The Weekly Listen: Why some records are unbreakable, which hotel guest behaviors are least acceptable, and how American households are changing

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss which hotel guest behaviors do people think are most acceptable and unacceptable, the first ad on every media type, how American households look today compared to the 1960s, and more. Tune in to the discussion with Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Analyst Blake Droesch, and Vice Presidents of Content Suzy Davidkhanian and Paul Verna.

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Episode Transcript:

Marcus Johnson:

Data collaboration enables what? Glad you asked. Innovative companies to uncover powerful new insights that transform customer experiences and fuel business growth. With LiveRamp, marketers get the industry's only interoperable platform for data collaboration across every cloud, walled garden, and media platform. Learn more at liveramp.com.

Hello everyone, and thanks for hanging out with us.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Oh, I'm so sorry, I wrecked your thing.

Marcus Johnson:

Oh my goodness.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Go. Sorry, I won't ask, I'll ask you my question in the recording.

Marcus Johnson:

Hello, everyone.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

I just left.

Marcus Johnson:

Thanks for hanging out with us for the podcast.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

I literally just left.

Marcus Johnson:

Weekly Listen, an eMarketer podcast made possible by LiveRamp. Anything else to add, Suzy, during my introduction?

Suzy Davidkhanian:

No, I can wait until you're recording.

Marcus Johnson:

Okay. This is it. No, this is, we're live.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Oh, you are? Okay.

Marcus Johnson:

Yeah.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Yeah, my question was, are you going to give us the points?

Marcus Johnson:

I was kidding, this is not the time.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Oh, sorry.

Marcus Johnson:

No, go on.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

No, that's fine.

Marcus Johnson:

You could tell us.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Are you going to give us points after each 90 seconds?

Marcus Johnson:

You? No. The other guys, probably. This is the Friday show that is going to miss spending Fridays with you. This is the last Weekly Listen show ever. Not the last podcast we'll have on Fridays, we'll have something different for you in the new year. This is the last one, the last Weekly Listen. I was expecting perhaps a few tears. Nothing? Okay. I'm your host, Marcus Johnson.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

I was looking for the reaction.

Marcus Johnson:

No, it's fine. Too late.

Paul Verna:

I'm too emotional to even speak, so.

Marcus Johnson:

Good save.

Paul Verna:

And because it's not a video podcast, nobody's seeing my tears, but trust me, they are flowing.

Marcus Johnson:

Well played. No tears at all. I'm your host, Marcus Johnson.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

I think I'm going to win again.

Blake Droesch:

Unlikely.

Marcus Johnson:

In today's show, is Die Hard a Christmas movie?

Blake Droesch:

What does that mean? The folks who are right that say that Die Hard is a Christmas movie, they are happier people, and happier in their overall lives, particularly around the holiday season when they pop in a 1980s classic action movie to enjoy the festivities of the season.

Marcus Johnson:

Why some records are unbreakable.

Paul Verna:

But another truly astounding statistic, and one that is not likely to be broken, is he played an average of 48 and a half minutes per game in that same '61-'62 season.

Marcus Johnson:

What are the best movie retailer collaborations?

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Toy Story and Frozen made more money in retail than they did in the box office. Star Wars, at last count, which was a bit ago, they made over 69 billion in merch collabs, can you imagine?

Marcus Johnson:

And how American households have changed.

Join me for this episode, we have three wonderful people. Let's meet them. We start with our Senior Analyst who covers everything retail and e-commerce for us. He's based in New York City, it's Blake Droesch.

Blake Droesch:

Hey Marcus, good to be here. I'm sorry that this is the, it's very sad that this is the last episode of the Weekly Listen, but I'm very excited to which new awesome formats you and the rest of the great podcasting team here at eMarketer is going to be cooking up in 2025.

Marcus Johnson:

Thanks. It's a little too much pressure, Blake, if I'm honest.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Also, did he just win now?

Marcus Johnson:

Maybe.

Blake Droesch:

Just speaking from the heart.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Yeah, okay.

Blake Droesch:

It's an emotional day.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Okay.

Marcus Johnson:

We're also joined by one of our Vice Presidents of Content who heads up our retail and e-commerce desk. She's also based in New York, it's Suzy Davidkhanian.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

I am so excited to be here, but also very sad because now I will never have the chance to win. I barely won, and now it's never going to happen.

