As we ring in the New Year this week, Americans will be tossing back a few adult beverages in celebration. While alcohol consumption certainly increases around holidays and other times of celebration, many Americans imbibe year-round. So where across this great land of ours are you most likely to find adults willing and able to raise a glass (or two) and where are you most likely to be surrounded by teetotalers? Experian Simmons has the answer. Leveraging data from our SimmonsLOCAL study, we examined the drinking patterns of adults of legal drinking age in the 106 Designated Market Areas (DMAs) with populations of at least 500,000 adults age 21 and older.  We then ranked those markets by the number of alcoholic beverages consumed by the average adult during a typical month. The chart below lists the DMAs that consume the most alcoholic beverages per capita in a typical month. First place goes to Boston, where the average adult of legal drinking age regularly kicks back 14.4 drinks a month. (Celebrations in Beantown are probably already underway.) Rank DMA Average drinks per month 1 Boston 14.4 2 Austin 13.8 3 Providence-New Bedford 13.4 4 Madison 13.2 4 Hartford & New Haven 13.2 6 Philadelphia 13.1 7 Chicago 13 8 Denver 12.9 9 Tallahassee-Thomasville 12.8 9 Milwaukee 12.8 11 Minneapolis-St. Paul 12.6 11 West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce 12.6 11 Seattle-Tacoma 12.6 11 Tucson (Sierra Vista) 12.6 15 Green Bay-Appleton 12.5 16 San Diego 12.4 16 Baltimore 12.4 16 Washington, DC 12.4 16 Albany-Schenectady-Troy 12.4 20 New Orleans 12.3 20 St. Louis 12.3 20 Colorado Springs-Pueblo 12.3 23 Burlington-Plattsburgh 12.2 23 Syracuse 12.2 23 Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News 12.2 23 Spokane 12.2 23 Portland-Auburn 12.2 Source: Experian Simmons Adult residents of the markets listed below surely know how to have a good time-it's just unlikely to include a cocktail. The chart below lists the DMAs that consume the fewest alcoholic beverages per capita in a typical month. Residents of Chattanooga consume only 6 alcoholic beverages per month, on average, making it the least imbibing market-and probably the one that feels the best the morning after a big gathering. Rank DMA Average drinks per month 106 Chattanooga 6 105 Salt Lake City 7.2 105 Florence-Myrtle Beach 7.2 105 Charleston-Huntington 7.2 105 Tri-Cities, TN-VA 7.2 101 Knoxville 7.4 100 Lexington 7.9 99 Birmingham 8 98 Huntsville-Decatur 8.5 97 Nashville 8.9 97 Evansville 8.9 95 Paducah-Cape Girardeau-Harrisburg-Mt Vernon 9.1 94 Springfield, MO 9.2 94 Tulsa 9.2 94 Greenville-New Bern-Washington 9.2 91 Memphis 9.3 90 Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville-Anderson 9.4 90 Jackson, MS 9.4 90 Wichita-Hutchinson Plus 9.4 86 Little Rock-Pine Bluff 9.5 86 Louisville 9.5 86 Ft. Smith-Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 9.5 83 Fresno-Visalia 9.6 82 Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem 9.7 82 Roanoke-Lynchburg 9.7 Source: Experian Simmons For more information on SimmonsLOCAL's vivid reporting of consumer behaviors, attitudes, lifestyles and media consumption in 209 Designated Market Areas down to the ZIP code level, visit our website.

Registered Republicans and Democrats have different TV program preferences. But a majority of highly rated Nielsen programs seem to clearly skew Republican. Which TV programs does each group prefer, and what are the common threads among the two groups?

Discount stores appear to be weathering the recession better than some of their full-price counterparts, as they carry first-quality designer merchandise at competitive prices.

For British Petroleum (BP), 2010 has been marked by the unfortunate developments resulting after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20. Since then, BP’s crisis mismanagement and failed attempts to stop the oil spill have transformed this unfortunate event into an ecological disaster with political and financial consequences for the company. The oil leak has caused BP to lose a noticeable number of its American customers, namely their most loyal consumers. Experian Simmons DataStream shows that between April 26 and June 28, 2010 the percentage of American adults who report going to BP fell from 26.4% to 16.4%, a relative loss of 38% of their client base in just nine weeks. More astounding is the fact that BP’s most loyal consumers (those who said that BP is the gas or service station that they go to most often) declined a relative 56% during the same time. In fact, on June 28, 2010, only 9.5% of adults went to BP most often compared with 21.5% who were loyal to BP the week of the spill. With the flow of oil temporarily ceased and nearing a permanent solution, BP may finally be able to cap the flow of bad publicity and to reverse some of their loss in market share. Experian Simmons will continue to monitor this and other important consumer trends and share those findings here.

