Percentage of managers at Fortune 1000 companies who say their company hosts an office party, according to surveys by Office Team: 73
Percentage of managers who said they enjoy celebrating the winter holidays with their colleagues: 77
Percentage of executives in a similar survey four years ago who said the annual get-together had fallen out of favor: 64
Source: OfficeTeam. Contact Julie Sims at 650-234-6104 or julie.sims@rhi.com.
Percentage of advertising and marketing executives polled who said office environments — including layout, decor and lighting — greatly affect on-the-job innovation, according to a survey developed by The Creative Group: 55
Percentage of respondents who reported that workplace environment impacts staff creativity at least somewhat: 38
Source: The Creative Group. Contact Julie Sims at 650-234-6104 or julie.sims@creativegroup.com.
Year the first commercially prepared pet food, a dog biscuit, was introduced in England: 1860
Percentage of U.S. households that are home to at least one pet dog or cat: 56
Pet dog population as of 2004: 61.8 million
Pet cat population as of 2004: 79.2 million
Source: Pet Food Institute. Contact Steve Payne at 202-367-1120 or steve@petfoodinstitute.org.
Percentage of Americans surveyed who either did not know or responded incorrectly when asked to define a good credit score (700), according to a survey by Consumer Action and Capital One: 66.8
Percentage of respondents who wrongly stated that age is a factor considered in determining credit scores: 54
Percentage of Americans who have never reviewed their credit report: 23
Percentage of Americans who report that they do not use a budget to manage their family's expenses: 36.1
Source: Capital One Financial Corp. Contact Pam Girardo at 703-720-2351 or pam.girardo@capitalone.com.
Percentage of consumers who say they began their serious holiday shopping before Thanksgiving, according to a survey by The Macerich Co.: 33
Percentage who began on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving): 28
Percentage who said they would wait until December: 24
Source: The Macerich Co. Contact Tresa Hardt at thardt@lovellpr.com.
Number of hours per day the average household in the U.S. tuned into television during the September 2004-September 2005 season, according to Nielsen Media Research: 8.2
Percentage higher this is than 10 years ago: 12.5
Source: Nielsen Media Research. Contact Matt Tatham at 646-654-8300 or matt.tatham@nielsenmedia.com.
Percentage of U.S. adults who would be most upset to lose their financial data and business records if they were to lose a type of digital data and personal file from their computer, according to a survey commissioned by Maxtor Corp.: 27
Percentage who say they would be most upset to lose their personal photos or videos: 24
Source: Websense. Contact Jennifer Culter at 858-320-9511 or jculter@websense.com.
Percentage of adults who have taken, or know someone who has taken, a packet of Sweet'N Low Zero Calorie Sweetener from a restaurant, coffee shop or other location, according to a "Pink Packet Poll" conducted by Leflein Associates: 56
Percentage of those who have taken packets who say they have done so to have it on hand when they need it: 59
Percentage who do it just because restaurants make them available: 22
Source: Cumberland Packing Corp. Contact Brad Daves at 212-715-1618 or davesb@ruderfinn.com.
John MacIntyre has been writing Figuratively Speaking since 1989. You can contact him by e-mail at johnmacintyre @bwr.eastlink.ca.