Seven In Ten (68%)Think A Stainless Steel Microwave Makes For A Nice Christmas Gift

Toronto, ON - According to an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted last spring, on behalf of Panasonic, seven in ten (68%) Canadians agree that a stainless steel microwave "can be a nice Christmas present," and three quarters (74%) of Canadians agree with the statement "a microwave is an important day-to-day cooking tool." More than half (56%) of Canadians say they associate microwave cooking mostly with "reheating food."

Thinking about the most stressful aspect of holiday food preparation, one-third (34%) of Canadians say it's "time required," 28% say "lack of room in the kitchen," 12% say "family interruptions," 11% say "too many people to cook for," and 4% say "following recipes" (the remaining 12% "don't know").

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Panasonic poll conducted between May 13th and May 15th 2003. The telephone survey is based on a randomly selected sample of 1001 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1773.1 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.

Seven in ten (68%) Canadians agree with the statement "a stainless steel microwave can be a nice Christmas present." Three in ten (30%) disagree with this statement.

• Residents of Atlantic Canada (74%) are those most likely to agree with the statement "a stainless steel microwave can be a nice Christmas present," followed by residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (73%), Alberta (70%), British Columbia (69%), Ontario (68%), and finally, Quebec (63%).

• Men (73%) are significantly more likely than women (63%) to agree with the statement "a stainless steel microwave can be a nice Christmas present," while women (35%) are significantly more likely than men (25%) to disagree with this statement.

Three quarters (74%) of Canadians agree with the statement "a microwave is an important day-to-day cooking tool," with 45% of those respondents saying they "strongly agree" with this statement. One quarter (26%) disagree with the statement "a microwave is an important day-to-day cooking tool."

• Residents of Alberta (88%) are significantly more likely than their counterparts in Quebec (67%), Atlantic Canada (72%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (74%), British Columbia (74%), and Ontario (75%) to agree with the statement "a microwave is an important day-to-day cooking tool."

• Young adults (78%) are significantly more likely than older Canadians (70%) to agree with the statement "a microwave is an important day-to-day cooking tool," while older Canadians (30%) are significantly more likely than their younger (22%) counterparts to disagree.

• Canadians from upper income homes (80%) are significantly more likely than their counterparts from lower (67%) and middle (72%) income homes to agree with the statement "a microwave is an important day-to-day cooking tool," while Canadians from lower (33%) and middle (28%) income homes are significantly more likely than their counterparts from upper (20%) income homes to disagree.

More than half (56%) of Canadians say they associate microwave cooking mostly with "reheating food." Two in ten (18%) say they associate microwave cooking mostly with "defrosting food," 10% say "popping popcorn," 7% say "heating frozen foods," and 5% say they associate microwave cooking mostly with "full meal preparation." Four percent (4%) answered "other" or "don't know."

• There are no regional differences regarding associations with microwave cooking.

• Young adults (13%) are significantly more likely than older Canadians (6%) to say they associate microwave cooking mostly with "popping popcorn."

• Canadians from middle (23%) income households are significantly more likely than their counterparts from lower (16%) and upper (16%) income homes to say they associate microwave cooking mostly with "defrosting food."

One-third (34%) of Canadians find the "time required" to be the most stressful aspect of holiday food preparation. Another three in ten (28%) say "lack of room in the kitchen" is the most stressful aspect of holiday food preparation, 12% say it's "family interruptions," 11% say "too many people to cook for," and 4% say "following recipes." Another 12% say they "don't know" what is the most stressful aspect of holiday food preparation.

• There are no statistically significant regional differences regarding what is the most stressful aspect of holiday food preparation.

• Women (37%) are significantly more likely than men (25%) to say the "time required" is the most stressful aspect of holiday food preparation.

• Canadians from upper (40%) and middle (34%) income households are significantly more likely than their counterparts from lower (22%) income households to say the "time required" is the most stressful aspect of holiday food preparation. On the other hand, Canadians from lower (39%) and middle (33%) income households are significantly more likely than their counterparts from upper (19%) income households to say "lack of room in the kitchen" is the most stressful aspect of holiday food preparation.

Survey findings also indicate that when it comes to preparing meals for family gatherings such as Christmas or other holidays:

• Middle-aged (52%) and older (50%) adults are significantly more likely than their younger (31%) counterparts to be the person in charge of preparing the holiday meal.

• Women (63%) are significantly more likely than men (26%) to be the person in charge of preparing the holiday meal.

Please open the attached 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