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One-third of Americans report switching to refillable water bottles rather than purchasing bottles of water (33%) and one in five stopped purchasing coffee in the morning (20%), up slightly from the 31% and 17%, respectively, who said so in December, 2011; In terms of media consumption, over one-quarter of Americans have canceled one or more magazine subscriptions (27%, up from 25%), one in five have canceled or cut back on cable television service (21%, no change from 2011), and 16% have canceled a newspaper subscription (15% in December 2011); Looking at communications, 16% have cancelled landline service and are only using a cell phone (up from 14% in December, 2011) and 14% of U.S. adults have changed or cancelled their cell phone service (no change from last year); Over a third of Americans are still cutting back on going to the hairdresser, barber or stylist (38%) and about one in five are cutting down on their dry cleaning (18%). Both numbers are similar than last year (37% and 19% respectively); and, 14% report that they began carpooling or using mass transit, which is similar to last year, though this number is less telling as in suburban or rural areas these may not be viable options. So What? Feelings on the economy shift quickly as various events, usually well out of the control of Americans, happen around them. The EuroZone has austerity issues and this impacts the stock markets, which can give someone pause to go to the movies next weekend. One thing that U.S. adults, as well as the rest of the world, are watching is the fiscal cliff. The closer the United States gets to going over that cliff, the more jittery Americans are going to be about spending money. So far this fear has not put much of a damper on early holiday shopping, but that can change as both Christmas and the cliff get closer.
TABLE 1 SPENDING/SAVINGS OVER NEXT SIX MONTHS How likely will you be to do the following within the next 6 months? Base: All U.S. adults LIKELY (NET) Decrease spending on eating out at % restaurants Reduce spending on entertainment % Save or invest more money % Have more money to spend the way you want % Take a vacation away from home lasting % longer than a week Buy a new computer % Move to a different residence % Buy or lease a newly manufactured car, truck % or van Purchase a house or condo % Start a new business % Buy a boat or recreational vehicle (e.g. trailer, % motor home) Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding 59 55 50 30 29 24 16 13 8 8 5 Very likely 24 23 17 7 12 7 5 4 3 3 1 Somewhat Likely 35 31 33 23 17 17 11 9 6 5 4 NOT LIKELY (NET) 41 45 50 70 71 76 84 87 92 92 95 Not that likely 22 24 23 30 20 25 14 14 9 11 6 Not at all likely 18 22 27 40 51 51 71 73 83 82 89
TABLE 2 SPENDING/SAVINGS OVER NEXT SIX MONTHS - TREND How likely will you be to do the following within the next 6 months? Percent saying Very/Somewhat Likely Base: All U.S. adults Nov 2008 March 2009 May 2009 Sept. 2009 67 67 50 25 28 19 14 10 8 7 4 Dec. 2009 62 58 53 27 35 23 17 12 8 7 4 May 2010 64 62 52 27 36 20 19 12 7 6 3 Sept. 2010 66 62 52 28 31 21 17 12 10 10 6 Jan. 2011 63 59 49 30 36 22 21 14 10 10 7 May 2011 61 59 51 28 34 25 19 14 9 10 6 Nov. 2011 61 58 51 26 29 23 14 12 7 6 3 Nov 2012 59 55 50 30 29 24 16 13 8 8 5
Decrease spending on % 65 74 66 eating out at restaurants Reduce spending on % 64 74 64 entertainment Save or invest more money % 49 50 53 Have more money to % 25 21 26 spend the way you want Take a vacation away from home lasting longer than a % 29 35 36 week Buy a new computer % 22 22 21 Move to a different % 18 20 19 residence Buy or lease a newly manufactured car, truck or % 12 11 12 van Purchase a house or condo % 10 10 9 Start a new business % 9 10 8 Buy a boat or recreational vehicle (e.g. trailer, motor % 5 5 5 home) Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding
TABLE 3 SMALL TICKET 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 not Have Have Not done or done considered applicable considered Purchasing more generic brands % 57 15 23 5 Brown bagging lunch instead of purchasing it % 41 9 18 31 Going to the hairdresser/barber/stylist less often % 38 9 33 19 Switched to refillable water bottle instead of purchasing % 33 12 28 27 bottles of water Cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions % 27 7 28 37 Cancelled or cut back cable television service % 21 24 42 13 Stopped purchasing coffee in the morning % 20 7 22 51 Cut down on dry cleaning % 18 6 21 54 Cancelled landline phone service and only using cell phone % 16 21 43 20 Cancelled a newspaper subscription % 16 9 32 43 Changed or cancelled cell phone service % 14 18 55 13 Begun carpooling or using mass transit % 14 8 36 42 Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding
TABLE 4 SMALL TICKET 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 2009 2010 2011 June Oct Feb June Oct Feb June Dec Purchasing more generic brands % 62 64 63 65 62 61 67 61 Brown bagging lunch instead of purchasing it % 47 47 45 48 45 45 46 42 Going to the hairdresser/barber/stylist less often % 36 43 39 38 37 38 43 37 Switched to refillable water bottle instead of % 33 36 34 39 37 35 39 31 purchasing bottles of water Cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions % 29 34 33 31 27 30 31 25 Cancelled or cut back cable television service % 19 21 22 22 22 22 22 21 Stopped purchasing coffee in the morning % 15 20 21 22 22 21 21 17 Cut down on dry cleaning % 20 22 22 24 21 21 24 19 Cancelled a newspaper subscription % 17 21 19 17 17 16 18 15 Cancelled landline phone service and only using cell % 11 12 15 15 17 16 16 14 phone Changed or cancelled cell phone service % 14 15 17 15 17 14 14 14 Begun carpooling or using mass transit % 13 14 14 12 14 13 14 13 Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding
2012 Nov 57 41 38 33 27 21 20 18 16 16 14 14
Methodology This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between November 14 and 19, 2012 among 2,383 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. All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words margin of error as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive. J42318 Q730, 735
The Harris Poll #XX, December 5, 2012 By Regina A. Corso, SVP, Harris Poll and Public Relations, Harris Interactive
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