Watch Your Tongue! Some Words and Greetings May Offend.

A new Harris Interactive survey finds that almost everyone thinks that there are some words and expressions that should not be used in front of young children and that most people would prefer not to hear some of these words and expressions
themselves. The poll also finds that while most people don’t object, about a quarter of all adults are bothered by telemarketers who call them by their first names.

These are the results of The Harris Poll(R), a national survey of 1,011 adults interviewed by telephone between October 17 and 21, 2001. The questions for this survey were suggested by Leo Bogart, a distinguished
sociologist and the author of “Commercial Culture.” Some of the results of this survey are:

* Nearly everyone (93% of all adults) believes that there are some words or expressions that should not be used in front of young children.

* More than two out of every three adults (69%) say there are some words or expressions that they would prefer not to hear people use around them. People over 65 (85%), people ages 50-64 (78%), women (78%), and African-Americans (78%) are the groups most likely to say they would prefer not to hear words and expressions which offend them. Young people ages 18-24 (58%) are the least likely to be offended by bad language.

* While most people (62%) who receive telephone calls from telemarketers or customer service people don’t care whether they are called by their first or their last names, over a quarter (28%) say they would prefer to be called by their last names and that it bothers them (29%) to be called by their first names. Hardly anyone (5%) prefers being called by his or her first name — a common practice among some telemarketers.

A marked preference for the use of the last name is reported by college graduates (35%) and those with post-graduate education (39%) and those with higher incomes, who are presumably more important targets of telemarketers. Women (34%) compared to men (23%) are also more likely to prefer the use of their last names, as are African-Americans (43%).

Given this result, it is puzzling that some telemarketers continue to offend a substantial minority of people they call by using first names.

To view charts CLICK above on ‘More Images’.

For more information at http://www.harrisinteractive.com