Sports Memorabilia

FROM DINNER PLATES to watches and replica team jerseys, sales of sports memorabilia are projected to decline in 2001 for the fifth year in a row.

Consumers are expected to spend close to $12 billion this year on licensed apparel and general merchandise, down from a $13.8 billion peak in 1996, according to a new study released by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association.

Product sales may be off because of waning fan interest and public relations problems associated with high ticket prices and

Investors

Social responsibility has become a widely accepted criterion among investors. An estimated $1 out of every $8 is invested in professionally managed portfolios that accommodate these individuals’ ethical beliefs.

Socially responsible types tend to avoid investing in enterprises associated with tobacco, gambling, poor environmental track records and human rights violations. Divestment in tobacco is practically universal. These people also have concerns about labor issues, alcohol abuse, animal welfare, abortion and birth control.

Investors use shareholder advocacy and ethical screening to encourage corporations to become more responsible. Investment club members have pushed hard to establish standards and guidelines that promote ethical business practices.

A recent survey conducted by the Madison Heights, MI-based National Association of Investors Corp. reveals that 55% of investors make stock purchasing decisions that are compatible with personal ethics. Only 37% don’t consider a company’s social actions when making an investment choice.

During the second half of the 1990s the number of mutual funds screened for social responsibility compatibility tripled to 175, according to the Social Investment Forum in Washington.

Among investors, women are the largest demographic group. About 47% of investors are women; 44% are men.

Fifty-four percent of investment clubs are women-only; 38% admit men and women and 8% consist of men exclusively. The average member invests $46 per month.

Women typically invest more conservatively than men. About 50% of females consider receiving regular dividends just as important as growth in investment value. Only 13% accept large risks when seeking financial gain.

Most investors are under 50 years old and only half have college degrees. Younger people prefer to manage their own portfolios. Older individuals often rely on financial advisers.

Eighty-four percent of investors contribute to retirement plans. Some 53% own company or mutual fund stocks, 41% own bonds and around 13% invest in commodities or futures instruments.

Approximately 35% of those who invest hold white- or blue-collar jobs; another 29% are professionals or managers. About 10% of the total group work as homemakers.

The Internet has become the primary source of financial news and information for 37% of investors, magazines for 23% and newspapers 20%.

Less than 20% of investors are considered financially literate. Two out of three don’t have a financial plan and 90% never check an adviser’s disciplinary background. Only about half of those who invest understand that the purpose of diversification is to reduce risk.

Generation X investors accept more financial risk than other age groups. About 41% of Gen-Xers have made speculative investments in new companies based on growth potential compared with 28% of the general population.

Sources: Nasdaq; Princeton Survey Research Associates; Social Investment Forum

ASSOCIATION FILE

INVESTORS ALLIANCE
177,712 members
CompuName Inc.
Rye, NY

BUYER FILES

INVESTOR’S SOFTWARE LIBRARY
183,190 last-12-month buyers
Direct Media Inc.
Greenwich, CT

PERSONAL FINANCE BOOK BUYERS
287,048 last-12-month buyers
Manning Media International
Plano, TX

COMPILED FILES

AGORA FINANCIAL MASTER FILE
157,400 names
NameBank International
Baltimore

ATLANTIC’S INVESTOR DATABASE
3.3 million names
Atlantic List Co. Inc.
Arlington, VA

INVESTORS
379,972 names
Manning Media International
Plano, TX

INVESTOR’S CHOICE
1.4 million names
VentureDirect Worldwide Inc.
New York

MEDIACOMM INVESTOR INQUIRIES
87,542 names
Direct Media Inc.
Greenwich, CT

SUBSCRIBER FILES

INVESTMENT NEWS
30,199 subscribers
Mail Marketing Inc.
Northvale, NJ

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR JOURNALS
12,028 subscribers
Aggressive List Management Inc.
Barrington, IL

STOCK MARKET PROFITS
20,635 subscribers
Carnegie Marketing Associates
Torrance, CA

Senior Citizens

PERHAPS contrary to popular opinion, learning is a lifelong pursuit for most senior citizens. They’re motivated by heightened interest in personal or spiritual development and coping with changes, particularly relating to health and finances.

Most seniors prefer to learn on their own through hands-on experience and self-teaching. A survey conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons indicates that 89% prefer hands-on training and 57% don’t like classroom instruction at all.

About 23% of the elderly are willing to spend $100 to learn something new and 47% will pay as much as $500, according to the AARP survey.

Topics that interest seniors most include computers, health and travel. Some 25% of those polled surf the Web to learn about educational travel opportunities and 17% go online seeking health information.

Approximately 25% of seniors have a computer at home and 60% use it daily, notes San Francisco-based SeniorNet, a nonprofit organization serving computer users over age 50. An estimated 15% of Internet subscribers (7.6 million people) are 55 or older.

