Harris Poll Confirms: We Are Still Cutting Back on the Small Things to Save Money

New York, NY/ November 11, 2010: Harris Interactive interviewed 3,084 adults online in October, and discovered what is painfully obvious to the rest of us:  we are buying more generic brands and eating out less to save money.

According to this recent Harris Poll, 62% of U.S. adults have purchased more generic brands in the last six months than before, and that 45% are brown-bagging their lunch instead of purchasing it. In June, similar numbers of Americans said they were buying generic (65%) and brown-bagging it (48%).

Highlights from the October Harris Poll include:

  • Just over one-third of Americans are going to the hairstylist or barber less often (37%) and have switched to refillable water bottles instead of purchasing bottles of water (37%);
  • In not so good news for the print industry, over one-quarter of adults (27%) have canceled one or more magazine subscriptions while 17% have canceled a newspaper subscription. In addition, one in ten Americans have considered canceling a newspaper subscription (11%) or a magazine subscription (8%);
  • One in five Americans have stopped purchasing coffee in the morning (22%) and cut down on dry cleaning (21%) while 14% have begun carpooling or using mass transit;
  • Media, entertainment and communication may also have taken a hit in these economic times—one in five U.S. adults have canceled or cut back on cable television service (22%), just under one in five have changed or canceled cell phone service (17%) or canceled their landline service and are only using their cell phone (17%);
  • Breaking this down by generation, Gen Xers (those 34-45) are most likely to purchase generic brands (70%), brown bag their lunch (62%), go to the hair dresser less often (45%) and to have stopped purchasing coffee in the morning (35%); and,
  • Echo Boomers (those 18-33) are much less likely to have cancelled a magazine subscription (18%) compared to at least three in ten of all the other generations who say they have done this, although Echo Boomers are more likely to have cancelled their landline phone service (22%).

 

TABLE 1

SPENDING/SAVINGS OVER PAST SIX MONTHS

"Have you done or considered doing any of the following over the past six months in order to save money?"

 

Base:  All U.S. adults

Have

Done

Have

Considered

Have not

done nor

considered

Not

applicable

Purchasing more generic brands

%

62

12

17

9

Brown bagging lunch instead of purchasing it

%

45

9

13

32

Going to the hairdresser/barber/stylist less often

%

37

8

30

25

Switched to refillable water bottle instead of purchasing bottle of water

%

37

10

22

31

Cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions

%

27

8

23

41

Cancelled or cut back cable television service

%

22

21

40

17

Stopped purchasing coffee in the morning

%

22

7

19

53

Cut down on dry cleaning

%

21

5

16

57

Changed or cancelled cell phone service

%

17

16

50

17

Cancelled landline phone service and only using cell phone

%

17

21

40

21

Cancelled a newspaper subscription

%

17

11

27

44

Begun carpooling or using mass transit

%

14

9

31

45

Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

 

TABLE 2

SPENDING/SAVINGS OVER PAST SIX MONTHS – TREND OF HAVE DONE

"Have you done or considered doing any of the following over the past six months in order to save money?"

Percent saying "Have done"

 

Base:  All U.S. adults

June

2009

Oct.

2009

Feb.

2010

June

2010

Oct

2010

Purchasing more generic brands

%

62

64

63

65

62

Brown bagging lunch instead of purchasing it

%

47

47

45

48

45

Going to the hairdresser/barber/stylist less often

%

36

43

39

38

37

Switched to refillable water bottle instead of purchasing bottle of water

%

33

36

34

39

37

Cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions

%

29

34

33

31

27

Cancelled or cut back cable television service

%

19

21

22

22

22

Stopped purchasing coffee in the morning

%

15

20

21

22

22

Cut down on dry cleaning

%

20

22

22

24

21

Changed or cancelled cell phone service

%

14

15

17

15

17

Cancelled landline phone service and only using cell phone

%

11

12

15

15

17

Cancelled a newspaper subscription

%

17

21

19

17

17

Begun carpooling or using mass transit

%

13

14

14

12

14

Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

 

TABLE 3

SPENDING/SAVINGS OVER PAST SIX MONTHS – BY GENERATION

"Have you done or considered doing any of the following over the past six months in order to save money?"

Percent saying "Have done"

 

Base:  All U.S. adults

Total

Generation

Echo

Boomers

(18-33)

Gen. X

(34-45)

Baby

Boomers

(46-64)

Matures

(65+)

%

%

%

%

%

Purchasing more generic brands

62

57

70

62

59

Brown bagging lunch instead of purchasing it

45

46

62

50

14

Going to the hairdresser/barber/stylist less often

37

35

45

39

27

Switched to refillable water bottle instead of purchasing bottle of water

37

36

44

36

31

Cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions

27

18

30

31

33

Cancelled or cut back cable television service

22

22

28

23

13

Stopped purchasing coffee in the morning

22

19

35

20

12

Cut down on dry cleaning

21

15

23

26

19

Changed or cancelled cell phone service

17

16

21

19

10

Cancelled landline phone service and only using cell phone

17

22

22

15

6

Cancelled a newspaper subscription

17

13

22

19

12

Begun carpooling or using mass transit

14

18

20

12

5

Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

 

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between October 11 to 18, 2010 among 3,084 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

 

 

Posted by Mark Rodrigues at 11/16/2010 8:10 AM
Categories: Psychology, Selling Strategies, Customer Satisfaction
Tags: Harris Poll customer experience Economic Recovery spending survey
 

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