People Won’t Avoid Crowded Public Places Because of Recent Events
Worthington, OH May 8, 2013
Shortly after 9/11 many polls were conducted to gauge American sentiment. Fast forward to 2013 and similar surveys were collected in the aftermath of the Boston bombings. The analytics unit at Prosper Insights & Analytics™ examined data from several sources and identified an emerging trend—Americans are resilient and won’t let terrorism keep them from their life.
Not surprisingly, a majority of Americans are concerned about another terrorist attack. An April Washington Post poll found that 69% are somewhat/a great deal concerned of the possibility. Right after 9/11, this number reached 87%.
The percentage of those concerned that an attack will happen at an event that they personally attend drops to below half at 48%, according to the April American Pulse™ survey from Prosper. Although concerned, and likely more diligent, the prospect of terror doesn’t appear to be preventing people from attending/participating in events like the Boston Marathon; less than 1 in 10 say they would think twice.
The American Pulse survey also found that 72% have not reconsidered a laundry list of public outings, including attending events, going to the mall or taking public transportation, while 85% have not stopped those activities. The latter is in line with the 90%+ who said “no” to the question in the April Washington Post survey that asked “have you or has anyone in your household started avoiding crowded places such as shopping malls because of the chance of terrorism, or not?”
Although both 9/11 and the events in Boston were tragic, Boston hasn’t brought with it the same immediate and extreme reactions (think financial markets shut down, flights suspended, high state of alert). But both events are similar in that Americans need time to heal and get back to their daily routine. In October 2001, 41% said it would take three or more months to get back to normal; 34% said the same regarding Boston, according to the American Pulse survey. America certainly appears to be a nation that while concerned, isn’t scared. Its people are empathetic and stand together in the face of terror.
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Prosper Insights & Analytics™
Prosper Insights & Analytics provides advanced business intelligence using sophisticated analytical software to examine big datasets and provide answers to executives via its cloud-based InsightCenter™ platform powered by Prosper Technologies. By integrating a variety of data including economic, behavioral and attitudinal data, Prosper Insights & Analytics delivers insights for executive decision making. Further, it is continually identifying unique insights through analytics to enable marketers to make knowledge-based decisions rather than relying on intuition. To learn more: www.ProsperDiscovery.com
reInvention LLC
reInvention LLC provides global sampling and data collection services. Driven by a passion for making it incredibly easy to survey audiences anywhere in the world, reInvention delivers high-quality responses and superior results. OneOpinion, reInvention’s respondent panel, is a next generation survey taking platform that encourages survey participation through sophisticated technology, honest communications, and respectful compensation. reInvention was founded by Hugh Davis and Keith Price and is headquartered in Westport, CT. http://www.reInvention.com
Contact:
Chrissy Wissinger, Director, Communications
chrissy@goProsper.com
Dianne Kremer, Senior Analyst
dianne@goProsper.com
614-846-0146
reInvention LLC
Jim Nikolis
jnikolis@reinvention.com
203-635-0882