The Cranium Fun Study:

Toronto, ONTARIO - According to a study conducted late summer by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of Cranium Inc., when thinking of possible Christmas Day activities, eating a turkey dinner with relatives tops the list with 71% of Canadians who say they are interested in doing this activity on Christmas Day. Playing board games with family and friends comes in second with 47% interested, 39% are interested in listening to holiday music, 37% are interested in making a snowman, and 20% are interested in carolling in their neighbourhood.

When asked which family members they have the most fun with, four in ten (44%) Canadians say they have the most fun with their partner or spouse, while 28% say their children, 17% say their brothers or sisters, 4% say mom, and 3% say dad (2% say none, 2% say they don't know).

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted on behalf of Cranium Inc. between August 19th and August 21st, 2003. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,058 Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

Asked their level of interest in a number of activities for Christmas day, eating a turkey dinner with relatives tops the list with 71% interested, creating lasting memories playing board games with family and friends comes in second with 47% interested, 39% are interested in listening to holiday music, 37% are interested in making a snowman, and 20% are interested in carolling in their neighbourhood.

• Canadian adults 55 or older are more likely than their younger counterparts to be interested in eating a turkey dinner with relatives (79% vs. 68%), listening to holiday music (50% vs. 34%), and going carolling in their neighbourhood (28% vs. 17%), while Canadians age 18-54 (41%) are more likely than their elders (29%) to be interested in making a snowman. There is no statistical difference between the age groups for playing board games.

• Women are more interested than men in eating a turkey dinner with relatives (77% vs. 65%), playing board games with family and friends (57% vs. 38%), listening to holiday music (49% vs. 29%), making a snowman (44% vs. 30%), and going carolling in the neighbourhood (25% vs. 14%).

When asked which family members they have the most fun with, 44% say they have the most fun with their partner or spouse, 28% say children, 17% say brothers or sisters, 4% say mom, and 3% say dad. The remaining 4% say none (2%) or they don't know (2%).

• Middle-aged (47%) and older Canadians (44%) are more likely than young adults (39%) to say they have the most fun with their partner or spouse; middle-aged (30%) and older Canadians (43%) are more likely than young adults (11%) to say they have the most fun with children; and young adults (33%) are more likely than middle-aged (13%) and older Canadians (9%) to say they have the most fun with brothers or sisters.

• Men (50%) are more likely than women (38%) to say they have the most fun with their partner or spouse; and women (36%) are more likely than men (20%) to say they have the most fun with children.

• Canadians with an annual household income greater than or equal to $60,000 (56%) or between $30,000 and $59,000 (45%) are more likely than those with an income less than $30,000 (24%) to have the most fun with a partner or a spouse; and Canadians with an income less than $30,000 (40%) or between $30,000 and $59,000 (27%) are more likely than those with an income greater than $60,000 (20%) to have the most fun with children.

Please open the attached PDF files to view the factum and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900