Commentary

Rich or Thin?

by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, September 6, 2010

When American adults were asked if they would most want to be richer, thinner, smarter, or younger, 43% professed that they would want to be richer, the largest group "wish." The new Harris Poll of U.S. adults, By Samantha Braverman, Project Researcher, found that 21% of Americans would like to be thinner, 14% said smarter and 12% said younger. And different strokes becomes apparent as preferred traits are chosen depending on the segment.

Although just 14% of both men and women say they would choose to be smarter, that's the only characteristic they agree on. 46% of men say that they would choose to be richer compared to 41% of women, while 29% of women say that they would most want to be thinner, compared to just 14% of men. And while women have the stereotype of lying about age, 16% of men say they would most want to be younger, compared to just 8% of women.

Older Americans are more likely to want to be younger. 19% of those aged 55 and older choose younger, compared to:

14% of those aged 45-54,
12% of those 35-44
4% of those who are 18-34 years old

Young adults who may be early in their careers or starting families are more focused on their finances than are adults in later life-stages. 50% of Americans aged 18-34 and 53% aged 35-44 say they would most want to be richer, compared to 41% of those aged 45-54, and just 34%)of adults aged 55 and older.

Similarly, 48% of adults with children in the home say they would want to be richer, compared to 41% adults who do not have children at home.

And, according to an earlier Harris Poll, reported by Marketing Charts, the percentage of US adults who are overweight and obese has risen in the past five years. Using the Body Mass Index (BMI) measurement, in 2010, 64% of US adults had a BMI score of 25 or more, indicating they are overweight. Another 29% of US adults had a BMI of 30 or more, indicating obesity.

The percentage of overweight US adults peaked at 66% in 2006 and 2009. 2010 marks the highest percentage of obese US adults.

The report concludes that "...the largest percentages of Americans' desires represent changes that are more or less achievable, through smart choices, hard work and dedication. On the other hand, the Americans who want to be younger should just keep dreaming."

Desirable Attributes "Given a choice of the following, which one would you most want to be?" (% of Gategory, Base: All U.S. adults)
	*Total*	*Gender*		*Age*				*Children in HH*
		*Male*	*Female*	*18-34*	*35-44*	*45-54*	*55+*	*Has Children in HH*	*No Children in HH*
Richer	43%	46	41	50	53	41	34	48	41
Thinner	21	14	29	23	15	24	22	20	22
Smarter	14	14	14	16	12	14	13	14	14
Younger	12	16	8	4	12	14	19	10	13
None of these	9	9	9	6	8	8	12	8	9
Source: Harris Interactive, August 2010

For additional details about the Harris Poll, please visit Harris Interactive here.

consumer, demographics, research

6 comments about "Rich or Thin?".

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Dave Barnes from MarketingTactics, September 6, 2010 at 9:40 a.m.
I love how "none of these" was a choice. But, what about "all of these" as a choice?
Reply

Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, September 6, 2010 at 12:36 p.m.

If one was smarter he/she could have all of them. Shows you how smart they are.;)

James w. Johnston from Circle JC Management, Inc., September 6, 2010 at 1:22 p.m.

If there were pollsters in Ancient Rome, would the results have been the same?

Fj Rich from chase media group, September 6, 2010 at 6:25 p.m.

Great stuff. I'm going to use the research as the basis for an OD column I write--ROI.

Thx for the insight, motivation.

Jerry Foster from Energraphics, September 7, 2010 at 2:48 a.m.

If this were ancient Rome the women would be saying "younger" by a much higher margin as would women in non-feminist countries today. If an American woman wanted to attract men better, she'd wish for youth over all the money in the world but the 8% statistic shows that too many apparently don't give a hoot what option men would want them to choose. With men its different (women would want them to choose the billionaire option) but, even then, I would sacrifice all the money in the world to be 20 years younger...as would most people if they thought about it (I don't think the surveyed people thought about their answer for more than a few seconds).

The question about the youth option is...would you still retain your memory if you were magically made young? Would you be 50% younger or 25% younger? Would you be young now or would you go back in time like "Back to the Future"?

The thinner option is stupid because you'd be wasting a good opportunity to benefit from magic on something that a few trips to the gym and a few laps around the track can change (along with the elimination of sugar, alcohol and trans-fats from the diet).

I'd choose to be a billionaire over being 5 years younger. But I'd take the 5 years over $1 million.

Rob Frydlewicz from DentsuAegis, September 7, 2010 at 9:48 a.m.

I'd be interested in seeing esults broken down by income level. Perhaps being rich isn't as great a wish for those already earning big salaries (especially with older respondents who may have family spending issues out of the way, i.e. "empty nesters").