According to data released by Standard and Poor’s and Experian for S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices, “default rates nationally fell in May across the board.” Defaulting balances declined among all types of credit lines, including bank card loans, first and second mortgage default rates and auto loans. Further research from Experian Simmons DataStream underscores this trend. Between November 17, 2008 and May 10, 2010, there has been a 15% increase in the share of major credit card holders who report usually paying their credit card balance in full each month. This increase is reflected among both VISA and MasterCard credit card holders, during the same time period. Specifically, the percent of VISA and MasterCard credit card holders who usually pay their credit card balance in full increased by 25% and 17%, respectively. During the later part of 2008 and much of the first half of 2009, MasterCard holders were the more likely to pay their card balance in full each month. Today, however, VISA card holders are the more likely to pay the full amount due. As of May 10, 2010, 42% of VISA card holders usually paid their VISA balance in full compared with 40% of MasterCard holders. American consumers’ attempt to become solvent shows that personal financial responsibility standards are increasing in response to the recent financial crisis. According to data released by Standard and Poor’s and Experian for S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices, “default rates nationally fell in May across the board.” Defaulting balances declined among all types of credit lines, including bank card loans, first and second mortgage default rates and auto loans. Further research from Experian Simmons DataStream underscores this trend. Between November 17, 2008 and May 10, 2010, there has been a 15% increase in the share of major credit card holders who report usually paying their credit card balance in full each month. This increase is reflected among both VISA and MasterCard credit card holders, during the same time period. Specifically, the percent of VISA and MasterCard credit card holders who usually pay their credit card balance in full increased by 25% and 17%, respectively. During the later part of 2008 and much of the first half of 2009, MasterCard holders were the more likely to pay their card balance in full each month. Today, however, VISA card holders are the more likely to pay the full amount due. As of May 10, 2010, 42% of VISA card holders usually paid their VISA balance in full compared with 40% of MasterCard holders. American consumers’ attempt to become solvent shows that personal financial responsibility standards are increasing in response to the recent financial crisis.

Forward thinking marketers leverage the power of social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and more to connect to consumers in a more personal and meaningful way. That's why Experian Simmons is focusing on social networking in this issue of Consumer Insights, featuring the freshest insights available from the latest Simmons New Media Study. The 2010 Social Networking Report provides the hard data behind this consumer revolution, including the fact that fully 66% of online Americans use social networking sites today, up from just 20% in 2007. Social networking is an increasingly addictive activity, with nearly half of those who access such sites (43%) reporting that they visit them multiple times per day. While users of social networking sites may have initially signed up to better keep in touch with friends, a growing number say they now use sites like Facebook to connect with family members. An astounding 70% of social networkers keep in touch with family via their various online networks, up from 61% a year ago. Fully two-thirds of all online adults today have visited a social networking site in the last 30 days, up from 53% in 2008 and 20% in 2007. Social networks have most thoroughly penetrated the young adult market, as nearly 9-in-10 online 18-to 34-year-olds visit such sites today. But even older Americans are tapping into social networks, with 41% of online adults age 50 and older making monthly visits to sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. The rise of social networking tracks closely with that of Facebook. As of April 26, 2010, 46% of the U.S. online adult population reported having visited Facebook in the past 30 days. While keeping in touch with others is an important part of social networking, the popularity of games like Farmville and Mafia Wars illustrate that fun is a big part of the appeal of social networking. Whether it’s keeping in touch with others, playing games, debating politics or any of the other reasons people use social networking sites, it cannot be denied that there’s a sense of addictiveness to it all. Visiting social networking sites multiple times a day is up 28% over last year, while less frequent visits are down across the board. As social networking sites extend their reach across generations, Americans are increasingly using such sites to connect with more than just their friends. Today, 17% of social networkers communicate with their parents via those sites and 22% connect with their kids, up from 9% and 15%, respectively, a year ago. An astounding two-thirds of social networking site visitors (68%) say they have shown their support of a product, service, company or musical group by becoming a “fan” or a “friend” on a social networking site. One year earlier, only 57% of social networkers had publicly declared their “like” for a product, service, company or musical group. Knowing that social networkers are comfortable connecting with products and brands they support, it's important to understand which brands have the best opportunity to connect with this group. Top retail brands among Facebook users, for instance, include H&M, Hot Topc and Forever 21. Specifically, Facebook users are full twice as likely as the average American adult to shop at H&M. Twitter visitors are 3.7 times more likely to shop at Nordstrom. Heavy users of social networking sites are primarily concentrated in the Northwest and markets that are heavily influenced by major colleges or universities.

The vast majority of Facebook visitors—like most Internet users—say they like websites that take special care to protect their privacy. Yet as the popularity of Facebook grew during 2009 among both younger and older adults, there was a general waning in visitors’ advocacy of online privacy. In fact, the share of Facebook visitors sensitive to privacy protection experienced a 9% relative decline between January and November of 2009. That decline may have continued, were it not for a series of privacy policy updates issued by the social networking giant. In November 2009, Facebook changed its default settings to publicly reveal a larger than before amount of its users’ information. Then in December 2009, the privacy settings were entirely removed from certain categories of users' information. And lastly, in April 2010, users’ General Information became publicly exposed whenever they connected to certain applications or websites, a move that seriously angered many Facebook adherents. Following these changes, the share of Facebook users who are sensitive to privacy protection rose. Specifically, between November 2009 and April 2010, the percent of users who like sites that protect their privacy increased a relative 7%. Facebook’s decision to return, and even simplify, control over privacy settings to account holders may appease users, but whether a subsequent drop in support of online privacy will ensue down the line is far from certain.