now more responsible when it comes to their household
finances than they were two years ago, with many people saying they
are buying things on sale (80%) or budgeting their money better (68%).
(PR Newswire, 9/13/10)

 A survey on American credit card holders found that credit card use has
dropped 31% from 2007 to 2009. (Business Wire, 9/8/10)

 The TransUnion credit bureau reported that in Q2 2010, the average credit card debt in the U.S. had
dropped 13% from Q2 2009, down to $4,951 from $5,719. (Boston Globe, 9/19/10)

 According to a new poll, more than 20% of employed Americans would be willing to change jobs if they
had the chance. (PR Newswire, 9/8/10)

 Data from the Federal Reserve revealed that U.S. household net worth has dropped to $53.5 trillion in
the second quarter of 2010, down from $64.2 trillion at the end of 2007. The $1.5 trillion drop from 2010
Q1 to 2010 Q2 was the first quarterly decline in U.S. net wealth since early 2009. (Baltimore Sun, 9/18/10)

 The number of Americans who feel “not good” or “bad” about the economy’s direction has risen since
May, up to 59% from 49% in just four months. Three-quarters of Americans don’t think that their quality
of life or spending will return to pre-recession levels until at least 2012 if not later, up from 63% in the
May survey. (Business Wire, 9/28/10)

 Survey data from the American Bankers Association shows
bank branches are falling out of favor with Americans. In
2009, one-quarter of bank customers preferred to do their
banking online, but in 2010 the same survey found that the
number rose to 36%. (PR Newswire, 9/30/10)

 Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2009 American
Community Survey found the median household income fell
for the second consecutive year, down almost 3% in the
period from $51,726 in 2008 to $50,211 in 2009.
(USA Today, 9/29/10)


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