August 4, 2008

U.S. Adults Report, Your House Stinks!

New National Survey Indicates Americans Think Other’s Homes Smell

A new study on various household odors commissioned by Dutch Boy and conducted by market research company Harris Interactive® found that the majority of U.S. adults think that friend’s and family member’s homes have a distinct odor, but don’t feel the same way about their own houses.

The latest study uncovered that the majority of U.S. adults (80 percent) say that most homes have a distinctive odor or smell.  Nearly all adults (96 percent) have noticed an offensive odor or smell in someone’s home at some time, but only about one in three (36 percent) admit noticing such a smell in their own home.

“The results of the Dutch Boy study seem to indicate that the majority of homes in America have some type of distinctive odor or smell, and while inhabitants of those homes might not be able to detect them, visitors can easily pick up on odors that are present,“ said Mary Ward, Dutch Boy Paints Senior Product Manager.  “So, while only about one in three Americans think their own home might smell, in actuality, the numbers of households that could benefit from an odor-eliminating product, such as Dutch Boy’s new Refresh™ paint, is much higher.”

Exactly whose homes (other than their own) participants noted as “smelly” also might surprise you.  Sixty-two percent say that they’ve noticed that a friend’s home has a distinctive odor, followed by their parent’s home (27 percent), then their neighbor’s and grandparent’s home (25 percent).
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Even more “smelly” statistics about what particular odors are noticed were revealed.  The most commonly cited odors are cigar/cigarette smoke (81 percent), pet smell (80 percent) and food smells (63 percent).

Dutch Boy’s revolutionary new Refresh™ paint is formulated with Arm & Hammer® odor-eliminating technology to effectively remove common household odors from every area of the home, from basements to children’s rooms, nurseries, kitchens, bathrooms and family rooms.
Not surprisingly, according to the survey, the most commonly cited rooms with a distinctive odor or smell are by far the kitchen (52 percent) and the bathroom (46 percent).
For complete survey results, more information on Dutch Boy or Refresh™ paint, contact Julie Brosien or Branden Blackmur at 216-696-0229.

About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research.  With a long and rich history in multimodal research, powered by our science and technology, it assists clients in achieving business results.  Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms.  For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

Editor’s Note: About the Survey:
This Smelly Homes study was conducted online within the United States on behalf of Dutch Boy between January 22 and January 24, 2008 among 2,056 U.S. adults ages 18+.

Results were weighted as needed for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region, and household income.  Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments.  Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading.  All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys.  The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the U.S. adult population.  Because the sample is based on those who agreed to be invited to participate in the Harris Interactive online research panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.