Over the Wire

"Digital Turnoffs" for Employers

Post by Whitney Heckathorne, Marketing Manager

While surfing various Tweets today (it's my job, I promise), I came across this video which makes use of Harris data from a study we conducted for CareerBuilder back in June 2009. The study sought to answer a couple of different employment-related questions:

• Do employers look up potential job candidates using social networking sites? (The answer is a resounding YES, YES, YES ... and the percentage is only growing.) 
• How can a potential employee's social profile make or break them in terms of scoring a job?

Check out this video and find out if you are committing any of the cardinal sins of social networking -- chances are, your profile isn't as squeaky clean as employers would like!

(As an aside -- the video also includes soothing music along with photos of cute animals and babies, so if you aren't into learning how to give your Facebook a facelift, you'll still really enjoy this afternoon treat.)

In the meantime, I'm off to delete a few pictures.

P.S. Many thanks to YouTube user, edtechsteve, for posting this video.

Storm Clouds or Clear Skies Ahead for The Economy?

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Dow Jones Newswires’ Al Lewis discusses a recent Harris Poll which indicates many Americans expect the economy to worsen this year. What do you think - should we be preparing for glimmers of sunshine? Or will we stay stuck in an economic slump?

 

 

 

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America’s Operating Systems

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So if you are anything like me, you have a “to do” list a mile long and you feel a sense of accomplishment every time you cross something off and lament what just keeps moving forward from one day to the next with no end in sight.  

My general impression is that these lists and systems are what keep us Americans afloat and stop us from turning into a puddle of emoticons at the end of each multi-tasking day.  And so, we have a pyramid for our food choices, a catalog for our library books, a “feng shui” for our rooms, and a store for our Containers.

But at the macro-level, according to a new Harris Poll, the majority of us rate almost every system in American life as fair/poor.  We are decidedly un-impressed by our:

• System of government (57%)
• Legal system (63%)
• Health care system (67%)
• Economic system (68%)
• Political system (72%)

In each case, I’m not sure which system we would like better (or even if we could find any collective agreement), but luckily we rate our “TV, movies and entertainment” highly so we can get our mind off perfecting all that other stuff.

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Harris Poll Wrap Up: Interviewing New Yorkers about the Economy

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The economy: getting better or getting (staying) worse? According to today's Harris Poll, Americans have mixed opinions...and the people of New York City are no different. Dan and Whitney are back and are out on the streets, asking people their opinions about jobs and the economy and, more importantly, if their outlook for the future is better or worse.

 

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It's The Economy, Stupid!

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So we learned earlier this week from a recent Harris Poll that the public’s top concern(s) right now and the areas in desperate need of attention from our government are: health care (despite “reform”), the (lack of) jobs, and the (still failing, contrary to what today's Wall Street Journal article says) economy. So let’s focus today on doors #2 and #3.

Editorializing some (but not much in my humble opinion), it seems like Obama’s approval rating will forever be married to the economy and jobs.  We were in a painful state of disrepair when Obama took office and will likely be obsessing until we get some relief...Not to mention, we Americans now prefer our groceries organic, our toys wired, and our faces wrinkle-free, and stating what’s obvious, all of these things take money.  

But it turns out we don’t really believe Obama has a handle on it – yet. According to last week's Harris Poll:

• Only 33% of the public rate the job Obama is doing on the economy positively. 
• Only 23% feel more financially secure than they did last year when he took office. 
• And only 1 in 10 rate the current job market in their region positively.

But we haven’t given up on Obama – yet.  

• About 3 in 4 adults feel that their personal financial situation will either stay the same or improve in the next 6 months.
• Still not a majority, but more than 4 in 10 adults believe that the economy has already begun to improve or will start to improve in the coming year. 
• Still not a majority, but more than 4 in 10 believe the job market has already started to grow or will start growing in the next year.

What’s your take?  Are you focused on the economy more than any other issue?  And if so, do you feel hopeful, hope-possible, or hopeless?

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Baby Steps for President Obama

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I'm a glass is half-full kind of gal…and I like Obama.  He strikes me as smart, sincere and reasonable.  So I want to give him some good news.  I want to, I really do want to, but I can’t.  According to a Harris Poll released last week:

• His approval ratings are dismal.  Almost 6 in 10 Americans rate his job performance negatively including 30% of his own party and 91% (!) of Republicans.
• His approval ratings haven’t received even a small bounce since the passage of health care reform (the focus of most or all of his energy over the past many months).
• And 61% of Americans still think the country is on the wrong track – more than at any point during W’s first term. 

But, consider this, all you with the half-empty glasses:  Obama’s approval ratings aren’t getting worse.  In fact, they have pretty much remained unchanged for the past four months after rolling slowly down hill for the six months prior. 

So, I may be reaching here but you can’t build Rome or tame a wildebeest or move a glacier (or insert own metaphor) in a day. So, perhaps Obama is poised to make a come back. 

• He has finally tackled health care (the #1 issue the public wanted him to address for the first year+ of his presidency) and perhaps the public will feel the impact of this reform just in time for the election. 
• He can now focus on the public’s pre-eminent frustration with employment and the economy.  And perhaps if he does some good work here, then he (and other Democratic legislators) will feel some sort of positive bounce. 
• And he has received a similar vote of confidence as Clinton did during his first term (when at least as many - if not more - Americans thought the country was moving in the wrong direction and then changed to a more optimistic tune on this measure during his second term). 

