A study by Vertis Communications performed over a 10-year period, unveils a number of trends which won't surprise us, although give us specific details on what has changed, but there will be some surprises, as some of the changes were revolutionary in their conclusions.
Here are several of the results across a number of demographics:
Young Adults
Physical activity has decreased, as involvement in team sports fell from 19 percent to 13 percent.
Computer time has increased from 8 percent to 21 percent since 1998.
In a surprise to me, going to movies in this demographic plunged from 13 percent to 3 percent.
Watching television or movies at home grew from 24 percent in 1998 to 32 percent in 2008.
Women
Women aged 50 or older using the Internet increased from 30 percent in 1998 to 68 percent in 2008.
Women 18-24 grew from 69 percent to 91 percent in making decisions concerning home electronics purchases. Leading the most popular products purchased among them were desktop computers, cell phones and digital cameras.
Men
This one surprised me a little, as men over 18 say their primary influencer in making decisions is advertising inserts, accounting for 24 percent, while TV advertising fell to 22 percent. Ten years ago, only 16 percent of males said inserts were their main influencer.
Adults
Since only 2004, a big change has happened in product research, as 31 percent at that time said they do no research, where that number has now reached only 17 percent in 2008.
The top research influencers among all adults were advertising circulars, which 57 percent said they used; Internet research was next with 50 percent using it for research; and catalogs were the third-most used for research, with 38 percent saying they also used them.
This means many people are using more than one resource to research products or services.
General Trends
Fewer vacations are being planned for 2008, with 67 percent planning one. Down from 70 percent in 1998.
More travelers will use alternative means of transportation for their vacations than automobiles, dropping by 5 percent from 1998.
Air travel has increased slightly from 40 percent in 1998 to 43 percent today.
Another surprise to me, was the number of those looking to purchase new cars in 2008 grew from 58 percent in 1998 to 70 percent in 2007.
Concerning economic conditions, 40 percent of Americans concluded they'll make less purchases over $100 than they have been in the recent past in 2008. That's interesting in that the percentage of those purchasing new autos is at the 70 percent mark mentioned above.
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