Marcus Johnson:

True.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

It's all about me, not about you.

Marcus Johnson:

Okay, good, that's fun. And finally, we have one of our other Vice Presidents of Content, covers everything else. He is based in Maine now, it's Paul Verna.

Paul Verna:

Bittersweet day, but I'm always happy to be here.

Marcus Johnson:

Terrific. Great to have you, fella. Great to have all of you guys, as I mentioned, for our last ever Weekly Listen episode. And so given that it's our last one, which means the end of dinner party data, Blake had the very good idea of making the last episode full of dinner party data. I thought it was Suzy's idea for a very long time, turns out it's Blake's, but because Suzy's on, she demanded we'd turn this into a competition.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Obviously.

Marcus Johnson:

Of course. We have three rounds. Each contestant will offer a piece of dinner party data for each round. The more interesting the data, the more points you get. Most points wins. Paul came up with the names of the rounds, so everyone's chipped in to put this last Weekly Listen episode together. So let's get to it. We start of course, as Paul's coined, with breakfast party data.

Paul Verna:

Got to have three meals every day, folks. Don't skip meals.

Marcus Johnson:

So good. All right, let's start with Suzy. Suzy, what you got for us? First round one. Five points available per dinner party data piece. So if you get five, that's because it was excellent. One, atrocious.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Oh, I'm glad there's no zero.

Marcus Johnson:

Well, really non-atrocious. Yeah.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Okay, ready?

Marcus Johnson:

One pity, yes.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

No, I don't like pity points. If you are in the US right now, maybe around the world, but in the US and you go to a retail store, you are seeing a lot of green. In fact, Paul accidentally bought a Wicked gravy kit and had green gravy at Thanksgiving. That got me to think last year it was Barbie and everything was pink, and now there's green Wicked collaborations everywhere. And that was a movie that was, apparently Wicked was very high grossing. It was apparently the highest grossing Broadway musical of all time.

Paul Verna:

The green gravy was the highest grossing thing because it was so gross.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Wicked was-

Marcus Johnson:

How'd you accidentally buy green gravy?

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Back to my idea.

Paul Verna:

Sorry.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

What I wanted to do was figure out, because we all know that there are some movies that are excellent, and then there are some movies that do really well because of their collabs with at the retail sales. Movies that their retail sales collaborations were better than box office dollars include Lion King, Toy Story, Frozen, Minions. That list is pretty long. But do you know? Now this is, I'm not going to give you a top three because a lot of the '24, '23 data's not in yet. But can you guess what is the top merch collab movie of all time? Movie maybe series of all time. That was a hint.

Blake Droesch:

Toy Story.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

No.

Paul Verna:

Star Wars?

Blake Droesch:

Frozen.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

No, Toy Story and Frozen made more money in retail than they did in the box office. Star Wars at last count, which was a bit ago, they made over 69 billion in merch collabs. Can you imagine? The next one, which I don't think I have it in order exactly, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe group of movies also have been said to make over $41 billion. Harry Potter is another one that did a lot, a lot, at retail sales. So I thought that was cool. So retailers, when you're thinking about collaborations, it's not insignificant and it might get you a little bit of extra sales. Gravy.

Marcus Johnson:

Oh, I see what you've done. Well played. Four interesting points. Four out of a potential five.

Blake Droesch:

Wow, Suzy showed up to play.

Marcus Johnson:

Yeah, she did.

Paul Verna:

Yep.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Guys.

Marcus Johnson:

That was good.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Thank you.

Marcus Johnson:

All right Paul, what you got for us?

Paul Verna:

Okay, I have a number and it's 20,462 pounds. I'm wondering if anybody can venture a guess as to what that refers to.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

My brain size.

Paul Verna:

20,462 pounds.

Marcus Johnson:

Here we go.

Blake Droesch:

British currency? Or pounds as in weight?

Paul Verna:

You tell me, Blake, you tell me.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Oh, that's a good one. The crown, the diamond crown of Queen Elizabeth.

Paul Verna:

So if you were wearing that crown Suzy-

Marcus Johnson:

20 grand?

Paul Verna:

... would it be heavier than your brain, or would it be exactly the same weight?

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Oh, it was the dollar value, the pound value I was thinking about.

