The Internet age is causing the white pages to vanish. New York, Pennsylvania and Florida have given Verizon permission to stop distributing white pages there, while Virginia will decide the issue next week. Telephone companies argue that most consumers now check the Internet rather than flip through pages when they want to reach out and touch someone. Phone companies note that eliminating residential white pages would reduce environmental impact by using less paper and ink. The first telephone directory was issued in February 1878 – a single page that covered 50 customers in New Haven, Connecticut. A Gallup survey shows that between 2005 and 2008, the percentage of households relying on stand-alone residential white pages fell from 25% to 11%. However, the business directories are doing fine, according to the Yellow Pages Association. The industry trade group claims more half the people in the U.S. still let their fingers do the walking every month.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Lottery Dreams
What would you do if you won the lottery? According to a new study by Market Strategies International, consumers with the good fortune to win the lottery would be conservative with their winnings and pay off their debt first. In fact, paying off debt was the top choice of consumers, regardless of income level, with over one-third responding that it would be the first thing on their list. The next six choices:
25% would buy a house | 11% would buy a car |
15% would help family and friends | 10% would take a vacation |
15% would save or invest | 6% would help others or donate to charity |
Physicians Divided On Ethical Issues
Fewer than half of physicians think they should refuse gifts from drug companies, a new Medscape survey on medical ethics has found. Tallying up responses from more than 10,000 physicians, Medscape also found the physicians sharply divided on such issues as physician-assisted suicide and life support. One of the most controversial of the 21 questions on the survey was, “Would you agree that you should refuse gifts or perks from pharmaceutical companies because they may influence your medical judgment?” Almost 47% agreed and 37% disagreed, with the remaining 16% responding, “It depends.” Physician-assisted suicide split the respondents even more sharply, with almost 46% in favor, 41% against, and the rest uncommitted. When asked “Would you ever recommend or give life-sustaining therapy when you judged that it was futile?” the respondents also divided fairly evenly, with almost 24% marking “Yes,” 37% marking “No,” and 39% indicating “It depends.” Among the other results:
· 61% said it was not acceptable to perform a procedure merely to reduce the risk for a lawsuit; 16% said it was.
· 60% said it was not acceptable to hide a harmless mistake; 19% said it was acceptable.
· 58% would never prescribe a placebo just because a patient wanted treatment; 24% would.
· 73% said it is never acceptable to falsify a patient’s condition when submitting claims while 17% said falsification is acceptable “to get a patient the services.”
Holiday Shopping
The average American will spend $710 on holiday gifts this year with that figure nearly doubling to $1,384 among those who earn $100,000 or more per year, according to the latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker. Women will particularly power the holiday shopping season with 100% of those surveyed planning to hit the stores, while 12% of men have no holiday shopping plans. But both male and female consumers’ intentions to “give back” continues to make a comeback – increasing from 63% last year to 67% this year. Other findings:
· 51% of consumers will wrap up holiday shopping at least one week before Christmas, 5% anticipate shopping up to Christmas Eve.
· 43% of shoppers will pick up a little something for themselves while shopping for others.
· 20% of consumers say their most expensive gift purchase will fall in the electronics and gadgets category with an average cost of $316.
· Gift Cards remain the most popular item consumers will give this holiday season (53%). Other popular items on gift lists include clothing/accessories (50%) toys and games (43%) electronics/gadgets (34%) books or magazines (31%) music (29%) and cash (26%).
· Most consumers will look for ways to stretch their holiday dollars (84%), particularly women (90%) compared to men (77%). The most popular ways they will do so are:
Savings Strategy | Women | Men |
Shop for clearance or sale merchandise | 77% | 55% |
Clipping coupons | 67% | 46% |
Buying only for people on their list | 53% | 43% |
Re-gifting | 16% | 9% |
Americans Still Belt-Tightening
There are always small ways to save a little bit of money. Bringing lunch to work or skipping the morning latte may not feel significant, but the cost savings add up over the long run. A number of Americans have done or considered doing these things and have cut back in other small ways to save money. Over the past six months, 62% of adults have purchased more generic brands and 45% are brown-bagging lunch instead of purchasing it, according to a new Harris Poll. Other findings include:
· 37% of Americans are going to the hairstylist or barber less often.
