Long-term stretches of unemployment can have serious consequence for consumers’ finances, emotional health and career development, according to new data from The Pew Research Center.

Almost Half of Long-term Unemployed Report ‘Major Changes’
Of those who have experienced an unemployment spell of at least six months, more than four-in-ten (44%) report that the recession has caused “major changes” in their lives. By comparison, fewer than one- third (31%) of those who had been unemployed less than six months and 20% of adults who were not unemployed during the recession which began in December 2007 say they were similarly affected.

More than Half of Long-term Unemployed See Family Income Drop
A majority of the long-term unemployed (56%) say their family income has declined during the recession, compared with 42% who were out of work less than three months and 26% of adults who have not been unemployed since the recession began in December 2007. Overall, the long-term unemployed are also more likely to say they are in worse shape financially now than before the recession.

Long-term Unemployment Has Negative Career Impact
More than four in ten (43%) of the long-term unemployed say the recession will have a “big impact” on their ability to achieve their long-term career goals. Among those unemployed less than three months, 28% said being jobless would have a similarly serious impact.
In addition, more than seven in 10 long-term unemployed say they changed their careers or job fields or seriously thought about doing so. They also were more likely to pursue job retraining programs or other educational opportunities while out of work.

Among workers who found a job after being unemployed for six months or longer, about three in 10 (29%) say their new job is worse than the one they lost, compared with only 16% of re-employed workers who had been jobless for less than six months. In separate questions, these workers also report their new job paid less and had worse benefits than their old one.

Short-term Unemployment Hits Mortgages as Hard
While the long-term unemployed have suffered the most during the Great Recession, the survey found that shorter spells of unemployment also have been painful for many Americans and their families.

For example, one-third of all long-term unemployed (33%) say they have had problems paying their rent or mortgage, identical to the proportion of those unemployed less than three months who experienced difficulty paying for housing.

However, this proportion is more than double the share of Americans who have not been jobless at any point during the recession but who have had difficulty paying for housing during the recession (16%).

Older, Blue Collar, Black Workers Most Likely to Be Unemployed Long-term
Pew Research Center researchers analyzed recent employment data to create a demographic portrait of the long-term unemployed. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median duration of unemployment stood at 25.5 weeks in June 2010, meaning half of the unemployed — the largest proportion since World War II — have been looking for work for six months or more.

The Pew Research Center’s demographic analysis finds that the median duration is highest among older workers, blue-collar workers and black workers. However, all workers, regardless of race or ethnicity, age, gender, nativity or occupation, have experienced a sharp increase in long-term unemployment during the recession.

Recession Hits Jobs, Wallets
More than half (55%) of US adults have felt some type of negative work-related impact from what is generally seen as the ongoing “Great Recession,” according to other data from the Pew Research Center.

About one-third (32%) of adults in the labor force have been unemployed for a period of time during the recession. Another 6% have been underemployed, meaning they want full-time employment but cannot find it due to economic reasons.

And when asked about a broader range of work-related impacts, 55% of adults in the labor force say that during the recession they have suffered a spell of unemployment, a cut in pay, a reduction in hours or an involuntary spell in a part-time job.

Among currently employed adults, 28% have had work hours reduced, 23% had their pay cut, 12% had to take unpaid leave, and 11% have been forced to work part-time.

The ongoing economic recession has changed how consumers shop for and perceive food and CPG brands, according to a new study from Deloitte.

Caution will Outlast Recession
Statistics from the “2010 Great American Pantry Study” indicate that even when the current recession finally ends, US consumers plan to maintain the more cautious and bargain-oriented shopping habits they have developed during the past few years.

For example, 93% of consumers expect to continue spending cautiously even when the economy improves, and 92% have made some kind of change in their food and CPG-related shopping habits. Another 89% feel they have become more resourceful because of the economy, while 84% have become a lot more precise in what they buy.

Loyalty Cards, Coupons Gain Favor
In response to the recession, consumers are increasingly using loyalty cards and coupons, to save money. Eighty-one percent of consumers say it’s fun to see how much they can save using a loyalty card or coupon, while 65% say loyalty cards are an “essential/very important” money saving method.

Meanwhile, 45% of consumers are using more coupons they get in the mail and 43% are reading/clipping more coupons in the newspaper. Another 43% are using more coupons they get in the store and 39% are downloading more printable coupons.

While none of these individual coupon strategies is employed by more than half of consumers, 67% of consumers are using at least one of the four.

Store Brands Gain Acceptance
Other results of the study show store brands gaining clear acceptance from a large majority of consumers. For example, 80% of consumers believe most store brands are manufactured by traditional national brands, and 74% are more open to trying private labeled store brands than they were two years ago.

A slight majority of consumers (51%) say there are only two or three brands they can’t live without, and less than half (48%) believe traditional national brand products are superior to private label store brand products. And only one-third of consumers (32%) feel they are often sacrificing when they purchase a private label, rather than national, brand.

Looking ahead, increased consumer receptiveness to store brands will likely remain even after the recession concludes. Only about one-third (35%) of consumers say they intend to purchase more national brands once the economy starts improving.

Four Shopper Segments Emerge
Food/CPG shoppers are dividing into four basic segments as the recession continues, according to the study. These are:

Spectators (38%): The youngest and most-educated segment, spectators are least likely to have been affected by the recession or changed their shopping habits. However, their feelings of resourcefulness have grown.

