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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

October 10, 2007 edition of

The FOSTER Letter—Religious Market Update

American Workers work longer hours than Europeans and those in most other rich nations, and they produce more per person per year. Other than Norwegians, they also get more done per hour, claims a U.N. report on international labor. The average U.S. worker produces $63,885 of wealth per year, the most in the world. At $35.63 of wealth created per hour, the U.S. is 2nd only to Norway’s $37.99. U.S. employees averaged 1,804 hours of work in ’06 vs. Norway’s 1,407.1 and France’s 1,564.4. 7 Asian countries averaged more than 2,200 hours, but they had lower productivity rates. America’s increased productivity is due to the information and communication technologies revolution, the highly competitive way the U.S. organizes companies plus the extension of trade and investment abroad. (NewsMax.com 9/3/07)

To-Do Lists 96% of business leaders keep a to-do list during the day, according to NFI Research. 81% have 1 to 20 items on their list. (Lima News 9/22/07)

Multi-Site Boom In1990, only 10 multi-site Protestant churches existed in the U.S. In ’07, 15% of all U.S. Protestant churches are seriously considering adding a site within the next 2 years. 47 of America’s 100 Largest and Fastest-Growing Churches are multi-site. 6 are multi-state, and 1 has a site in Peru.  (2007 Outreach 100)

Big Mac vs. Big 10 A Kelton research study found 80% of Americans knew “two all-beef patties” were among the ingredients of a Big Mac, while just 60% could identify “Thou shalt not kill” as one of the Ten Commandments. Just 34% recognized “Remember the Sabbath” and 29% “Do not make any false idols” as commandments. (The Source Daily 10/4/07) 

Listen Organizations need to listen to their customers in a way that shows those customers are valued. This is especially important because customers’ expectations are constantly changing. If, for example, company A answers its toll-free number in 1 ring, and you are that person’s next call, she will expect you to answer in 1 ring as well. Customers and donors judge you on what they think ought to happen, not on what you’ve ‘trained’ them to anticipate. Let me help you hear customers and donors. Contact me at 419-238-4082, gary@garydfoster.com or www.GaryDFoster.com.  

Trust & Integrity Companies and ministries that don’t deliver trust risk destroying potential customer/constituent goodwill and, ultimately their businesses or ministries. Those that don’t uphold their promises and values undermine brand awareness and constituent loyalty. Marketers build trust in their products, services and organizations by establishing brands that consistently deliver what’s promised. That trust can be damaged—even destroyed—in short order if customers/constituents believe they have been deceived. Organizations seen as fundamentally honest and integrity-driven in good times and bad usually are allowed tremendous leeway when they need it—as well as permission to fail, as every organization will do from time to time.  (CRM 10/07) 

Moms @ Work A Pew Research Center survey reports 56% of Americans say mothers are doing a worse job today than they did 20 or 30 years ago. Full-time work outside the home has lost some of its appeal to mothers; for both those who have such jobs and those who don’t. Among working mothers with children 17 and under, 21% say full-time work is the ideal situation for them, down from the 32% in ’97. 60% (up from 48% in ’97) of today’s working moms say part-time work would be their ideal, and 19% say they would prefer not working at all outside the home. In ’70, women contributed a median of 27% to their families’ income, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In ’04, the most recent data available, it had jumped to about 35%. The percentage of wives who earn more than their husbands has climbed from 17.8% in families where both spouses work to 25% in ’04. About 70% of women with children under 18 are in the labor force.  (USA Today 10/3/07) 

Seasoned Advice—No Overhead Obtain experienced and objective guidance on management, marketing, product development, strategic partnerships and general Christian market expertise—only when you want it. Contact 419-238-4082  gary@garydfoster.com or www.GaryDFoster.com. 

Less Religious An increasing number of people in America and around the world don’t believe in God. The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press has found 20% of Americans ages 18 to 25 say they have no religious affiliation or consider themselves atheists or agnostics, nearly double the rate of 20 years ago. Another Pew survey in 3/07 concluded the nation is witnessing a “reversal of increased religiosity observed in the mid-1990s.” Today, 12% of Americans age 20 and older describe themselves as not religious, up from 8% in ’87. This change appears to be generational in nature, with each new generation displaying lower levels of religious commitment than the preceding one. One Harvard scientist says, “More and more of what used to be the domain of religion has been ceded to science. It’s the trend of modernity. I think this is a tide. We’ve seen it happen everywhere else in the developed world. This is the direction of history.” The number of campus groups affiliated with the Secular Student Alliance, for example, has increased by more than 50% in the past two years, to more than 80 groups. (Boston.com News 9/16/07) 