· 37% have switched to refillable water bottles instead of purchasing bottles of water.
· 27% of adults have cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions while 17% have cancelled a newspaper subscription.
· 22% have stopped purchasing coffee in the morning and cut 21% down on dry cleaning while 14% have begun carpooling or using mass transit.
· 22% have cancelled or cut back on cable television service, 17% have changed or cancelled cell phone service, and 17% have cancelled their landline service and are only using their cell phone.
E-Mail Outweighs Social Media At Work
In the business world, e-mail still trumps social media, according to a new survey. The People-OnTheGo survey shows business professionals spend an average of 3.27 hours a day on e-mail, compared with 1.18 hours on social media. Personal e-mail and corporate e-mail dominate, with 92% and 90% of professionals, respectively, checking them regularly – followed by Facebook (59%) and LinkedIn (48%). Workers spend more than half their working day (4.45 hours) on corporate and personal e-mail while also monitoring social media outlets. Other findings:
· 72% of the business professionals surveyed use social media for both work and personal reasons.
· Social media tools that trail Facebook and LinkedIn in popularity in the workplace include Twitter (23%), blogs (22%), and YouTube (11%).
· More than 67% said they regularly monitor multiple inboxes, and almost 66% reported interrupting their work constantly just to check those inboxes.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Top 10 Ways Being Online Saves You Money
American consumers can save $7,707 a year by having access to and using high-speed broadband Internet, according to the Internet Innovation Alliance. The cost savings are detailed in a financial analysis titled, “The Real Cost of the Digital Divide.” The analysis finds that, after factoring in the average annual cost of a home broadband connection ($490), the typical American family could save tons of money per year on essentials like housing, food, clothing and basics like entertainment and travel through discounts and sales only available to online consumers. The savings are based on the average U.S. household income before taxes of $62,857.
Top Ten Potential Annual Savings Garnered by Broadband Connectivity | |||
Entertainment | Savings: $2,747 or 51.72% | Automotive | Savings: $438 or 1.5% |
Travel | Savings: $1,532 or 20% | Newspapers | Savings: $193 or 100% |
Housing | Savings: $974 or 7.67% | Gasoline | Savings: $95 or 4.76% |
Food | Savings: $965 or 25.70% | Non-Prescription Drugs | Savings: $76 or 24.20% |
Apparel | Savings: $640 or 37.12% | Bill Pay | Savings: $47 or 100% |
Overexposed Online
As millions of Americans flock to theaters to see “The Social Network,” millions more are exposing their identities and potentially critical financial information on popular social networking sites. According to a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of ID Analytics, more than 24 million Americans age 18 or older leave their social network profiles mostly public. Millions more expose key pieces of identity information including date of birth, birthplace, and even current and previous addresses. Nearly 70 million U.S. adults on social networking sites share their birthplace on their profiles. Birthplace is one of the most common “security questions” asked by financial institutions to verify someone’s identity. Other highlights of the 2010 Social Network Fraud Survey include:
· Nearly 20 million Americans reveal their pets’ names on their social networks, another common security question asked to verify identities.
· 18-34 year-olds are most likely to reveal personal information on social networking sites.
· Overall men and women on social networking sites tend to share similar information about themselves. However, men are much more likely to share their current address than women. Men are also almost twice as likely to share photos of their car, while women are almost twice as likely to share pet names.
2011 Travel Trends Forecast
TripAdvisor has announced the results of its annual travel trends survey. Americans appear eager to pack their bags in the coming year, as 36% plan to spend more on leisure travel in 2011 than this year, while 42% expect to spend the same amount. Ninety percent plan to take two or more leisure trips next year. While travelers named an increase in online travel deals as the best travel development of 2010 (39%), rising airfares (40%) and bedbugs (20%) are the top two travel concerns for 2011.
