Americans Get High Marks for Preserving the Emotional State of Their Union.

News Editors/Lifestyle Editors/Business Editors

WASHINGTON, D.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 21, 2004

Emotional State of the Union Poll Says Nation Has Strengthened

Its Connections with Family and Friends

As the United States starts to see signs of recovery, from both an economic and psychological standpoint, the first-ever Emotional State of the Union, a survey conducted by the Greeting Card Association (GCA), found that almost nine out of 10 people surveyed believe they are as close or closer to their friends and family than they were one year ago. In fact, 66 percent of Americans are regularly reaching out to their immediate family for love and support.

"By taking the emotional pulse of the nation, the GCA has an even better understanding of how and why people communicate and how their communication choices change in response to not just trends but also real-world events," said John Beeder, president of the Greeting Card Association. "We were pleased to see that the survey has reinforced what people have always told us about the importance of greeting cards, and how they help them stay connected with family and friends."

Are People as Close as They Used To Be? Nearly 50 percent of Americans feel more connected with their friends and family this year as compared to last. Of those who felt less connected, single people led the statistics with 15 percent feeling they had lost some connection.

Is Blood Thicker Than Water? For those who live out of town, family was more important than friends with parents (26 percent), siblings (27 percent) and other relations (15 percent) winning out over friends (11 percent) when it came to frequent communication.

Why Do Americans Communicate? When reaching out, pleasure outweighed a sense of obligation as the prompt for communication. However, when it comes to communicating with family, those surveyed were more motivated by their obligation to reach out. Overall, more women than men were motivated by a sense of pleasure versus obligation (for family, 74 percent of women chose pleasure versus obligation vs. 68 percent of men; for friends, 88 percent of women chose pleasure versus obligation vs. 82 percent of men).

Has Technology Replaced the Personal Touch? There are many ways people communicate with each other today. When asked what made them feel most special, however, those surveyed cast winning votes for greeting cards (64 percent), beating out e-mails (15 percent), text messages (5 percent) and e-cards (5 percent). Seventy percent of women and 70 percent of singles gave greeting cards an even higher approval rating than other communication options.

Talk or Action? When asked what they might do to make friends and family feel more special this year, 54 percent said they would try to spend more time together. Interestingly, while birthdays and anniversaries are typically high on the list for greeting cards, only 15 percent of those surveyed said they planned to acknowledge these occasions, versus 26 percent who said they would surprise friends and family by sending a card with a special note inside when the recipients least expect it.

What Have We Done Lately? When it comes down to action, those surveyed fell a little short of their goals to stay in touch. Only 44 percent had sent their holiday thank you cards, with women trailing behind men, 41 percent to 46 percent.

Will Love Be In The Air? With Valentine's Day only a few weeks away, 37 percent plan to purchase one to three cards, 26 percent four to 10 cards and 10 percent more than 10 cards. Women are, on average, sending more cards than men.

This year, people are in the mood to leave them laughing instead of moving them with serious words. Of those surveyed, 54 percent (62 percent for the 35 and under set) were planning to send humorous cards, compared to 28 percent who will chose a more serious sentiment. Seventeen percent are still thinking about it.

The Emotional State of the Union survey was conducted by Penn Schoen & Berland Associates, Inc., a national research firm, to determine Americans' emotional connections and plans for communication. The survey of 911 adults, 18 years of age or older, was conducted in January 2004. The overall margin of error is +/- 3.3 at the 95% confidence level.

About The Greeting Card Association

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Greeting Card Association was founded in 1941 and has a membership of 280 United States and international companies involved in the creation, production and distribution of greeting cards. Its mission is to celebrate, promote and protect the tradition and cultural values of exchanging greeting cards. For more information, visit www.greetingcard.org.