What you need to know about the new direct marketing guidance note
Nadine Mather and Chloë Loubser
South Africans love shopping, eating out
SAARF has released some of the answers to its AMPS Dec 10 (Jan-Dec 2010) lifestyle and activities questions about what South African men and women are most likely to be engaging in and what they have in common across the gender line. Here are some of the highlights of the report.
Weekly activities
Number one weekly activity: reads a newspaper sold in his area - 47.5% of men
Number one weekly activity: cooks for pleasure - 50.5% of women
Read books weekly: 28.2% of women and 25.3% of men
Attend a religious gathering (weekly): 47.1% of women and 32.5% of men
Health awareness low
Health is not top of the mind for South Africans. Research done in the UK showed that women are more likely than men to report ill health. (Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8588686.stm). It would seem that South Africans show similar trends. Only 20.4% of men go to the doctor, dentist or other medical professional each month, compared to 30.5% of women. This is the fourth-highest activity on the women's monthly list, and the seventh on the men's.
Across a year however, the numbers even out, with 35.0% of all men seeing a medical professional within the course of a year, and 34.5% of women. It is sobering however, to consider that in a country with such high rates of infection for HIV/Aids, TB and other diseases, only a third of all adults will get medical care each year.
Monthly pleasures
| Men's Top 10 Monthly Activities | Women's Top 10 Monthly Activities | |
| 1. | Eat out at a restaurant or steakhouse (33.8%) | Visit hair salon (43.5%) |
| 2. | Have a braai (28.8%) | Eat out at a restaurant or steakhouse (35.7%) |
| 3. | Shop for pleasure (26.6%) | Shop for pleasure (31.9%) |
| 4. | Attend a funeral (25.2%) | Go to the doctor, dentist, clinic or other (30.5%) |
| 5. | Watch videos/DVDs (23.7%) | Bake for pleasure (30.4%) |
| 6. | Buy DVDs (22.1%) | Attend a funeral (29.7%) |
| 7. | Go to the doctor, dentist, clinic or other (20.4%) | Have a braai (25.4%) |
| 8. | Buy CDs (20.1%) | Watch videos/DVDs (24.6%) |
| 9. | Visit hair salon (20.0%) | Buy DVDs (19.8%) |
| 10. | Attend religious gathering (excluding funerals) (19.4%) | Attend a burial society meeting (19.5%) |
Count Me Out
Activities you're least likely to find South Africans doing.
| Men's least likely activity | Women's least likely activity | |
| 1. | Knitting & crocheting (89.9%) | Placing bets on a horserace (89.1%) |
| 2. | Scrapbooking and decoupage (89.2%) | Caravanning (89.0%) |
| 3. | Needlework/tapestry (88.7%) | Hiring a car (86.7%) |
| 4. | Sewing/dressmaking (88.0%) | Scrapbooking/decoupage (85.6%) |
| 5. | Using slimming preparations in a bid to lose weight (87.6%) | Gambling at a casino (85.4%) |
| 6. | Caravanning (87%) | Bird-watching (83.8%) |
| 7. | Having beauty treatments (86.4%) | Playing games on the internet (83.5%) |
| 8. | Placing bets on horseracing (85.8%) | Trying to lose weight using slimming preparations (83.3%) |
| 9. | Hiring a car (85.4%) | Playing a musical instrument (83.0%) |
| 10. | Sunbathing (85%) | Attending a book club (82.3%) |
The top annual activity for South Africans is attending weddings, with 50.8% of women and 46.9% of men making it their favourite.
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