Paul Verna:

Got it. Marcus?

Marcus Johnson:

Well, you think a crown weighs 20,000 pounds?

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Currency pounds, not weight pounds.

Blake Droesch:

Well, 20,000 pounds would be pretty low for the crown.

Paul Verna:

Yeah, it'd be a drop.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Oh, I don't know why I was thinking about trillions, I'm still on my movie thing.

Marcus Johnson:

20 grand.

Paul Verna:

No.

Marcus Johnson:

Oh my God.

Paul Verna:

We're not talking billions or trillions, we're just talking 20,462 pounds.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Oh no, I take it back.

Marcus Johnson:

All right.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

I don't have a guess.

Paul Verna:

All right, I will tell you then, because nobody was ever going to guess this one.

Marcus Johnson:

Frustrating. Nope.

Paul Verna:

It is or was the largest wheel of cheese.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Oh, how cute.

Blake Droesch:

That's too much.

Paul Verna:

A wheel of cheddar cheese in Millersburg, Ohio. But I was expecting it to be one of those Parmesan wheels because I've seen pictures of those. They're bigger than three people stacked vertically. And during one of the earthquakes in Italy, a bunch of them rolled down a hill and it was scary. But this is a wheel of cheddar weighing 20,462 pounds. The best part of the story though is that apparently somebody accidentally disconnected the power cord to the refrigerator for this wheel of cheese and it all went to waste. Somewhere in the '90s that happened. I don't know what the status is now. I probably don't want to know or go near it, but that is or was the largest wheel of cheese ever.

Marcus Johnson:

Not sad about it. Cheddar is terrible. Ugh, Paul.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Uh-oh.

Marcus Johnson:

Two. Two interesting points. If it'd been Brie, I'd have given you three. Not for cheddar. I won't do it. Blake, what have you got for us?

Blake Droesch:

I have some inflation data because this is after all a marketing and retail podcast, so I'm keeping it professional.

Marcus Johnson:

Oh, very nice.

Blake Droesch:

So this year, Juan Soto signed.

Marcus Johnson:

Finally, someone.

Blake Droesch:

A 15-year contract with the New York Mets for $765 million and that comes out to $51 million per year. 10 years ago in 2014, Giancarlo Stanton signed a 13-year deal for $325 million with the Miami Marlins, making it the most lucrative contract in American sports history at the time. But that's only 25 million per year compared to Juan Soto's 51 million per year. So for Juan Soto, that's a 104% salary increase for the most valuable player in baseball compared to 10 years ago.

For the rest of us, how much of a salary increase have we gotten, right? So in 2014, the median household income was $53,000. In 2023 last year, the most recent data that's available, the median household income was 80,000 so that means we only got a 59% increase compared to the most valuable player in baseball who got a 104% salary increase over the last 10 years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the CPI, the inflation index, has increased approximately 33.27% since 2014, meaning that a dollar in 2014 is equivalent to roughly $1 and 33 cents today based on inflation rates over the last decade. The takeaway here is that if you're mad about inflation, just remember that Juan Soto is actually only making roughly 70% more than Giancarlo Stanton made 10 years ago, so the stars are really not all that different from us and they're suffering from inflation as well so get over your selves, people.

Paul Verna:

And also, Marcus is going to make a lot more than this with all the new innovations he's going to bring to Behind the Numbers in 2025. No pressure.

Marcus Johnson:

Am I?

Paul Verna:

Yeah.

Marcus Johnson:

All right, well good.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

I'm very excited to be on the next episode.

Paul Verna:

You didn't get the memo about your bonus?

Marcus Johnson:

No, I talked to, Stuart's going to be thrilled to hear about that. Blake's out here in the weeds. Excellent, excellent work. Very diligent. Not quite as interesting as the movie stuff though from Suzy, so I'm going to go three interesting points. I was already mad-

Suzy Davidkhanian:

I'm so excited.

Marcus Johnson:

... about his contract and now I'm even angrier.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Wait, can I just say one thing? Sorry to cut off the conversation. I'm not sure that household income increase is directly related to salary increase, because you could have an extra person in your household or I don't know. So I just wanted to throw that out there, maybe I misunderstood what you said.

Marcus Johnson:

You're trying to pick apart other people's dinner parties today?