Travelers Globetrotting in 2011:
· 69% of travelers plan to take international trips next year; 52% will travel to Europe; 13% will visit Asia; and 12% will journey to South America.
· The top three international destinations U.S. travelers plan to visit in 2011 are Paris, London and Rome.
· 75% of respondents plan to visit a U.S. city next year, with Las Vegas, New York City and San Francisco the most popular choices.
Best Travel Development of 2010:
· More online travel deals – 39%
· Cheaper hotel rates – 22%
· More in-flight Wi-Fi Internet access on planes – 12%
Worst Travel Development of 2010:
· Carry-on baggage fees – 69%
· Higher hotel fees – 10%
· TSA full body scanners – 10%
Friendliest and most annoying travelers:
Friendliest Travelers: | Most Annoying Travelers: |
1. Americans | 1. Americans |
2. Australians | 2. French |
3. Canadians | 3. Japanese |
Political Ad Overload
Most Americans are glad the mid-term elections are OVER! Folks in Cleveland saw more political TV ads than people in any other city in the country, according to Nielsen. Cleveland TV had 29,689 political ads out of a total 126,656 ads (23.44%) in October – or about 1 in 4 of all ads. Ohio led the country in political ads, with Columbus landing the number two slot at 24,693 ads. Nationwide, Americans saw more political ads in October than they did in October 2008: 1.48 million in 2010 compared to 1.41 million in 2008. October 2010 was the largest political ad month ever! The top 10 markets for political ads in October:
1. Cleveland, Ohio (29,689 political ads out of 126,656 – 23.44%)
2. Columbus, Ohio (24,693 political ads out of 105,651 – 23.37%)
3. Portland, Oregon (25,527 political ads out of 117,208 – 21.78%)
4. Sacramento, California (26,965 political ads out of 127,318 – 21.18%)
5. Seattle, Washington (26,071 political ads out of 133,874 – 19.47%)
6. Champaign-Springfield, Illinois (14,662 political ads out of 77,264 – 18.98%)
7. Reno, Nevada (18,364 political ads out of 98,414 – 18.66%)
8. Denver, Colorado (24,302 political ads out of 130,255 -- 18.66%)
9. Orlando, Florida (22,517 political ads out of 1122,417 – 18.39%)
10. West Palm Beach, Florida (18,546 political ads out of 101,126 – 18.34%)
Jackson, Mississippi, had the least amount of political advertising in October with only 827 political ads out of 81,218 total ads – or about 1.02%
StReSseD OuT
For the third year running, money, work and the economy top Americans’ list of stressors, according to a survey by the American Psychological Association. Nearly three-quarters of respondents reported unhealthy stress levels in 2010, about the same as in 2009. Satisfaction with work-life balance dropped from 42% in 2009 to 36% in 2010. Meanwhile, stress over job stability is on the rise, from 44% of people experiencing job stability concerns in 2009 to 49% in 2010. The results also found that parents underestimate the impact of stress on their families. While 69% of parents say their stress has little or no impact on their children, 91% of kids ages 8 to 17 say that they can tell when their parents are stressed out. The survey also uncovered a link between stress and weight among both adults and children. One-third of the children in the survey were overweight. The overweight kids were more likely to report that their parents were stressed (39% vs. 30% for normal-weight children). Overweight and obese kids were also more likely to experience health problems related to stress.
B&B’s For Vets
The B&B’s for Vets program is going global. West Virginia innkeeper Kathleen Panek came up with the idea, offering a free night to veterans in 2008 at her Gillum House in Shinnston. Now she says nearly 900 inns in the U.S. alone will be taking part in the Veterans Day program. Hotels in six other countries have signed on as well, including Canada, Mexico, Namibia, Africa and France. Veterans Day is tomorrow. Many of the participating inns will be offering free stays tonight. Find out more at www.bnbsforvets.org.
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