Today’s American Leisure: How & Where We Hive

March, 2008

Table of Contents I. Objectives……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. v II. Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….vii III. Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9 IV. Detailed Findings…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….10 a. American Home Leisure Activities – Hiving At Home ……………………………………………….10 1. Most Popular Home Leisure Activities…………….……………………………………………………..10 a. Household Penetration In The Past Year…………………………………….…………….….….11 2. Watching TV………………………………………………………………………………………………….……….12

a. Household Penetration, Gender & Child Status.…………………………………………….13 b. Age…………………………………………………………………….………………….…………………………14 c. Income……………………………………………….………………….………………………………………..15

3. Surfing The Internet……………………………………………………………………………………………..16 a. Household Penetration, Gender & Child Status…………………………………….……….17 b. Age…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………….18 c. Income……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..19

4. Playing Or Listening To Music………………………………………………..……………………….….…20 a. Household Penetration, Gender & Child Status………….………………………………….21 b. Age……………………………………………………………………………………………………….………….22 c. Income……………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….23

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Table of Contents 5. Book Reading…………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………...24

a. Household Penetration, Gender & Child Status…………………………...……………..………….……………...25 b. Age………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………..…..26 c. Income……………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………….27 d. Change In Reading Versus Year Ago……………………………………………………….………………………………..28 e. Most Popular Topics Read………………………………………………………………….……………………………………...28

6. Watching A DVD, Video Or Pay-Per-View/On Demand Movie…………….……….…………………………………29 a. Household Penetration, Gender & Child Status……………………………………………………………………..…30 b. Age…………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………………………31 c. Income………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………..32

7. Cooking Or Baking……………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………..33 a. Household Penetration, Gender & Child Status…………………………………………………….…………………..34 b. Age……………………………………………………………….………………………………………………………………………………35 c. Income…………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………………………..36

8. Dog Ownership……………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………..37

a. Household Penetration, Gender & Child Status………………………….………….………………………..……….38 b. Age………………………..…………………………………………………………………………….……….…………………………….39 c. Income……………………….…………………………………………………………………………….……………………………….. 40 d. Household Penetration of Dog Acquisition In The Past Year…………….……………..……………………. 41 e. Household Penetration of First-Time Dog Ownership In The Past Year...............................42 f. Household Penetration of Dog Training In The Past Year……………………………..…………………………43 g. Frequency of Playing With Household Dog………………………………………………………………..………………44

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Table of Contents 9. Home Improvement & Repair………………………………..………………………..……………………………………………….45 a. Household Penetration, Gender & Child Status …………………………………………............................46 b. Age …….………….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………47 c. Income……………….…………………………………………………………………………..…….……………………………………...48 d. Household Penetration By Residence Type …………………………………………………………………………………49

e. Change In Completion Of Home Improvement & Repair Versus Year Ago ………………………….….49 f. Average Annual Number of Home Improvement Projects or Repairs ………….…………………….…….49 g. Most Popular Household Room To Improve Or Repair………….…………………………………………………….50 h. Most Popular Types of Home Improvement Projects Or Repairs…….……………….………………………..50 10. Entertaining………………………………………………………………..………..……………………………………………………………51

a. Household Penetration, Gender & Child Status…………………………………………………………………………..52 b. Age……………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………………...53 c. Income……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………54 d. Household Penetration In the Past Year of Entertaining 12+ Guests, 6+ Non-Family…………….55 e. Household Penetration In The Past Year of Attending A Neighborhood Block Party………………..56 f. Household Penetration In The Past Year of Cooking A Romantic Dinner For Two…………….….….57 g. Most Popular Types of Parties or Get-Togethers……………………….……………………………………………..…58

11. Second Home Ownership……………………………….………..………………………………………………………………………...59 a. Household Penetration.………………….…………………………………..………………………………………………….…….60

12. Class Or Seminar Enrollment To Learn A New Skill………………………………………………….……..……………….61 a. Household Penetration In The Past Year……………………………….……………………………………………………62 b. Most Popular Class Or Seminar Topics……………………………………………..………………………………………..63