So, let’s take it one performance approval rating at a time.

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Data Snapshot

According to Harris Interactive's annual Reputation Quotient Study, Berkshire Hathaway ranks #1 on corporate reputation, followed by Johnson & Johnson. ---The 2009 RQ survey was conducted from December 29, 2009 to February 15, 2010 among 29,000 members of the American public

In the Strictest Confidence

For 44 years, since 1966, The Harris Poll has measured Americans’ confidence in the leaders of our major institutions. Based on the responses, Harris calculates an overall Confidence Index. Over the past almost 5 decades, we have seen the Confidence Index rise and fall, but by and large, it has remained steady somewhere in the 50s. It reached its peak in 1973 at 69, and it bottomed out in 1997 at 42 (actually the 90s in general were somewhat of a down time with “confidence” hovering in the 40s for almost the entire decade).

And today, Harris Interactive’s Confidence Index stands at 53, one point lower than last year.

The beauty of an index is that it offers a birds-eye view of how respondents (in this case Americans) feel about a certain issue and it measures trends in attitudes and experiences over time.

But… an index doesn’t always reflect the underlying (and sometimes significant) changes in the public consciousness.  While our index (and others) often appear static, the attributes that make up the index may experience more dramatic fluctuations. 

And today’s Confidence Index is no exception.  While the top-line figure is 53, essentially the same as it has been for the past 7 years, some of the specific measures that make up today’s Index have changed considerably from last year and over the past decade.  For example, while we entered the decade in 2000 with a Confidence Index only slightly higher than it is today, our confidence in:

• ↑ The military has increased 11 points since 2000.
• ↑ The White House has increased 6 points since 2000.
• ↓ The medical field has dropped 10 points since 2000.
• ↓ Major companies have dropped 13 points since 2000.
• ↓ Wall Street has plummeted 22 points since 2000.

And while the Confidence Index is virtually the same as it was last year, our confidence in:

• ↑ The courts and the justice system has gone up 5 points from last year.
• ↓ Major educational institutions have gone down 5 points from last year.
• ↓ Television news has gone down 5 points from last year.
• ↓ The White House has gone down 9 points from last year.

Some changes are self-evident and we are made aware of them routinely in the news … the country’s financial collapse (and thus our crumbling faith in Wall Street); corporate deception (and thus our subsequent lack of trust in the leaders of major companies); the disrepair of the medical industry (and thus the growing need for reform); and the loss of momentum for policy change (and thus the decline in the White House approval ratings).  But some are surprising – why less confidence in colleges and universities today and why more confidence in the justice system from just last year? 

And why, do you believe, that the 90s – so closely aligned with prosperity – are also our lowest period of confidence?  

Money Woes Turning Us into Better People?

Building on Kathy’s post from mid-February, we all consider - and occasionally make - changes to our lifestyles to save money.  In Kathy’s post, she commented about generic brands becoming more in vogue now that our pocketbooks are more in arrears.  But using the same Harris Poll from February, here are some other ways that many of us become more improved versions of ourselves when money becomes an object:

1. We cut out caffeine (21%) – and actually drink something healthier instead?
2. We decrease or eliminate our cable TV watching (22%) – and actually spend more time outdoors?
3. We use more carpools and mass transit (14%) – and actually spend more quality time with others?
4. We cancel or change our cell phone service (17%) or landline service (15%) – and actually spend more time building relationships in person?
5. We make our lunch ourselves instead of buying it (45%) – and actually eat healthier, fresher alternatives? 
6. We make “greener” choices (34% switch to refillable water bottles; 33% cancel one or more magazine subscriptions; 22% cut down on dry cleaning; 19% cancel newspaper subscriptions; 14% carpool or take mass transportation) – and actually reduce our carbon footprint?

It’s the silver lining by-product of the recession.  Has our broken economy forced you into making any better, healthier choices?

Discounts and Coupons and Markdowns... Oh My!

Post by Mark MacAdam, Public Relations Research

Have you noticed department stores seem to be having never-ending one-day sales lately?   If so, you’re not alone.  Nearly half of Americans (49%) feel that mid-tier department stores have more sales and promotions this year compared to last, according to a recent Harris Poll.  This tactic might be paying off in the short-term for retailers, as almost 7 in 10 Americans say they visit mid-tier department stores at least occasionally.  However, is this strategy shortsighted on the retailers’ side just to make a buck?  Possibly.  Thirty-nine percent of Americans believe there’s not much difference between discount stores and mid-tier department stores as there used to be.  Moreover, nearly one-quarter agree that mid-tier department stores have diminished the status level of their brand.

Is this just another effect of the ongoing recession or are there fundamental changes occurring within the retail industry?  Personally, I believe it’s a combination of both.  The economic downturn we’ve experienced over the past year (has it only been a year?!) has forced many to watch their spending by ‘stepping down the retail ladder’ to stores with a lower price-point.  This has forced higher-end retailers to discount heavily in order to compete.  Additionally, prior to the economic meltdown, department stores already faced an uphill battle.  For instance, although there are fewer department store chains compared to the days of yore, they still face heightened competition.  These days not only do department stores need to compete on price with discount stores, but they must also compete against fast inventory turnaround retailers such as H&M and Zara.  The difficult economic climate coupled with tough competition and changing consumer preferences does not make me envy the department store CEOs, except for maybe that cherished employee discount!

So tell us – where (and why) do you shop?