The results of a recent The Harris Poll of 3,084 adults surveyed online found that over the past six months, 62% of U.S. adults have purchased more generic brands and 45% are brown-bagging lunch
instead of purchasing it. In June, similar numbers of Americans said they were buying generic, and brown-bagging it. A number of Americans have cut back in other small ways to save money, says the
report.
Spending/Savings Over Past Six Months To Save Money (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 |
Source: The Harris Poll, October 2010 |
Other findings of this Harris Poll
include:
- 37% of Americans are going to the hairstylist or barber less often, and 37% have switched to refillable water bottles instead of purchasing bottles of water
- 27% of adults
have cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions while 17% have cancelled a newspaper subscription. In addition, 11% of Americans have considered cancelling a newspaper subscription or a
magazine subscription
- 22% of Americans have stopped purchasing coffee in the morning and 21% have cut down on dry cleaning. 14% have begun carpooling or using mass transit
- 22% of U.S.
adults have cancelled or cut back on cable television service, and 17% have changed or cancelled cell phone service or cancelled their landline service and are only using their cell
phone
Trend Of Spending/Savings Over Past Six Months (Percent Of All
U.S. Adults Saying "Have Done") |
Spend/Save | Jun 2009 | Oct 2009 | Feb 2010 | Jun 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 |
Source: The Harris Poll,
October 2010 |
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%)
- Have stopped purchasing coffee in the morning (35%)
Of Echo Boomers (those 18-33):
- 18% are much less likely to have cancelled a
magazine subscription compared to at least 30% of all the other generations who say they have done this
- 22% are more likely to have cancelled their landline phone service
Generational Spending/Savings Over Past Six Months (Percent of All U.S. adults saying
"Have done") |
| Generation |
Spend/Save | Total | 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 |
Source: The Harris Poll, October 2010 |
The report asks if this has become a true
behavior change, or do they come back and buy that latte in the morning again when the economy turns around?
For additional information, please visit Harris Interactive
here.