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The Foster Letter —

Religious Market Update

The FOSTER Letter is a bi-weekly e-mail religious market intelligence report targeted to Christian market channel and ministry leaders.  Each issue reports on news, trends, events and research that will directly or indirectly impact your audiences and businesses in a convenient summary format  Better informed leaders make better choices!

Researched, Edited & Published by Gary D. Foster

Excerpts from the

June 25, 2011 edition of

The FOSTER Letter—Religious Market Update 

Belief in God More than 9 in 10 Americans still say they believe in God, shows a new Gallup poll. While belief in God remains strong in the U.S., the poll also found non-belief has risen from 1% in 1944 to 7% today. And the percentage of Americans who affirm their belief in God has decreased slightly from 96% in 1944 to 92% today. Sadly, those least likely to believe in God are 18–29. Only 84% agreed they believe in God vs. 94% of older Americans.

Liberals, Americans from the East, and those with post-graduate educations are also less likely to believe in God, though more than 80% still do.  (Christian Post 6/3/11) 

Relevance is what determines whether an ad works or not. Every media fails when it delivers a message no one cares about. Let me help ensure your ads are relevant to your target audience. Contact me at 419-238-4082, Gary@garydfoster.com or www.garydfoster.com. 

eBook Reader Profile Today’s eBook power buyer (those who buy an eBook at least once a week) is a 44-year-old woman who loves romance and is spending more on buying books now than in the past. She uses a dedicated eReader like a Kindle instead of reading on her computer. According to the Book Industry Study Group, eBooks currently make up about 11% of the total book market. The percentage of print book consumers who download eBooks more than doubled between 10/10 and 1/11, from 5% to almost 13%. Women make up 66% of eBook power buyers. Most eBooks sold (58%) are fiction, with literary fiction, science fiction, and romance each comprising over 20% of all eBook purchases. “Power buyers” represent about 18% of the total people buying eBooks, but they buy 61% of all eBooks purchased. (Center for Media Research Brief 6/2/11) 

Where are the Men? The ratio of women to men at the beginning of college (55% female, 45% male) increases by the time of graduation to 62% female, 38% male. It’s even worse at black colleges, where the graduation ratio can be 70% female and 30% male. (Bill Bennett, LifeSite News 6/7/11) 

What Teens Aspire to Do Although teens’ career goals often change as they mature, a new Barna Group study shows most young people rarely lack ideas of what they would like to do, even at a relatively early age. Science and creativity interests dominate their aspirations. Among science-connected careers, the most common goal is to work in medicine or the health care field (mentioned by 23% of teenagers). Other occupations desired by teens include engineering (13%), science (8%), veterinary care (5%), and technology (5%). More than half express interest in some type of scientific or applied science career. A fifth are attracted to creative vocations, including arts or music (10%), graphic arts (4%), culinary arts (3%), and fashion or interior design (3%). Other common categories mentioned include law (8%), education (7%), law enforcement or firefighting (6%), government and political science (4%), journalism (4%), the military (4%), social services (4%), business (4%), construction or industrial manufacturing (3%), automotive services (2%), agriculture (2%), athletics (2%), ministry (1%), accounting (1%), and aviation (1%). (Barna Update 6/14/11) 

Details Matter Quirky and cute ads were effective in the 90s because they made corporate America warm and approachable. People still like these ads and may even compliment you on them, but they’re no longer driving traffic. Buying decisions are increasingly based on logic. Give customers a no-loopholes warranty and a story that rings true, and they’ll respond. Let me “logic-test” your ads before you needlessly burn up cash resources. Contact me at 419-238-4082, Gary@garydfoster.com or www.garydfoster.com.  (Monday Morning Memo 5/21/07) 

Cause Engagement The new Dynamics of Cause Engagement study by Georgetown Univ. and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide finds 30% of African American adults and 39% of Hispanics are more likely to support a cause or social issue online than offline—both significantly more than Caucasians at 24%. African Americans and Hispanics are significantly more likely to believe they can help get the word out about a social issue or cause through online social networks (58% and 51% respectively, vs. 34% of Whites). They also subscribe more readily to the belief that social networking sites make it easier to support causes and help increase visibility for causes. (Center for Media Research Brief 6/9/11) 