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Table of Contents b. American Away From Home Leisure Activities – Hiving Away From Home………………….64 1. Dining Out To Spend Time With Family & Friends……………………………..……………..……64 a. Household Penetration In The Past Month……………………………..………………....…….65 b. Frequency of Going Out To Dinner…………………………………………………………..…..……66 2. Shopping To Spend Time With Family & Friends…………….…..………………………....…….67 a. Household Penetration In the Past Month…………………………………………………..…….68 b. Frequency of Shopping………………………………………………………………………………...……69 3. Vacation To Spend Time With Family & Friends…………………………..……………....……….70 a. Household Penetration In The Past Year………………………………………………..….………71 4. Bowling To Spend Time With Family & Friends………………………..…………….……..……….72 a. Household Penetration In The Past Month…………………………..…………………………...73 b. Frequency of Bowling………………………………….……………………………………………………..74 V. Appendix………………………………………………………….………………………………………………………………..75 a. Questionnaire……………………………………………………………………………………..…………..……………75

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I. Objectives Man has always needed and thrived on the warmth of personal connection. Throughout the evolution of mankind, this desire for connection, as reflected in emotional and real ties to home, family and friends, has set human beings apart from all other organisms. Personal connection, “homing” or most commonly known today as “hiving”* has driven man to excel and prosper over all other species in communication, teamwork and problem-solving.

People are driven to hive to share quality experiences with the people one cares most about, whether it is spending time at home doing “nothing,” going out to a neighborhood restaurant, coffee shop or ice cream parlor, attending a ticketed event outside the home or going on vacation together. Depending on the nature of a given relationship, hiving can be spontaneous or require careful planning to get together with those living across town, the country or the continent.

Technology plays a dual role in both facilitating and impeding our ability to hive by allowing us to be able to communicate with anyone whenever and where ever we/they are, but also luring us to be always tuned in and beckoning us to work and play faster and accomplish more in any given day.

Crunched for time and forced to be higher-tech, Americans crave hiving time now more than ever. Consumers are exhausted from too much work and responsibilities and want to start living and enjoying today. In fact, 57% of American adults say that “[leisure time] gives me time for activities that I really enjoy and look forward to doing.”**

* Faith Popcorn, The Popcorn Report, Iconoculture and Yankelovich Monitor, 2006 ** Yankelovich Monitor, 2006

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I. Objectives General Growth Properties, Inc.’s has commissioned this study to determine how and where American consumers hive and to profile those who participate in the most popular leisure activities.

The following report summarizes the findings of “Today’s American Leisure – How & Where We Hive.”

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II. Methodology A nationally representative sample of 1143 online adults 18+ was conducted January 8 – 11, 2008. Approximately one-half (561) of qualified respondents are women and one-half (580) are men.

The following special notations were applied in the data tables.

  Bolded numbers indicate a statistically significant difference between groups at a 90% confidence level or above, and

  □’s indicate a dominant trend in the data across groups, which may or may not be supported by statistical significance relative to other groups.

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IV.  Detailed Findings a. American Home Leisure Activities – Hiving At Home

1. Most Popular Home Leisure Activities

Prediction is that the majority of North American homes will be wired with a centralized smart home computer system that will be accessed by computers and laptops at home and away from home on PDA’s and cell phones by 2020.* All household activities, including television-watching, will be done on or through the web and accessed through personal household computer systems.* Americans will need to multi-task to keep up with faster and smarter technology and globalization, such that watching television directly through a TV box with a tuner will become a thing of the past. In fact, a recent study of the European market shows that 16-24 year old Europeans already prefer going online to watch TV (82% regularly online watching TV versus 77% regularly watching the box). **

  Contrary to concerns and dark predictions of people being left in the dust in a mass conversion to an online lifestyle, Americans still love to watch an old-fashioned television at home. Most Americans (87%) watch TV offline for leisure at home. This study shows that the U.S. is not even close to Europe, as though surfing the internet is currently the second-most popular at-home leisure activity at 69%, only 14% of Americans currently watch TV online (31% of people age 18-34).

  Americans seem to gravitate toward the traditional in their at-home leisure selections, in that playing or listening to music (64%), reading a book (60%), watching a movie at home (59%) and cooking or baking (54%) are still enjoyed by over half of Americans.

