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Americans Now Spend As Many Hours On the Internet As They Do Watching Television (Internet/TV Stats)

December 16, 2010 coms 0

A recent survey released by Forrester found that Americans now spend as much time on the Internet as they do watching television. Forrester surveyed more than 30,000 people and found that the average American spends approximately 13 hours a week on the Internet and watching TV while offline. While the Internet was once thought of as something more popular among youth, the study also found that Gen X (31 to 44) and Younger Baby Boomers (45 to 54) are spending equal amounts of time using both forms of media. In the past five years, while TV use has stayed approximately the same, Internet use has increased by 121%.

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Teleworkers more satisfied than office-based employees

November 16, 2010 coms 0

Employees who telecommute the majority of the work week are more satisfied with their jobs compared to those working mostly in the office because working remotely alleviates more stress than it creates, according to a new study by a communication researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM).

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Understanding consumer behavior: Make them think it was their idea or decision?

November 15, 2010 coms 0

Consumers value goals they’ve chosen on their own more than those that are imposed on them, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. “When people believe they have autonomously chosen to pursue a goal themselves, they feel the goal is increasingly valuable as they put in more effort, because they experience their own effort as signaling how much they care about it,” write authors Ying Zhang (University of Texas at Austin), Jing Xu, Zixi Jiang (both Peking University), and Szu-chi Huang (University of Texas at Austin).

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Self-awareness can help people navigate rocky seas of relationships

November 8, 2010 coms 0

A little self-awareness can help people struggling in the world of relationships, says Jeffrey Hall, assistant professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas. Hall recently completed a study into styles of flirting among dating adults, surveying more than 5,100 people regarding their methods of communicating romantic interest.

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Training away stereotypes

November 3, 2010 coms 0

It may seem difficult to change stereotypical thinking. Perceptions can be very important in forming an individual’s attitudes. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that people conditioned to think in opposition to racial stereotypes are more receptive to people from minority groups starring in commercial advertising.

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Self-Disclosure Used to Strengthen Friendships in the United States, but Not in Japan

October 19, 2010 coms 0

In the United States, friends often share intimate details of their lives and problems. However, such self-disclosure is much less common in Japan. A new study by an American researcher living in Japan finds that this may be because of the different social systems in the two countries, and in particular the extent to which there are opportunities to make new friends.

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Celebrity Journalism May Contribute Positively to Consumer Health Behaviors

October 18, 2010 coms 0

Celebrity journalism is often considered to be without merit, discounted due to its sensational details and lack of news value. MU researchers now say that celebrity journalism may be an underappreciated way to communicate health messages. In a recent award-winning paper, Amanda Hinnant, assistant professor of magazine journalism in the University of Missouri School of Journalism, found some readers of celebrity health stories report that the stories have an impact on their own behavior and how they discuss health issues.

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Texting Statistics and Trends [Infographic]

October 15, 2010 coms 0

Text messaging has become one of the most popular forms of communication in the world. In developing countries, the low cost of text messaging plans compared to the high costs of computers has made even face-to-face communication pale in comparison. This infographic shows the texting statistics and trends for the United States and around the world.