Symantec Corp., in a new study, announced that more than 80 percent of children surveyed who use email receive inappropriate spam on a daily basis. In addition, half of the kids surveyed reported feeling uncomfortable and offended when seeing improper email content. The survey interviewed 1,000 youths between the ages of seven and 18.

New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group reveals that adoption of high-definition television (HDTV) sets in the US has risen to 4% and further growth will be driven by higher-income consumers spurred on by falling prices of the sets. The research found that current HDTV owners have an average household income 73% above average, and those most likely to purchase an HDTV set in the next year have an average income 54% above average. LRG forecasts that the total number of HDTV-capable households in the US will grow to 33 million by the end of 2007.

Dr. Joe Pilotta, co-author of the Simultaneous Media Usage Study (SIMM) for BIGresearch, says that "Simultaneous media usage presents a challenge for business-to-business marketers who wish to target business owners or those in professional or managerial positions with influence over the purchase of goods and services." "Rather," he said, "business owners' shopping and media consumption habits are driven by word-of-mouth, perceived practicality of a product and potential results."

A newly released survey, which the World Association of Newspapers has published annually since 1987, includes information on 70 countries, and was presented at the 56th World Newspaper Congress and 10th World Editors Forum in Dublin, Ireland. The study concludes that the downturn in the global economy after the boom years had a major but expected impact on the world newspaper industry, with both advertising revenues and circulation falling in many markets.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau released research results from a study entitled Marketing Evolution by Rex Briggs, to determine the impact of individual ad sizes, as well as the incremental effect of each format in conjunction with TV advertising. The research demonstrated that larger online ads perform better in communicating (certain) brand attributes.

According to preliminary estimates from the Newspaper Association of America, newspaper advertising expenditures for the first quarter of 2003 totaled $9.9 billion, a 1.8 percent increase over the same period a year earlier. Retail advertising spending rose 2.5 percent to $4.7 billion, national ad spending increased 3.7 percent to $1.8 billion and classified was off 0.2 percent to $3.5 billion.

Electronics sweeps education and career interest by orders of magnitude in mid-May, while IM's and emails captured more than 60% of the Internet audience.

Karissa Price, Director of Marketing/Corporate Development for Lexicon Marketing USA, Inc, in their monthly Hispanic Markets Newsletter, writes "at a time when the nation's economy is stagnating, the U.S. Hispanic market is emerging as one of the most promising areas for growth. While the economy has lost nearly 1.5 million jobs since the end of 2000, employment among U.S. Hispanics has grown. This growth has been fueled by increases in the Hispanic population and the need for businesses to find cheaper labor."

Horowitz Associates has just released Transitioning to the Digital Home, a study of the cable industry that reports that we are clearly on the verge of critical mass in the penetration of all things digital. Two out of three consumers (64%) say their home is now (38%), or about to become (26%), "digital."

According to a survey of adults in the US who do not own a mobile phone, conducted by Harris Interactive for AT&T Wireless, 20% of respondents say they plan to buy one in the coming year. Still, 49% say they do not need a mobile phone...