Archive for January 11th, 2010

Did you know …

January 11, 2010

From the Statistical Abstract of the United States:

  • In 2007, the average American spent 1,613 hours watching TV, the equivalent of 67 days.
  • About three-quarters of Americans (76.1 percent in 2007, to be exact) get to work by driving alone. Only 10.4 percent carpool, while 4.9 percent use public transportation and 2.8 percent walk.
  • On average, Americans spend 25.3 minutes commuting each way. The state with the longest average commuting time is New York, at 31.5 minutes.
  • In 2006, about 34 percent of U.S. adults were judged obese, triple France’s rate (10.5 percent) and four times Switzerland’s (7.7 percent).
  • From 1993 to 2007, murders dropped from 25,000 to 17,000 and robberies from 660,000 to 445,000.
  • In 2007, 18 percent of high school students reported carrying a weapon sometime in the previous year.
  • Smoking continues to decline, from 25.3 percent of adults in 1990 to 19.7 percent in 2007.
  • Garbage per person has stabilized; it was 4.5 pounds per day in 1990 and 4.6 pounds in 2007.
  • In 2007, nearly two-fifths of all U.S. births were to unmarried women, double the share in 1980.
  • The share of children under the federal poverty line in 2007 (17.6 percent) was virtually the same as in 1980 (17.9 percent).
  • Since 1970, the student-teacher ratio in schools has declined dramatically, from 22-1 to 15-1 in 2007 … with little effect on test results.
  • Almost one-quarter of elementary and high school students are immigrants or have immigrant parents.

Excerpted from RCP: American Life by the Numbers, January 11, 2010
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/01/11/suicide_sex_and_suvs_99842.html

Posted in Demograhics, Polls & Surveys | Leave a Comment »

Don’t interview for jobs on rainy days !

January 11, 2010

Dr. Don Redelmeier examined University of Toronto medical school admission interview reports from 2004-2009.

After correlating the interview scores with each day’s weather archives, he determined that candidates who interviewed on rainy or snowy days received interviewer ratings that were significantly lower than those of candidates who were lucky enough to visit on a sunny day, a difference that could not be explained by demographic factors or by grades and test scores.

In fact, the impact of the bad weather on applicants was the equivalent of a 10% lower score on the MCAT, easily enough to influence acceptance and rejection in many cases.

Some other Redelmeier findings …

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The belief that arthritis pain is related to the weather is just another example of perception trumping reality.

After following 18 arthritis patients for a year, Dr. Don found no relationship between weather and pain.

It’s just that people tend to notice the weather more when their joints are aching, and that humans like to find patterns and explanations (particularly for unpleasant phenomena), even when none exist.

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Mortality among patients admitted to hospitals on weekends is higher than weekdays.

Dr. Redelmeier found that seriously ill patients admitted to hospitals on weekends were significantly more likely to die.

This study catalyzed important discussions about weekend staffing patterns in hospitals around the world.

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Academy award winners live longer than runner-ups.

Dr. Redelmeier, noting that most research examining the correlation between social status and health focused on society’s lower rungs, decided to use the Academy Awards to examine the relationship among the glitterati.

This study found that Academy Award winners live an average of 4 years longer than runner-ups, an astounding survival advantage.

The full mechanism of the apparent survival benefit among successful actors and actresses is not known. Untangling the explanations is complicated because some stars also engage in superstitious and deleterious behaviors.

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Medical school class presidents die early. 

Comparing medical school class presidents to a control group comprised of those who appeared alphabetically before or after the president in the medical school class photo , the class presidents died about 2.5 years earlier.

“The type of medical professional who sacrifices themselves for this type of professional prestige may also be the type who fails to look after their health or is otherwise prone to early mortality.”

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Full article:
http://community.the-hospitalist.org/blogs/wachters_world/archive/2009/12/21/rainy-day-interviews-oscar-winners-mortality-and-a-randomized-trial-of-niceness-in-the-er-the-extraordinary-mind-of-don-redelmeier.aspx

Posted in Analytics, Careers & Interviewing | Leave a Comment »

Attack ads – companies’ ads talk the talk, and competitors demand proof that the products walk the walk

January 11, 2010

TakeAway:  Due to the increasing competition for consumers’ dollars, negative advertising is at an all time high. 

Companies are responding to this wave of aggressive advertising by demanding that competitors cough up the proof behind their claims. 

But, do attack ads actually work? 

In at least some cases, the answer is no: attack ads may lead consumers to abandon not only a competitor’s product, but also the entire product category. 

Has this new focus on negative advertising caused companies to lose their perspective on the consumer market?

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Excerpted from NYTimes, “Best Soup Ever? Suits Over Ads Demand Proof,” By Stephanie Clifford, November 22, 2009

… Companies that were once content to fight in grocery-store aisles and on television commercials are now choosing a different route — filing lawsuits and other formal grievances challenging their competitors’ claims. Longtime foes like Pantene and Dove, Science Diet and Iams, AT&T and Verizon, and Campbell Soup and Progresso have all wrestled over ads recently.

The goal is usually not money but market share. Companies file complaints to get competitors’ ads withdrawn or amended.

The cases themselves might seem a little absurd — an argument over hyped-up advertising copy that not many consumers take at face value. Pantene has attacked Dove’s claim that its conditioner “repairs” hair better, and Iams has been challenged on one of its lines, “No other dog food stacks up like Iams.”

Dueling advertisers, however, argue that these claims can mislead consumers and cause a pronounced drop in sales. Since advertisers are required by law to have a reasonable factual basis for their commercials, their competitors are essentially demanding that they show their hand.

The increase in these actions may be a reflection of the dismal economy: in recessions, when overall spending lags, advertisers must fight harder for customers …

The number of complaints over ads from competitors … is on track to set a record this year … 

Defending claims made in ads sometimes requires delving into minutiae. The Pantene-Dove case centered on whether Dove Therapy repaired hair better than a Pantene conditioner. To defend its conditioner ad, Dove supplied a study measuring the combing force required by treated hair, a study on breakage in a 200-strokes-per-tresses test, and had an expert defend its decision to use the “wet combing” method rather than “dry combing” …

How brands will deal with their competitors’ advertisements is an increasingly important component of the overall marketing strategy … must explore lots of permutations, whether it’s offensively or defensively … But, as with all attacks on competitors, these disputes run the risk of persuading consumers to avoid not just a rival’s product, but the product altogether.

Last fall, Campbell Soup started an ad campaign that said its Select Harvest soups were “Made with TLC” while labeling Progresso soups, from its rival General Mills, “Made with MSG.” Progresso responded with its own campaign, and then both companies complained to the advertising review division, which recommended withdrawal of some ads from both sides … The damage was already done …since then, unit sales of wet soups at both companies have declined every quarter. A UBS analyst attributed the drop largely to the advertising battle …

“They’re navel-gazing and they’re not thinking about what consumers want to hear — they’re just talking at conference tables about how to strike back or how their integrity has been affected” …

Edit by TJS

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Full Article

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/business/media/22lawsuits.html

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Posted in Mktg - Advertising | Leave a Comment »