|
April 1,
2002
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BETA RESEARCH CORPORATION
SYOSSET, NEW YORK
Contact:
Rebecca McPheters
President, McPheters & Company
212-744-5085; E-mail: rmcpheters@mcpheters.com
Jerome Kossoff
CEO, Beta Research Corporation
516-935-3800; E-mail: jerome@nybeta.com
Six Months After September 11th: Women, Young Adults,
and African-Americans Most Affected By Tragedy
New York, April 1, 2002:
Six months after the attack
on the World Trade Center, it is becoming increasingly clear that some
groups have been disproportionately affected by the tragedy and are more
likely to have changed their behaviors and attitudes as a result. Women,
young adults, and African- Americans are among the groups most severely
affected. Additionally, there are dramatic differences in the effects
experienced by those living in different parts of the country. These findings
are from the March wave of Changing American Lives, the
McPheters & Company/Beta Research tracking study initiated in the
aftermath of the September 11th attacks.
Among the major differences are:
- Women, young adults,
and African-Americans are far more likely to say that the events of
September 11th have changed their lives than other groups. Women are
twice as likely as men, younger adults are 50% more likely than their
older counterparts, and blacks are 44% more likely than whites to make
this assertion.
- These three groups
are less optimistic about the future of our country than others, and
are more likely to say they are afraid to fly.
- Women and African-Americans
have become more suspicious of strangers to a greater extent than other
groups.
- Women and African-Americans
are far more likely than others to report that they are now more careful
with their spending. Whereas 55% of the population says they are more
careful with their spending, 76% of African-Americans and 65% of women
say that this is the case.
- Young adults and
African Americans are the most likely to have increased the time they
spend at home and with family. In light of this finding, it's not surprising
that they are the ones most likely to report increased cooking and home
entertaining, as well.
- Since October,
the percent of Americans who think of themselves as religious has increased
from 50% to 71%. Women, African-Americans are leading this trend.
- Women, young adults,
and African-Americans have disproportionately increased their reading
of newspapers and newsweeklies. The latter two groups have disproportionately
increased their reading of books as well. All three are more likely
than others to have decreased the time they spend at the movies.
In the weeks immediately
following the attacks, those living in the Northeast were more effected
than those living in other parts of the country. In November, they were
the most likely to say they would travel less, were more suspicious of
strangers, favored tighter immigration restrictions, welcomed tighter
security in public places, and were willing to tolerate loss of privacy
to make this country safe. Now they are no more likely to espouse these
points of view than those living in other parts of the country, and are
less likely than those in the rest of the country to support tighter immigration,
or to say that they are more suspicious of strangers or that they will
travel less. Southerners are most likely to report increased suspicion
of stranger, patriotism, concerns regarding mail, fear of flying and reduced
travel.
Changing American Lives is a
joint venture of McPheters & Company, Inc. and Beta Research. McPheters
& Company is a Manhattan-based consulting firm providing strategic
planning and market research to the media community. Beta Research is
a full-service research company headquartered in Syosset, NY.
In future waves of Changing
American Lives - the McPheters & Company/Beta Research study
tracking changes in attitudes and behaviors in the aftermath of September
11th - we will be exploring specific topics in greater depth. The first
of these, in April, will take a more detailed look at how consumer spending
patterns have changed in the aftermath of September 11th. For those not
already subscribing to the study, special reports will be available at
a cost of $2500/report. Planned "Special Reports" include the following:
- April: Changes
in Consumer Spending will look at changes in shopping habits
and spending for major categories including automotive, food, clothing,
home furnishings, home accessories, jewelry, entertainment, and travel.
- May: Changes
in Travel Behavior will explore not only the extent to which
travel has changed overall, but will look at changes in preferred airlines
and destinations, hotel choices, etc.
- June: Focus
on the Home Americans spend more time at home than they did
before September 11th. In this report we will explore the ramifications
of this major lifestyle shift in terms of not only how people spend
this time, and its implications in terms of decorating, remodeling,
gardening, and other home related activities and product preferences.
If you are interested
in any of these Special Reports, or if you would like to subscribe to
the full study and receive them at no additional cost, call Rebecca McPheters
at 212-744-5085 or Jerry Kossoff at 516-935-3800. Subscribers and purchasers
of Special Reports can insert proprietary questions into the survey at
the cost of $1000 each/wave.
Back
to Top
|
|
