Percentage of Americans who say word of mouth is the biggest influence in determining what they buy, according to a survey by BIG Research: 26.7
Percentage who say newspaper inserts: 20.3
Percentage who say in-store promotion: 18.9
Source: BIGresearch. Contact Phil Rist at 614-846-0146 or e-mail phil@bigresearch.com.
Percentage of CFOs who said they considered the cell phone to be their most indispensable, portable, technology device, according to a survey developed by Robert Half Management Resources: 44
Percentage of CFOs who said the laptop: 39
Percentage who said wireless handheld: 8
Source: Robert Half International. Contact Michael Weiss at 650-234-6383 or e-mail michael.weiss@rhi.com.
Percentage of employees who say morale at their workplace was good or excellent in 2004, according to a survey by Harris Interactive for Randstad: 40
Percentage who said they are loyal to their company: 59
Percentage who believe their firm reciprocates that loyalty: 26
Source: Randstad. Contact Karen Carlisle at public.relations@us.randstad.com.
Percentage of Americans who say the subject they wished they had learned more about or studied more of in school was foreign languages, according to a survey for AP/AOL by Ipsos: 23
Percentage who say math: 15
Percentage who say business: 13
Source: Ipsos-Public Affairs. Contact Michael Gross at 202-463-2147.
Percentage of all U.S. residents who have visited Las Vegas in their lifetime, according to the U.S. Travel Industry Association: 38
In 2004, the number of hotel rooms in Las Vegas: 101,106
Source: Las Vegas Visitor and Convention Bureau. Contact Erika Yowell at 702-892-7663 or e-mail pr@lvcva.com.
Percentage of U.S. households that say they have detected viruses on their computer in the past two years, according to a Consumer Reports survey: 64
Amount consumers spent over the last two years to repair damages caused by viruses and spyware: $9 billion.
Percentage of respondents who reported a spyware infection that reported an infection so serious that they had to erase their hard drives: 18
Source: Consumer Reports. Contact Public Affairs at 914-378-2029 or e-mail opi@consumer.org.
Amount college students and their parents will spend returning to campus this year, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation and conducted by BIGresearch: $34.4 billion
Percent increase from 2004: 34
Source: National Retail Federation. Contact Ellen Tolley at 202-626-8189 or e-mail teleye@nrf.com.
Average time (in minutes) per day executives say they believe their employees spend on checking sports scores, sending non-business-related e-mail, sending instant messages and using the Internet at work, according to a survey by Accountemps: 56
Percentage of executives who say their organizations monitor employee Internet activity at least somewhat closely: 64
Source: Accountemps. Contact Matt Meigs at 650-234-6248 or matthew.meigs@accountemps.com.
Percentage of an executive's time spent responding to crises or problems, according to a survey of advertising and marketing executives by The Creative Group: 33
Source: The Creative Group. Contact Julie Sims at 650-234-6104 or e-mail julie.sims@creativegroup.com.
Rank of Australia, Italy and Great Britain as the countries where Americans would choose to vacation if they did not have to worry about the cost, according to a survey by Harris Interactive: 1, 2, 3
Rank of the United States, Australia and Canada as the countries where most Europeans would most like to spend a holiday if they did not have to worry about the cost: 1, 2, 3,
Source: Harris Interactive Inc. Contact Kelly Gullo at 585-214-7172 or e-mail KGullo@HarrisInteractive.com.
John MacIntyre has been writing Figuratively Speaking since 1989. You can contact him by e-mail at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.