MUMBAI (The Economic Times - PTI), January 1, 2008:Having a lithe and supple body, followed by a purse throbbing with currency notes, are the two most popular new year resolutions taken by Indians, an online survey says.
The survey conducted by global information and media company Nielsen India showed that about 58% of Indians surveyed online have resolved to lose weight and improve their fitness levels in the new year.
This year, ‘remaining fit and healthy’ has all of a sudden taken the lead in people’s resolutions list compared to last year, taking over better time management, saving money, getting organised, and reading more books that ranked the top last year,” The Nielsen Company (India) Director of Online Panel N S Muthukumaran said in a statement. According to the survey, 55% of India’s online population have resolved to save money while 51% have taken the resolution to manage their time better. Interestingly , losing weight and improving fitness and health were not ranking high in New Year resolutions made by people in the past year, Nielsen said in the statement . Remaining fit and healthy is a more popular resolution with 73% of people aged between 35 and 44 years.
Saving more money is popular among 62% of people in the 25-34 years age group while only 26% in the age group of 45 years and above have resolved to save more money in 2008. Nielsen conducted the survey using their online research panel Your Voice. About 292 people aged 15 years and above were surveyed to understand what resolutions people have made for 2008 and how they have fared on resolutions made in the past years.
“People are more health conscious today. They want to remain fit not only to look good physically, but also to protect themselves from diseases. Eating healthy and regular exercise is the way to achieve optimum health and fitness,” Muthukumaran added.
In the age group of 15-24 years, 14% respondents have taken the resolution to pursue higher education and 13% would like to manage their time in a better way.Meanwhile, among the people surveyed, 41% have been making resolutions for the past six to ten years, a quarter have been making such resolutions for over ten years and 27% respondents make a new year resolution every year.
Further, amongst those who have made new year’s resolutions in the past, 27% have fulfilled their resolutions successfully while 18% have been successful for more than six months. About 23% have kept their resolutions for about three months.
Lack of planning (44%) and commitment (37%) are the key reasons mentioned by respondents for not keeping their new year resolutions while other factors include lack of time, support, and energy.People also have different ways of making resolutions. While 79% of the respondents make a mental note of the resolution that they keep, 28% tell a friend or a family member about their resolution, and 21% write it down.
Among those who share their resolution with someone, 66% share it with their close friends, 55% share it with their spouses, and 32% tell their parents about their resolution for the new year.
Copyright © 2008 Times Internet Limited.