Suzy Davidkhanian:

No, I just don't want him to, I just want to make sure we all sound really good, but I didn't fully focus on the entirety. So you know best, Blake.

Blake Droesch:

Yes, it could include two people. That is true, but.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Or a new person. If you have a 22-year-old, a boomerang kid that came back and all of a sudden they're part of your household income.

Marcus Johnson:

Dinner party data is not open to cross-examination.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Okay, just checking.

Marcus Johnson:

Okay, Suzy? You settle down.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

I waited until you gave him his score.

Blake Droesch:

Suzy, yes. I feel like that should be, if you challenge the play and then Marcus shuts it down, you should lose some points for that.

Marcus Johnson:

I was tempted.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

The awfully nice child.

Marcus Johnson:

I was tempted.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

I waited.

Paul Verna:

And how many challenges do we get? One per episode?

Marcus Johnson:

Just the none. Just none.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Just wanted to make sure we all-

Marcus Johnson:

Thanks, Suzy.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

... knew that I was actively listening.

Marcus Johnson:

Okay.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Listen more, talk less. It's my new thing.

Marcus Johnson:

Really? It's not going well.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

That I'm trying.

Marcus Johnson:

Suzy has four points, Blake with three, Paul with two after the first round, which is of course called breakfast party data. Time now, as Paul calls it for lunch party data. Paul, you can go first for this round.

Paul Verna:

Yeah, so I'm going to list seven years, seven dates or years, and see if anybody can guess as to what they're about. The first one is 1704, the next one is 1891. Is everyone taking notes?

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Mm-hmm.

Marcus Johnson:

Trying to.

Blake Droesch:

Yes.

Paul Verna:

You should be. Next one is 1922.

Marcus Johnson:

Oh my God, hang on.

Paul Verna:

Next one is 1941. Next one is 1978.

Marcus Johnson:

This has anything to do with Argentina, I swear.

Paul Verna:

Next one is 1994, and the last one is 1996. I'll give you a hint. The first one, 1704, is obviously my birth year, but for the rest you're on your own.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Marcus, I think it's what you said. It's like when Argentina won the World Cup. I just don't think it started in the 1700s.

Marcus Johnson:

It didn't, no, so it can't be that, but I thought it was a dig [inaudible 00:14:22].

Paul Verna:

Why are you guys all so fixated about Argentina? What is it with you?

Suzy Davidkhanian:

We love it.

Marcus Johnson:

You know me, daily.

Blake Droesch:

I mean, it has to be some sort of, for the dates to go back that far, I mean there are only a few things that have really existed for that long. It could either have to do something with books or plays or poetry or wars, revolutions.

Paul Verna:

I'll give you a real hint.

Blake Droesch:

Religious movements.

Paul Verna:

It's very related to our business.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Oh, digital transformation-y things like some big technology that popped?

Paul Verna:

In 1704?

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Like the phone and lights and internet, but you didn't have.

Paul Verna:

Even closer to our business, or to my part of our business let's say.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Advertising? Media, the first.

Paul Verna:

There you go.

Marcus Johnson:

Oh, was it the first ad of each medium?

Paul Verna:

Yes.

Marcus Johnson:

First TV ad, first radio ad, first.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Wow, that's cool, Paul.

Paul Verna:

1704.

Blake Droesch:

Wow, okay.

Paul Verna:

1704, first newspaper ad.

Blake Droesch:

Wow.

Paul Verna:

1891 is one of my favorites. So that is when the, and forgive me for the redundant title, it's not mine but it's the Associated Bill Posters Association of the US and Canada, but it is now the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. That was formed in 1891, believe it or not.

Marcus Johnson:

Wow.

Paul Verna:

Billboard advertising though, or outdoor advertising actually goes back to ancient times. I don't know if we can determine when the first outdoor poster or slate or whatever was created. 1922 is the first radio ad. 1941, first TV ad for Bulova watches. 1978 was the first email ad, which surprised me a bit because email as we know it didn't really exist until the mid '90s, but this is in old chat forums and it was the first spam ad. 1994 was the first online ad, and 1996 was the first search ad, interestingly before Google was formed.

Marcus Johnson:

Wow.

Paul Verna:

One other little nugget about the Outdoor Association. So that was 1891. Three years later, Billboard magazine was established, which is my alma mater. Everybody knows Billboard as the trade publication of the music industry, but it was actually formed at that time to cover the outdoor advertising industry, and then it segued to covering music and other forms of entertainment. But at that time, that's what it was and that's why it's called Billboard, or at the time it was called The Billboard.

Marcus Johnson:

Very good. Very on brand, very interesting but you ran long, so I was going to give you five, I've taken one away. Four points for Paul in round two. Very good indeed. Can't believe if we've not had that one yet actually. That's a really clever one.

Paul Verna:

I don't know.

Marcus Johnson:

Blake, what have you got for us?

Blake Droesch:

I'm going back to my tried and true dinner party data source, YouGov. I think a couple weeks ago I found some really interesting data from YouGov about what airline passenger behaviors do Americans think are acceptable versus unacceptable, so now I'm back with which hotel guest behaviors do Americans think are acceptable or unacceptable? The least acceptable behaviors for hotel guests are taking decorative items from the room home with them. I think that's very unacceptable.

Marcus Johnson:

Yeah, that's.

Blake Droesch:

You might incur a fine as well.

Marcus Johnson:

Yeah, and some jail time.

Blake Droesch:

Smoking in the non-smoking rooms, that's not good. And surprisingly, taking coat hangers and towels home with them. I'd say that's wrong-

Marcus Johnson:

Towels.

Blake Droesch:

... but it's not necessarily a cardinal offense. The most acceptable behaviors are requesting extra amenities such as pillows or blankets, calling reception to complain about noisy neighbors, or leaving the linens on the bed when checking out. I think most people probably don't strip hotel beds before they check out unless they're very, very kind and courteous people.

Here's where people are split. I find this the most interesting. It is roughly split in acceptability to leave the room lights on when you're not in the room. 40% say that's okay, 46% say that it's not okay. Leaving a tip for housekeeping, this one's surprising. 42% say that that's not okay, which I agree with, but 35% think it's okay to not leave a tip for the housekeeper. That's a tough job, you should really be tipping. Another interesting one is 50% said it's not acceptable to wear pajamas in the common hotel area versus 37% who say it's acceptable to do that.

Marcus Johnson:

37%?

Blake Droesch:

Yeah, they said it's acceptable to wear pajamas in the lobby of the hotel that you're staying.

Marcus Johnson:

Don't want to see it, absolutely no.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

I mean, pajamas are so cute now, you might not know it's a pajama.

Marcus Johnson:

A matching set?

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Yeah.

Marcus Johnson:

Long sleeves? Buns? Nice, still not okay. Very good.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

What about making the instant coffee in the room? Acceptable or not?

Marcus Johnson:

Yes. Instant coffee is always-

Paul Verna:

Suzy, you're venturing into dangerous territory.

Marcus Johnson:

Yeah, you are. Instant coffee is always acceptable, okay? Believable. Blake, I was going to give you four but you ran long. Three for Blake. Suzy, round two, go.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Okay. Wait, what was Paul's first score?

Marcus Johnson:

Don't worry about that. Okay?

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Okay.

Marcus Johnson:

You focus.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Ready? In my research, I saw that McKinsey has a consumer-wise survey that they field pretty often, and by that, it's once a quarter. They have about 4,000 US consumers, and they do some research around trading down. I thought it was really interesting that even though there is a lot of hope for the economy, there's still also this tension of reticence and people being nervous about spending. 74% of people said that they're going to trade down, but what I saw was interesting is how they're going to manifest that. Can you guys guess what the number one way according to McKinsey of the options that they chose is trading down?

They are going to adjust their case pack. So one in two, I'm rounding up, one in two people will adjust the case pack or the size of what they're buying to help with the price of what they're purchasing. 37, one in three will change retailers. Some, a third will delay a purchase. And what I was really surprised is that it's only one quarter who said that they're going to change the brand or go to private label, which surprised me a lot. That said, there's also 40% of people who plan to splurge for the holidays. The younger cohort is the one that is going to splurge the most, and the top three things people are going to splurge on are probably what you would expect over the holidays, dining out and going to bars, one. Apparel, and though what surprised me and may be a little bit sad too, was groceries is the number three thing people are going to splurge on over the holidays.

Paul Verna:

I guess there's no option for using buy now, pay later, and forgetting to pay.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

There was. Oh, not the forgetting to pay. Buy now, pay later from how they're going to manage the increases and this tension was ranked, but it was the lowest ranking option.