* futureconsumer.com by Frank Feather, 2000 ** European Interactive Advertising Association, 2007

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1. Most Popular Home Leisure Activities a. Household Penetration Past Year

(Base: Total Sample) (1087)

%

Watching TV Surfing the Internet Playing or Listening to Music Reading a Book Watching a DVD, Video or On Demand Movie at home Cooking or Baking Playing Cards Playing Video Games Talking or Texting with Friends on the Phone Gardening Playing with the Dog Playing Board Games Home Improvement project or repairs Talking with Friends on the Internet Home Entertaining Working Out at home Knitting Watching TV on the Internet Maintaining and updating my personal Web site Scrapbooking Sewing

87 69 64 60 59 54 40 37 34 34 33 32 32 31 29 25 14 14 13 10 9

Household Penetration of American Home Leisure Activities in the Past Year

Most Americans (87%) watch TV for leisure at home. Surfing the internet is the second-most popular activity at 69%. Traditional activities like playing or listening to music, reading, watching a movie and cooking or baking are enjoyed by over half of Americans.

Q1: In the past year, which of the following leisure activities do you consider a hobby or enjoyable past time for you, yourself at home?

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IV.  Detailed Findings a. American Home Leisure Activities – Hiving At Home (Con’t)

4. Playing Or Listening To Music

Listening to or playing music is the third-most popular home leisure activity. It is currently enjoyed by 64% of Americans and profiles similarly to internet surfing.

  More music players have no children (38%) living at home.

  The young, particularly women, listen to music the most.

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4.  Playing Or Listening To Music a. Household Penetration, Gender & Child Status of Music Listeners

(Base: Total Sample) (1087) %

Total Household Penetration

Gender

64

Female 33

Male 31

Child Status

Without Children 38

With Children 26

Household Penetration, Gender & Child Status of American Music Listeners in the Past Year

More music players have no children (38%) living at home.

Q1: In the past year, which of the following leisure activities do you consider a hobby or enjoyable past time for you, yourself at home?

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4.  Playing Or Listening To Music b. Age of Music Listeners

Age of American Music Listeners in the Past Year

Total 18 - 34 35 - 44 45+

(Base) (1087) %

(310) %

(215) %

(561) %

Total 64 76 67 56

Gender

Female 33 43 34 28

Male 31 33 33 28

The young, particularly women, listen to music the most.

Q1: In the past year, which of the following leisure activities do you consider a hobby or enjoyable past time for you, yourself at home?

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4. Playing Or Listening To Music c. Income of Music Listeners

Income of American Music Listeners in the Past Year

Total Less Than

$30,000 $30,000 - $69,999

$70,000 - $99,999

$100,000 & Over

(Base) (1087) %

(281) %

(490) %

(173) %

(134) %

64 67 62 64 65

Household income is not an indicator of American music playing.

Q1: In the past year, which of the following leisure activities do you consider a hobby or enjoyable past time for you, yourself at home?

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IV.  Detailed Findings a. American Home Leisure Activities – Hiving At Home (Con’t)

7. Cooking Or Baking

Cooking or Baking is a popular home leisure activity. It is currently enjoyed by 54% of Americans.

  Cooking and baking is a female-dominated activity (33%), particularly among those households with no children at home (31%).

  Young women (18-34) are the biggest cooks and bakers (65%), though more women than men cook or bake as a whole.

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7.  Cooking Or Baking a. Household Penetration, Gender & Child Status of Cooks/Bakers

(Base: Total Sample) (1087)

%

Total Household Penetration 54

Gender

Female 33

Male 21

Child Status

Without Children 31

With Children 23

Household Penetration, Gender & Child Status of Cookers/Bakers In The Past Year

Cooking and baking is a female-dominated activity (33%), particularly among those households with no children at home (31%).

Q1: In the past year, which of the following leisure activities do you consider a hobby or enjoyable past time for you, yourself at home?

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7. Cooking Or Baking b. Age of Cooks/Bakers

Age of Cookers/Bakers in the Past Year

Total 18 - 34 35 - 44 45+

(Base) (1087) %

(310) %

(215) %

(561) %

Total 54 65 51 49

Gender

Female 33 40 34 29

Male 31 25 17 20

Young women (18-34) are the biggest cooks and bakers (65%), though more women than men cook or bake as a whole.

