Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Thu, Jun 25 1992 Date: Thu, 25 Jun 92 05:35:29 EDT Message-ID: 06-25 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update June 25, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BOOKS STAY ON THE SHELF: Sixty percent of American households did not purchase a single book in a given year. Not even "How to Satisfy a Woman Every Time" or "French for Cats." It's not that we are now a nation of illiterate morons - book sales are holding their own. The problem is that other forms of entertainment have exploded, shrinking book publishing's impact on the public's imagination. (For more, see special Books package below.) PURR-FECT OUTFIT FOR SUMMER: Blame it on Catwoman. Her shiny black skin-tight catsuit is running loose in the mainstream, courtesy of the hit film "Batman Returns." Consumers are on the prowl at department and specialty stores around the country. A Fredericks of Hollywood spokesperson says catsuit sales have gone up. Fredericks does not stock bullwhip accessories. MEN INQUIRING ABOUT CATSUITS: The unitard has become a basic item for most fashionable femmes. But always underneath something. "We've had a lot of men calling us asking if we sell anything like that catwoman outfit," says Beth Coleman, salesperson at Dream Dresser, a Washington D.C. lingerie store that stocks latex catsuits for $275. MORE WOMEN GETTING DEGREES: More women are earning bachelor's degrees and fewer men are getting them. In the 1970-1971 school year, men earned 57% of bachelor's degrees in the USA, compared to 43% by women. In the 1980-1981 school year, the percentage of men and women earning bachelor's degrees was at 50%. But in the 1990-1991 school year, women earned 54% of bachelor's degrees. CHEMOTHERAPY RISK DOWN: About five of every 10,000 breast cancer patients will get leukemia as a result of chemotherapy during the next 10 years, but that total is far lower than it was in the 1970s, concludes a study in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. Radiation widely used to treat breast cancer during the 1970s significantly increased the risk of leukemia. Current therapies use lower doses. MORE SIGN UP FOR CLAIMS: The number of new unemployment insurance claims filed has steadily increased since 1988 when 16.1 milion people filed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. In 1989, 17.2 million people filed for unemployment insurance claims. That increased to 20.2 million in 1990 and 23.2 million last year. MORE CHARGING DENTAL VISITS: MasterCard and Visa has reported a 20% increase in credit-card charges for dental services in 1991, according to the American Dental Association. Of that year's estimated dental spending - $35 billion - more than $900 million was charged. Te trend is expected to continue. The average charge on Visa was $172. More than 54,000 dentists' offices accept Visa or MasterCard. TEENS CHANGING THEIR WAYS: Education about AIDS and sex can change teen-age boys' behavior, new research shows. Boys who get formal instruction on AIDS risks become more consistent condom users and have fewer sex partners; those who learn about saying no to sex also tend to reduce their number of partners, says a nationwide study in the current issue of Alan Guttmacher Institute's Family Planning Perspectives. MORE WOMEN RECEIVE MAMMORGRAMS: More women are getting mammograms, increasing their chances of finding breast cancer at a treatable stage. But the numbers in a new survey, out Tuesday, still are too low, says the American Cancer Society. The survey of 980 women over 40 by the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health in Washington, D.C., shows 75% have had a mammogram - up from 64% in 1990 and 37% in 1987. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON BOOKS: PUBLISHERS TRY TO STAKE CLAIMS: "There are a lot of things going on in the culture that may prevail against books competing for the dollars allotted for movie going, video renting and CD buying," says Stuart Applebaum, senior vice president of the Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group. "But if we didn't think that we could successfully stake out our books against the other media, we probably wouldn't be here." MUSIC IS EVERYWHERE NOW: Twenty years ago, books were on the bookstore shelf. Music was on the radio and hi-fi and movies were in theaters and on network TV. Today, music is on MTV, VH-1, CDs, Walkmans and stereos, while TV features dozens of cable channels. Plug in that VCR or laser disc player and you have an infinity of movies on video. And there are new amusements like Nintendo to play on your home computer. BOOKS HAVE MORE COMPETITION: Books compete "head to head with other leisure time options," and quite simply, "there are far too many books competing for far too few readers" comments Jack Romanos, president of the Simon & Schuster Consumer Group. The Book Industry Study Group says spending on adult consumer books increased 10.7% between 1985 and 1990, while spending on children's books increased 16.6%. (End of package.) Trends & Marketing Editor: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM