CORDUROY IN YOUR STOCKING THIS YEAR?
Tickle Inc. reveals America's holiday shopping styles and quirks

SAN FRANCISCO — December 17, 2003 — Wondering what your Cousin Joe in Vermont might be buying you for Christmas this year? Well, here's a clue - it might be made of corduroy. Compiling the answers from more than 300,000 respondents of its popular shopping-related quizzes, Tickle Inc., the leading interpersonal media company, has discovered some interesting facts about the psychology of shopping habits of people across the U.S.

• Who searches the bargain bins? Residents of Wyoming appear to be the biggest bargain hunters, while people in New Jersey are the least bargain conscious, followed by New York, California and Illinois. Women overall seem to be slightly more attracted to a bargain than men. Also, the older you get the more bargain conscious you become - 28 percent of those 25-39 say they are most likely to be found shopping in bargain bins versus 13 percent of 13-17 year olds.
• Trendsetters in New Jersey? Who knew? But it turns out people in New Jersey are more likely to say they are trendsetters than people in other states. The least likely to describe themselves as trendsetters? Residents of Washington DC.
• Corduroy capital of the U.S. Individuals in Vermont are the most likely to choose corduroy as their preferred fabric, followed closely by people in Florida. However, if you've got friends in Louisiana, you might want to consider getting them a leather wallet or leather pants. And if your sister is in Nevada, something made of velvet might be just what she's hoping for this holiday season.
• Speaking of corduroy… The folks in Vermont may be onto something - corduroy has grown in popularity over the years. In 2001, only seven percent of people chose it as their favorite fabric - the percentage has grown to 11 percent in 2003.
• Shopping makes me strong. According to Tickle's research, the younger generation are more likely to feel a sense of power when they shop - 27 percent of those ages 13 to 17 say that shopping makes them feel empowered. This feeling declines steadily over the years to 18 percent for the 18-24 year olds, 14 percent for the 25-39 year olds and 11 percent for the 40-99 year olds.
• Credit card use. When it comes time to pay for purchases, individuals in Washington DC are the most likely to pull out their credit cards, followed closely by New York and New Jersey (tied for second) and Rhode Island and Connecticut (tied for third). Massachusetts and Maryland round out the top five. The least likely to use their credit cards? People in South Dakota.
• Getting cheaper as you age. As expected, the younger the person the more willing they are to pay for designer clothes - and the older the person the less loyal they are to brands. 15 percent of those 40+ will simply buy whatever is cheapest, whereas only ten percent of 13-17 year olds will do that.
• It's December 26, start shopping now! In a separate survey of more than 3,000 Americans, Tickle asked "When do you start your holiday shopping?" Not surprisingly, most people start a few weeks before Christmas. However, some extremely proactive individuals (eight percent of respondents) said that they start holiday shopping the day after Christmas the year before - nearly the same percentage who answered that they start the day after Thanksgiving.