The SeniorNet survey indicates 83% of the elderly teach themselves how to use the Internet. More than 90% of seniors accessing the Net buy online, especially books and computer-related products.

Seventy percent of seniors with Internet connections spend an average of 20 hours per week online, while 32% devote even more time to it, claims SeniorNet.

Between 2010 and 2030 the senior population will explode. About 40 million Americans will be 65 or older in 2010. By 2030, 70 million elderly will account for 20% of the U.S. population, up from last year’s 34.5 million and 13%, respectively.

The ratio between men and women increases with age. For every 100 men age 65 to 69 there are 143 women the same age. At age 85 there are 241 women per 100 men.

Minority groups will make up more than 25% of seniors in 2030, up from 16.1% in 1999. The non-Hispanic white senior population is projected to increase 81%, compared with 219% for minorities. The number of Hispanic elderly is likely to rise by 328%; Asian-Pacific Islanders, 285%; Native Americans, 147%; and African Americans, 131%.

Fifty-two percent of those age 65 or older live in nine states. California is home to 3.6 million, Florida 2.7 million, New York 2.4 million, Texas 2 million and Pennsylvania 1.9 million. Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and New Jersey each have more than 1 million seniors.

Individuals over age 65 are less likely to live in metropolitan areas than younger folks. About 28% of the elderly live in cities, compared with 49% in suburbia.

The median income of households headed by seniors (65+) is $33,148. About 47% of seniors have annual household incomes above $35,000, while 11.5% earn less than $15,000.

As a group the elderly are estimated to control more than 50% of the United States’ discretionary income and 77% of the nation’s assets.

Twelve percent (4 million) of those age 65 and up are either employed or seeking work. This includes 2.3 million men and 1.7 million women, or 2.9% of the U.S. work force. About 860,000 people over 65 are self-employed.

Sources: American Association of Retired Persons;
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

OPPORTUNITY SEEKERS can be characterized as low-end or wannabe entrepreneurs. Their tendency to respond to get-rich-quick schemes is a catalyst for the kind of marketing creativity that often attracts the attention of U.S. Postal Service inspectors.

This group is responsible for most of the negative media and public relations problems involving direct marketing. Honest marketers must compete with con artists for these customers, who are searching for business success or virtually any way to make money.

The majority of opportunity seekers are dreamers looking to improve their lives and financial situations. Most often, they buy information, especially how-to and self-help books. Hot market sectors include home-based and Internet businesses.

Demand for diet and credit-repair information has diminished in recent years, says Steven Keats, vice president of Macromark Inc., a New York list company.

SUBSCRIBER FILES COSMOPOLITAN 853,184 subscribers Direct Media Inc. Greenwich, CT

ELLE 391,838 subscribers HFM List Management New York

GENTLEMEN’S QUARTERLY 412,044 subscribers Millard Group Inc. Peterborough, NH

GLAMOUR 1,051,921 subscribers Millard Group Inc. Peterborough, NH

HARPER’S BAZAAR 509,519 subscribers Direct Media Inc. Greenwich, CT

MADEMOISELLE 668,074 subscribers Millard Group Inc. Peterborough, NH

MIRABELLA 249,647 subscribers HFM List Management New York

BUYER FILES INTERNATIONAL MALE 193,422 12-month catalog buyers Fasano and Associates Los Angeles

* Fashion in America knows no borders. U.S. retail sales of apparel total $172 billion annually, with demand about equally split for fashion imports and domestically manufactured products, says the Garment Industry Development Corp. (GIDC), New York.

* Six retail conglomerates capture $9 out of every $10 spent on apparel, according to a study conducted by NPD Group, Port Washington, NY. The fashion conscious congregate at stores owned by Belk, Dayton-Hudson, Dillard’s, Federated, May Co. and Saks Inc.

* The nation’s most formal dressers tend to live in the Northeast, while Americans living in the West generally dress the most casually, an NPD Group survey shows. Southerners typically dress less formal than Northeasterners but not as casual as Westerners.

* New York is nirvana for fashion addicts. Virtually all U.S. fashion media is based there, along with more than 5,100 fashion showrooms. About 28% of all women’s dresses, coats and sportswear worn in the United States are manufactured in the Big Apple, according to the GIDC.

* Apparel became the leading product category for Web sales in 1997, surpassing sales of books, electronics, food, flowers and music on America Online.

* Expectations are high that the fashion forward will embrace futuristic techno-clothing. Internet World magazine predicts wallet PCs and wearable computers will become fashion statements in the not-so-distant future.

* Fashion consciousness carries a psychological cost, according to research conducted by the University of Toronto. The study determined that women who read magazine advertisements featuring skinny models typically suffer from low self-esteem more than women who don’t read fashion publications.