SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 18 /PRNewswire/ -- On the first day of school, when the teacher asks her new class what they want to be when they grow up, she is more likely to hear "professional athlete" over "United States president," if students want to be anything like their role models.
In a Macerich Company (NYSE: MAC) survey, aside from parents (45.8%) and teachers (19.2%), sports figures (15.9%) received the most votes for being the best role models. Almost a third surveyed said government officials such as the president made the worst.
Macerich Company's "Student-ology" survey asked almost 4,000 students and parents nationwide questions on their back-to-school shopping trends and thoughts on the upcoming school year, including how to find good role models. As far as good role models in the oval office, kids said that if they could vote, they'd pick Texas Governor G.W. Bush (39.3%) in the upcoming election, just beating Vice President Al Gore (32.8%).
"Student-ology is an interesting survey for us because it lets us see what issues and trends students really think about," said Susan Valentine, senior vice president and director of marketing for Macerich. "Not only do we hear about how students and parents plan on shopping, we learn about what issues and images they can best relate to."
In the second annual survey, Macerich learned that shoppers are starting earlier and planning to spend more. Survey findings included:
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73.8% will shop by mid-August, and shoppers on average will spend an estimated $299 for clothing, $95 for books and supplies - an increase of at least $65 from 1999.
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41.8% will visit more than 6 stores, and less than 1% will do all their shopping on-line. Rather, students will use the Internet to price compare (14.7%) and learn about new trends (11.1%).
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Magazines offer the best information on the latest style (35.8%), followed by friends (29.0%) and television (15.6%).
The Macerich Company, which has ownership interest in over 50 malls across the continental United States, is one of the nation's largest owner/operators of regional malls. Founded in 1965, Macerich is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol "MAC". For more information on Macerich, visit the Macerich web site at www.macerich.com.
For more information, contact:
Betty Lovell: 972-788-4511 / pgr: 214-910-5296
Susan Valentine: 310-394-6911 SOURCE Macerich Company
CONTACT: Betty Lovell of Lovell Public Relations, Inc., 972-788-4511, or pager, 214-910-5296, for Macerich Company; or Susan Valentine of Macerich Company, 310-394-6911/