Feminization of Mental Health Men earn only 1 in 5 of all master’s degrees in psychology, down from half in the ‘70s. They account for less than 10% of social workers under age 34 and for just 10% of the American Counseling Assoc. membership vs. 30% in ’82. Some college psychology programs cannot even attract male applicants. The result: The profession is at risk of losing its appeal for a large group of men who would like to receive therapy but prefer to start with a male therapist. Among the causes is the male view-point has been devalued in the course of empowering little girls for the past 40 or 50 years. Another is economic due to managed care reducing therapists’ incomes in the ‘90s and increased use of drug treatments. And as more women entered the work force, they were drawn to the talking cure more than men. Univ. of Akron psychologist Ronald F. Levant found a man on the fence about seeking treatment could be discouraged by the prospect of talking to a woman. (NY Times 5/22/11) 

What NOT To Do With Social Networking When building a social network for your customers, donors, or prospects, don’t:  1) Misunderstand your target audience. The demographics of users on MySpace differ greatly from those on Facebook, Friendster, and other social networks. When creating any site, be very specific about whom you want to reach. 2) Be impatient. Like any marketing strategy, building a social network takes time. With the potential of exponential growth (members reach out to each other and tell others), the time it takes to build a membership base is worth the benefits of having a captive audience ready to experience the brand and hear the message. 3) Assume people will discover it on their own. Success requires outside promotion either online, offline, or both. Some advertise their sites in various media or on the product donor communication itself. Word-of-mouth is a powerful tool, but there has to be someone there first to spread the word. I can coach you and your team through this strategic marketing effort. Contact me at 419-238-4082, Gary@garydfoster.com or www.garydfoster.com. (1to1 5-6/07) 

Vinyl Record Sales Spike According to 6/13 Digital Music News, the RIAA reports U.S. vinyl-record sales have increased 455% during the past 5 years. (CBA Industry Brief 6/15/11) 

Consumers Will Spend More with companies that provide great service, finds the American Express Global Customer Service Barometer. In a stronger economic environment, 70% of Americans are willing to spend an average of 13% more with companies they believe provide excellent customer service vs. 58% a year ago. Yet many businesses aren’t making the grade with consumers. 60% believe businesses haven’t increased their focus on providing good customer service, up from 55% in ’10. Among these, 26% feel companies are actually paying less attention to service. Companies that have earned a reputation for service excellence understand employees interacting with customers every day are their true brand ambassadors. (Marketing Daily 5/4/11) 

Fiction continues to dominate eBook downloads, with literary fiction, science fiction, and romance each comprising over 20% of all format purchases. (BISIG Bulletin 5/11) 

Tech Dads are spending more time online with kids than moms are. 73% of dads who own a console or gaming device play video games with kids for at least an hour per week vs. 38% of moms. A new Ipsos study says dads spend about 4.5 hours per week online with their kids and are more likely than moms to buy and download music, games, movies, TV shows, and educational content for kids. Dads are also more likely than moms to share out-of-home experiences like movies, sporting events, and live entertainment with their kids. Dads saw about 7 movies with their kids over the previous 12 months vs. 4.4 for moms. 44% of dads vs. 35% of moms saw entertainment events with their kids; 44% of dads vs. 27% of moms went to sporting events with their kids; and 29% of dads vs. 20% of moms went to concerts with kids. (Marketing Daily 6/16/11) 

Giving Rebound An analysis of giving to ECFA members reveals there has been a net gain in giving to its members of 2% from ’09 to ’10.  Pre-recession giving compared to 3 years later was $6.18 billion in ’07 and $6.32 billion in ’10, or an increase of 3.3%. The recessionary impact on giving was more significantly felt by smaller charities. Organizations with annual revenue above $10 million reflected an increase in giving for the ’07-’10 period of 3.1%.  While those under $10 million annual revenue saw a decrease of 3.2%. (ECFA 6/14/11) 

Virtual vs. In-Person Events According to the Measuring and Maximizing the Impact of a Hybrid Event study by The Virtual Edge Institute about why people attend in-person events vs. remotely (virtually), 43% attended in-person to expand their network, 41% preferred personal interaction with presenters/and or attendees, 30% say they learn better in person, and 26% build deeper relationships with their network. However, 56% of remote attendees focused on cost savings, 52% on time savings, 40% to attend only the sessions wanted, and 37% just wanted to try a virtual event. And, if no virtual option was available, 93% of virtual attendees would not attend the in-person event, whereas 78% of in person attendees would attend a virtual option. (Center for Media Research Brief 6/15/11)

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