Q1: In the past year, which of the following leisure activities do you consider a hobby or enjoyable past time for you, yourself at home?

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7. Cooking Or Baking c. Income of Cooks/Bakers

Income of Cooks/Bakers in the Past Year

Total Less Than

$30,000 $30,000 - $69,999

$70,000 - $99,999

$100,000 & Over

(Base) (1087) %

(281) %

(490) %

(173) %

(134) %

54 54 56 53 49

Household income is not an indicator of cooking or baking in America.

Q1: In the past year, which of the following leisure activities do you consider a hobby or enjoyable past time for you, yourself at home?

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IV.  Detailed Findings b. American Away From Home Leisure Activities -- Hiving Away From Home

4. Bowling To Spend Time With Family Or Friends

The bowling industry is a $4B industry in the United States.* Well over 50M Americans bowl at least once every year, with about 10 million classifying themselves as “frequent bowlers,” and about 4 million participating in league play.* This represents an increase of 3.5% in penetration over the prior year, with young adults (ages 18-24) and families showing the greatest growth.* As of late 2006, there were 5,580 sanctioned ten-pin bowling centers throughout the country, with 114,866 lanes, and about 143 duckpin and candlepin centers operating with approximately 2,680 lanes.*

Bowlers describe the appeal of the sport as a “fun activity” to be shared with family and friends of all age groups.* And, most centers report significant increases in patronage in recent years as more people seek reasonably-priced and family-oriented recreational activities close to home.* Changes in the industry have also likely increased consumer appeal, as older and smaller centers closed and have been replaced by new, larger, and many times multi-entertainment-oriented facilities.

  About one in six consumers (15%) in this study cite having bowled with family or friends to spend time together at least once in the past month, which is consistent with the industry statistics above. This survey also finds adults with children (i.e., “families”) as the biggest bowlers (10% of total population, two-thirds of all bowlers).

  Families go bowling about once a month, but among regular bowling households, the average is twice a month. The very young (18-34), particularly men, and higher income earners bowl the most frequently at just over the once a month average.

* Sandy Hansell & Associates, Inc., Overview of the Bowling Industry, 2007

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4. Bowling To Spend Time Together a. Household Penetration Past Month

(Base: Total Sample) (1141)

%

Total Household Penetration 15

Gender

Female 8

Male 8

Child Status

With Children 10

Without Children 5

Household Penetration of Americans Bowling To Spend Time With Family Or Friends In The Past Month

About one in six consumers (15%) cite having bowled with family or friends to spend time together at least once in the past month, with adults having children being the biggest bowlers (10% of total population, two-thirds of all bowlers).

Q15: In the past month, about how many times have you gone bowling with family or friends to spend time with one another? Would you say you went bowling (CHOOSE ONE RESPONSE)

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4. Bowling To Spend Time Together b. Frequency of Going Bowling

Frequency of Going Bowling With Family Or Friends By Gender, Age & Income

Families go bowling about once a month, but among regular bowling households, the average is twice a month. The very young (18-34), particularly men, and higher income earners bowl the most frequently at just over the once a month average.

Q15: In the past month, about how many times have you gone bowling with family or friends to spend time with one another? Would you say you went bowling (CHOOSE ONE RESPONSE)

Total Female Male 18 - 34 35 - 44 45+ Less Than

$30,000 $30,000- $69,999

$70,000- $99.000

$100,000 & Over

(Base) (1143) %

(561) %

(580) %

(329) %

(224) %

(586) %

(298) %

(504) %

(185) %

(145) %

2+X/Week (1.5)

2 2 2 3 - 1 - 2 3 1

1X/Week (1.0)

4 3 5 6 5 2 5 2 4 6

1X Every Other Week (.5)

3 2 3 7 1 1 2 3 2 3

1X/Month (.25)

7 7 8 14 9 3 7 9 8 4

<1X/Month (0) 85 87 82 69 85 93 87 84 83 86

Mean .09* .08 .11* .18* .08 .05 .08 .09* .12* .10*

Gender Age Income

* Once a week or more