E-Shrink Fearfighter, a kind of psychiatric computer, is one of two programs endorsed by Britain’s health advisory watchdog for people with panic attacks, mild depression, or phobias. People uncomfortable with getting advice from a computer can still choose to see therapists, but the option of logging on for help is now available — and will be paid for by the government-run National Health Service. Though it cannot prescribe medicine, the computerized treatment is possible because people with phobias, from fear of spiders to fear of heights, tend to get the same basic therapy. The program asks patients to identify the personal triggers that set off their panic attacks. They’re told to be more observant of these red flags and to keep a diary of things they avoid because it makes them nervous. Then, the computer gives them homework: (Ed Note: As for me, computers all too often make me think I need a psychiatrist.)  (USA Today 10/4/07) 

The Average Annual Growth of America’s 100 Largest and Fastest Growing Churches from ’06 to ’07 is 1.385 attendees. (2007 Outreach 100) 

Marriage Can Be Greedy, according to Naomi Gerstel, Univ. of Massachusetts and Natalia Sarkisian of Boston College. Analyzing two nationwide social surveys, they found married couples spend less time than singles calling, writing and visiting with their friends, neighbors and extended family. Their research finds married people are also less likely to give friends and neighbors emotional support and practical help. Marrieds were significantly less likely than unmarrieds to contact or see their parents and siblings, or to give them emotional or “practical” support, such as help with chores or babysitting. More than 80% of never-married individuals called or wrote to their parents in the last month vs. 60% of married people. Likewise, around 70% of unmarrieds vs. 30% marrieds socialized with friends in the last month. (International Herald Tribune 9/16/07) 

Un-Christian Christians A new Barna study shows 16- to 29-year-olds are more critical toward Christianity than previous generations were at the same life stage. For instance, a decade ago the vast majority of non-Christian Americans, including young people, were favorable toward Christianity’s role in society vs. just 16% of 16-29s today. Only 3% of 16-29-year-old non-Christians have favorable views of evangelicals. This means that today’s young non-Christians are 8 times less likely to experience positive associations toward evangelicals than were non-Christians of the Boomer generation (25%). It’s understandable why 91% of U.S. evangelicals believe “Americans are becoming more hostile and negative toward Christianity.” Among young non-Christians, 9 of the top 12 perceptions measured were negative. Among them are: present-day Christianity is judgmental (87%), hypocritical (85%), old-fashioned (78%), and too involved in politics (75%). The most common favorable perceptions were that Christianity teaches the same basic ideas as other religions (82%), has good values and principles (76%), is friendly (71%), and is a faith they respect (55%). 91% of young non-Christians and 80% of young churchgoers say “anti-homosexual” describes present-day Christianity. Beyond this they believe Christians show excessive contempt and unloving attitudes towards gays and lesbians. Both young non-Christians (23%) and born-again Christians (22%) said “Christianity in today’s society no longer looks like Jesus.” While Christianity remains the typical experience and most common faith in America, a fundamental recalibration is occurring within the spiritual allegiance of America’s upcoming generations. (Barna.org 9/24/07) 

Teen Market Packaged Facts reports there are 25.6 million teen living in the U.S., and they spent nearly $80 billion in ’06. U.S. teen spending will grow 3.5% annually, climbing to $91.1 billion in ’11. (E-comerceguide.com 9/17/07) 

Cohabitation is growing: 35 to 40 years ago cohabitation was rare; it was socially taboo. Growth by decade was: ’60s (up 19 %), ’70s (up 204%), ’80s (up 80%), ’90s (up 66%), but up only 7.7% between ’00 and ’04. All told, cohabitation is up eleven-fold (U.S. Census Bureau, Unmarried-Couple Households, by Presence of Children: 1960 to Present," Table UC-1, 6/12/03).

Greater Divorce Risk: The rate of divorce among those who cohabit prior to marriage is 39% vs. 21% for couples who marry without prior cohabitation. (Bennett, W.J., The Broken Hearth: Reversing the Moral Collapse of the American Family, 2001).
 Survivors A BIGresearch American Pulse Survey finds 66% of U.S. consumers say they could survive if stranded in the wilderness, and mother or father know their children better than daycare, babysitters and relatives. Other key findings include:  50.9% would stop and help someone being attacked. 27.1% say it depends on if a weapon is involved. 20.2% wouldn't stop, but would call for help. 65% say they could survive being stranded in the wilderness for 3 days. 26.3% aren't so sure. 46.5% are ok to be without their cell phone. 25.7% of 18-34 year olds, however, are anxious when disconnected. 24.1% can only be without it for a limited amount of time.  (Center for media Research Briefing 10/8/07) 

For information on how to become a subscriber to the entire 3-4 page Foster Letter---Religious Market Update, E-mail us at: subscribe@garydfoster.com