Tough Times Drive Americans to Take Far More Interest in Serious Issues

NEW YORK, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Whether or not Americans heeded President Obama's inaugural admonition to "put away childish things," they have certainly developed a lot more interest in serious issues. A new national survey shows self-declared interest in a raft of weighty matters has grown, while almost half of Americans (48.2 percent) say they've become less interested in celebrities over the past 12 to 18 months.

Losing their appetite for celebrity antics, 46.4 percent of Americans are more interested in general news than they were. This news-hungry trend is even more pronounced among men than women, with 51 percent of men versus 41.7 percent of women more interested. Taking account of those rating themselves "less interested" (6.7 percent of men versus 10.9 percent of women), the net margin of greater interest in the news is 44.3 percent for men and 30.8 percent of women. This gender skew pertains to all major fields of interest in the survey; higher net percentages of men than women rate themselves more interested.

The findings come from an online "mood monitor" survey of 388 Americans across the country that was commissioned by global integrated marketing communications agency Euro RSCG Worldwide in February 2010. MicroDialogue collected and analyzed the data.

Regarding their own local politics, a net 29.4 percent of men have become more interested, compared with 16.7 percent of women. Men even show a net increase in interest in the local politics of other areas (net 10.8 percent more), whereas women show a net decrease of interest (net 6.2 percent less). Moving the focus up to the politics of their own state, there's a surge of greater interest with net 47.9 percent more men and net 30.2 percent more women. In terms of the politics of other states, net 23.1 percent of men and 9.4 percent of women are more interested. There are clear, strong increases in interest for domestic politics in general, although the margin is far higher with men than with women (net 42.3 percent men versus net 24.5 percent women).

The Great Recession and head-spinning news from Wall Street have pushed economy and finance firmly center stage for Americans. Huge net margins of 63.4 percent of men and 52.1 percent of women rate themselves more interested in these topics than they were 12 to 18 months ago. Business and corporations have also come in for higher levels of interest, although they're far more of a guy thing: Net 42.3 percent of men are more interested, compared with net 16 percent of women.

It's no surprise that health care has garnered far more interest over the past 12 to 18 months. Among men, 67.6 percent are more interested, and among women 61.5 percent are more interested. What is surprising is that a small minority rate themselves less interested in the issue: 6.2 percent of men and 8.3 percent of women. This suggests some Americans have been turned off of the whole subject, despite—or perhaps because of—the health-care reform tug-of-war in Congress and across the media.

Although there are consistently higher percentages of men who are more interested in the big issues, there are consistently higher percentages of women who feel growing disapproval with the issues compared with 12 to 18 months ago. With local politics in their area, a net 1.5 percent of men disapprove (25.8 percent more approving versus 27.3 percent more disapproving) but net 14.6 percent of women disapprove (15.1 percent more approving versus 29.7 percent more disapproving). Feelings about politics in respondents' state of residence are slightly more soured: Net 13.9 percent of men and net 19.3 percent of women disapprove. Farther from home, feelings about domestic politics in general are even more negative: Net 16.9 percent of men and net 26 percent of women are more disapproving now compared with 12 to 18 months ago.

As well as rating their opinions, respondents were also asked in the survey to give their views on their state in their own words. Although some expressed partisan views and a few praised their local politicians, many others longed for politicians to focus on doing a better job. There was a strong current of opinion in favor of dumping incumbents. As a respondent from New York put it: "Politicians have lost the will to represent the people who voted them in. They are only interested in their own power and interests. Most cannot be trusted. When political parties are too involved with their own politics, we the people and the USA suffer greatly."

With job losses, bailouts and bonuses still looming large, economy and finance score strong overall negative ratings: Net 29.4 percent of men and 45.4 percent of women disapprove more now. It's a similar story with business and corporations: Net 31 percent of men and 40.6 percent of women now feel more disapproving compared with 12 to 18 months ago.

"A year into the Obama presidency and 18 months into the economic crisis, Americans are looking more closely and more critically than ever at the public issues that affect them," said Marian Salzman, president of Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, North America. "As households struggle to manage their budgets in the face of a dire employment market, they're looking more closely to see whether people in power are behaving more responsibly, too.

"Many Americans aren't liking what they're seeing. The stronger 'disapprove' scores from American women across major issues suggests that women had higher hopes for things to be managed better," continued Salzman. "With this disgruntled mood prevailing, we can expect a lot of heat and upset in election contests this year. The country was fractious and divided even when the economy was booming a few years ago. It's hard to see the mood sweetening as long as debt and budget cuts are the order of the day."

Respondents are also bracing themselves for higher taxes: Net 39.7 percent of men and 39.1 percent of women are pessimistic about taxation levels in the foreseeable future. Adding to the gloom, net 22.7 percent of men and net 45.8 percent of women are pessimistic about the cost of living.

About Euro RSCG Worldwide

Euro RSCG Worldwide, the parent company of Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, is a leading integrated marketing communications agency and was the first agency to be named Global Agency of the Year by both Advertising Age and Campaign in the same year. Euro RSCG is made up of 233 offices in 75 countries and provides advertising, marketing, corporate communications and interactive solutions to clients including Air France, BNP Paribas, Charles Schwab, Citigroup, Danone Group, Heineken USA, IBM, Jaguar, Kraft Foods, Lacoste, L'Oreal, Merck, PSA Peugeot and sanofi-aventis. Euro RSCG Worldwide is the largest unit of Havas, a world leader in communications (Euronext: HAV.PA) (Paris: HAV.PA).

SOURCE Euro RSCG Worldwide