Give San Diegans Credit--They Know How to Shop

San Diegans can lay claim to being No. 1 when it comes to ownership of compact disc players, telephone answering machines and having a foreign-made car as a primary vehicle.

San Diegans are also near the top in viewing cable television, using automated-teller machines, going to movies and choosing real estate as a prime investment.

The findings are based on an annual nationwide marketing survey released Thursday.

Michelle Becker, a spokeswoman for Impact Resources Inc., said 6,143 San Diegans covering two age groups (25 to 44 and 45 and older) were interviewed here over six weeks last fall.

“It was a noncommissioned study, meaning we did it strictly on our own,” Becker said from her office in Columbus, Ohio. “We did the same survey in 41 other markets. We’re known for the large numbers of people we interview. We’ll profile between 5,000 and 18,000 people, depending on market size.”

In comparison to consumers around the country, Becker said, San Diegans ranked third (10.8%) behind West Palm Beach (24%) and Miami (23.4%) in living in condominiums. San Diego fielded the second-highest percentage of renters, 38.6%, compared to 41.4% in Los Angeles. It placed second in the percentage of those investing in real estate (12% behind Seattle’s 13.6%), a category in which only 14 markets were surveyed.

Other demographic truths surfacing included San Diego’s fielding the highest number of people who have lived in the area one to 10 years (34.5%). San Diego tied for first in the country in numbers of people who have lived here less than a year (its 4.1% was shared with Seattle). And, of course, it was first in the country in people employed by the military (6.2%).

Becker said details of where people were interviewed are confidential, but she noted, “We don’t stand in malls with clipboards. We talk to consumers over a prolonged period in high-traffic retail areas, such as the downtown business district and regional malls. We also invade the neighborhoods themselves.”

She said the findings are used by newspapers, radio and television stations, department stores, banks and research institutions to gauge market preferences in urban areas. She said other cities surveyed include New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Cleveland, Boston, Seattle, Dallas, Miami and Orlando and West Palm Beach, Fla.

“Essentially, it’s (among) the top 50 markets in the country,” she said. “We found San Diego has quite a young population compared to the national average. For instance, when you look at consumers in the 18 to 34 age group, you find 43.8% in San Diego compared to 36% for the national average.”

The areas in which San Diego didn’t do so well? It finished 17th in ownership of microwave ovens--77.8%--compared to 84.1% in St. Louis and 83.5% in Salt Lake City.

San Diego was seventh in ownership of videocassette recorders. Its 75.5% trailed Baltimore (No. 1 with 77.9%), Salt Lake City (77.1%) and Chicago (76.7%). The national average was 72.9%.

Curiously, San Diego was below the national average in going to sporting events (33.3% compared to 33.8%). The perception of the city as an ideal-weather mecca for professional sports may actually hurt it, as some critics have argued in the past. Although the weather helps such sports as baseball, it has apparently done nothing to help the city keep a professional basketball team, the thinking being that people would rather be outdoors than indoors.

The items that San Diegans buy, and the way they spend their leisure time, painted a picture of the California good life, albeit with some surprises. Becker said San Diegans were second in the country in overall viewing of cable television but No. 1 in favoring the Arts & Entertainment network and the Disney Channel.

San Diegans finished first in the survey in preferring a primary car made in a foreign country (38.2%), and they were No. 1 in choosing the South Korean-made Hyundai as their primary automobile. They tied with Los Angeles in choosing Toyota as a primary automobile and tied with Washington for preferring Mitsubishi as a primary car.

San Diego finished No. 1 in the country, Becker said, for choosing movies as a favorite way to pass time.

“In San Diego, 53.6% reported movies as a favorite leisure-time activity, compared to 48.4% for the national average,” she said. “For live theater, San Diego reported 25.5%, compared to the national average of 21.6%.”

Becker pointed out that San Diegans finished No. 1 in the country in owning telephone answering machines, although the figures were based on percentage of population and not units sold. San Diego’s ownership of such machines came in at 55.9%, compared with the San Francisco Bay Area’s 54.9% and L.A./Orange County’s 52.2%. The national average was 43.6%.

San Diego finished No. 1 in the compact disc player market: 25.9% (again, based on percentage of population) compared with 25.2% for Washington and 25% for New York. The national average was 19.6%.

San Diego fielded the second-highest percentage of consumers that regularly use automated-teller machines (43.7%, behind San Francisco’s leading figure of 44.2%).

Of 42 markets surveyed, San Diego ranked last for the percentage of consumers who have a store preference when shopping for men’s dress and women’s dress clothing. Becker said this indicated the “newness” of the city, and its population: Loyalties have not had as long to build, as they have in older, well-established markets.