Sacrificers (22%): The lowest-income segment and most likely to have taken an income hit in the past two years, sacrificers are resentful and bitter about the changes they have made. They take pride in resourcefulness but are also disappointed in having to buy more store brands.

Planners (21%): This segment is most likely to focus on product mix, rather than coupons and discounts, and is most likely to buy large pack sizes although members are least likely to have children in their households.

Super Savers (21%): Most likely to use coupons and take great pride in saving money. Most female segment.

Consumers Save with Generic Brands
Two-thirds of US consumers have bought more generic brands in the past six months to save money, according to the findings of a new Harris Poll. Purchasing more generic brands was by far the most popular money-saving response to the ongoing recession in the past six months, with 65% of consumers saying they have done this. Another 13% have considered doing so.

About the Data: The 2010 American Pantry Study was conducted by Deloitte KnowledgeCo LLC and The Harrison Group. Data was collected online among 2,077 household shoppers and food preparers.

Google Hits Lowest ACSI Level Since ‘02
Since Google’s inclusion in the Index in 2002, it has been the industry leader in customer satisfaction every year but 2007, when Yahoo was ranked number one, and this year, when it has been overtaken by the All Others category. The All Others category (dominated this year by niche websites like Dogpile, GoodSearch, MyPoints, and Swagbucks) outscores Google by two points this year.

While Google still outscored any other individual search portal on the Index in 2010, it fell 7% in its ACSI score from 86 in 2009 to 80 in 2010. This matches Google’s lowest score to date, originally set in 2002. However, by scoring 80, Google still places in the top third of all companies rated by ACSI.

Google’s closest individual competitor, Bing, debuted in third place this year with an ACSI score of 77. ForeSee says this strong debut indicates Bing has a real chance to challenge Google’s search dominance.

AOL Surge May Not Be All Good News
Meanwhile, AOL saw a 6% year-over-year increase to match its previous ACSI record score of 74 from 2006. This also represents a strong 32% increase in satisfaction since it was first measured in 2002.

Although AOL has halved Google’s lead from 12 points in 2009 to six points in 2010, ForeSee analysis suggests AOL’s performance may not be as strong as it appears. According to ForeSee, usually when an industry laggard reports increased customer satisfaction, it’s because all of its customers have left except for the truly loyal and satisfied base.

Other Findings
Some other study findings are positive for Google and Yahoo, but negative for AOL.

• Google has the most loyal following, with 80% of its users citing it as their primary search engine.
• AOL users have the oldest average age, while Yahoo users are youngest as a group.
• Thirty percent of the Google users surveyed reported having used Bing in the last month, while 56% of Bing users reported having used Google in the last month.

Microsoft’s Search Share Jumps 50% Annually
Microsoft’s share of the US search market increased 50% between 2009 and 2010, according to data from The Nielsen Company. While the top two US search providers, Google and Yahoo, experienced negative year-over-year relative growth in their share of the US search market between June 2009 and June 2010, number three provider Microsoft (represented by MSN/Windows Live/Bing) experienced a dramatic increase in its share during the same time period.

Between June 2009 and June 2010, Microsoft’s market share grew from 8.9% to 13.4%, a 50.9% relative increase. Most of this growth came at the expense of Yahoo, whose share slipped 15.8%, from 16.2% to 13.7%. Leader Google experienced minimal change, dropping 1.7% from 66.1% to 65% market share.

About the Data: The American Customer Satisfaction Index is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the US. Data from interviews with approximately 70,000 customers annually are used as inputs into an econometric model to measure satisfaction with more than 225 companies in 45 industries and 10 economic sectors, as well as more than 130 federal government departments, agencies, and websites.

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Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_Tournament

The Masters Tournament, also known as The Masters (sometimes referred to as The U.S. Masters outside of the United States) is one of the four major championships in professional golf.
Scheduled for the first full week of April, it is the first of the
majors to be played each year. Unlike the other major championships, the
Masters is held each year at the same location, Augusta National Golf Club, a private golf club in the city of Augusta, Georgia, USA. The Masters was started by Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones,^[1] who designed Augusta National with course architect Alister MacKenzie. The tournament is an official money event on the PGA Tour, the PGA European Tour, and the Japan Golf Tour.
The field of players is smaller than those of the other major
championships because it is an invitational event, entry being
controlled by the Augusta National Golf Club.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger_King

Burger King was a pioneer in the advertising practice known as the product tie-in with a successful partnering with George Lucas‘ Lucasfilm, Ltd. to promote the 1977 film Star Wars in which BK sold a set of glasses featuring the main characters from the film. This promotion was one of the first in the fast food
industry and set the pattern that continues to the present. BK’s early
success in the field was overshadowed by a 1982 deal between McDonald’s
and the Walt Disney Company
to promote Disney’s animated films beginning in the mid 1980s and
running through the early 1990s. In 1994 Disney switched from McDonald’s
to Burger King, signing a ten film promotional contract which would
include such top ten films as Aladdin (1992), Beauty and the Beast (1991), The Lion King (1994) and Toy Story (1995).^[69] A partnership in association with the Pokémon
franchise at the height of its popularity in 1999 was one of the most
successful in the industry, rivaled only by McDonald’s/Ty Beanie Babies cross-promotion in 1999–2000.^[70]

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