Paul Verna:

Okay.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

But what I thought was really interesting was a term I hadn't heard before. I've heard a lot of minimalist, but I hadn't heard about under consumption core. That's when 86% of younger consumers in their Q3 survey in that wave said that they are, it's not that they're back lashing against spending, it's that they're very okay with not spending as much and trading down or delaying purchases because they're thinking about spending less on the cool things, the next new hot thing so that they can help be more socially conscious. And for them, buying things doesn't equal happiness. So while Wicked is drawing a lot of attention, hopefully it'll help also spur spending with that younger cohort.

Marcus Johnson:

Two points.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

You did that on purpose.

Marcus Johnson:

Not your best work, and you ran long too. All right, rather coincidentally-

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Not my best work, huh?

Marcus Johnson:

... everyone's tied on six. Suzy had four, then two.

Paul Verna:

Funny how that happens.

Marcus Johnson:

Paul, two, then four. And then Blake three, then three. If you'd not ran long, then you guys maybe would've been out in front, but you're not. All tied on six as we head into the third and final round, it's of course dinner party data. Blake, you're up first.

Blake Droesch:

Okay, so in my final piece of dinner party data of all time, I hope to add a little bit of clarity around what is a timeless debate for the ages and that is, is Die Hard Christmas movie? Now, I have spoken about this on the podcast before, but there's fresh data from CivicScience. According to US adults, 37% say that Die Hard is indeed a Christmas movie whereas 48% of Americans are wrong and say that, no, Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. Well, guess what 48% who are wrong? I've got a new slice of data for you, for the 48% who say that Die Hard is not a Christmas movie to chew on.

According to the people who say that Die Hard is a Christmas movie, 59% of them say that they are either very happy or happy with their lives. Well, just over 50% of those who say that Die Hard is not a Christmas movie report being happy or very happy with their lives. So what does that mean? The folks who are right that say that Die Hard is a Christmas movie, they are happier people. Happier in their overall lives, particularly around the holiday season when they pop in a 1980s classic action movie to enjoy the festivities of the season rather than the people, the Grinches, the Scrooges who say that Die Hard is not a Christmas movie and they live sad, unhappy, and unfulfilled lives.

Marcus Johnson:

This is self-reported happiness?

Blake Droesch:

Yes.

Marcus Johnson:

Okay.

Paul Verna:

I think It's a Wonderful Life is an action movie personally.

Marcus Johnson:

It got a little complicated in there if I'm honest, Blake. Another three because it's kind of interesting. It is kind of interesting and I agree with you, it probably is a Christmas film. All right, Blake's on nine, Suzy or Paul will need a three to tie four or more to beat him. Suzy, you're up.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Guys, my palms are sweaty. I'm just telling you, too bad you can't see it. Okay, ready? My last bit of dinner party data is also retail related. And Capital One Shopping has a report on gift cards. Can you guys guess what the projected value of gift cards in the US is going to be in 2024? I'm now giving you time because then you're wasting my time and I know that that's a tactic. $325 billion higher. It's up 18, projected up 18%, doing way better than retail in general. The average value is typically $48.

What I think is fascinating for retailers is that 40% of people who have gift cards, the value goes unused of some of their gift cards. That's $23 billion, which is a lot of money for a retailer. It's free money for a retailer. 50% of people who purchase a gift card, especially when you think about it as a gift, do so because it's convenient, and because they think, 90% of those people also think that it is very acceptable to give it as a gift.

What is most important for a retailer is that 76% of people who get a gift card spend it within the first month. As a retailer, you really have to think about how do you get those people to come in and shop with you and capitalize on that because also, 60% spend more than the value of the card and the average extra that they spend that halo effect is $32, which is a lot. It's really important to think about it. The other thing that I thought was a fun fact, which I don't understand is people by themselves gift cards.

Marcus Johnson:

Really?

Blake Droesch:

Also, in New York state, retailers are required to give back the money to unused gift cards to people who purchase them if they claim them. For example, I gave a gift card a few years ago to someone who never used it so I went and filled out the form on the New York State website and I got the money back in a check from New York state.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Wait, but how did they know that they hadn't used it?

Marcus Johnson:

You took the money back?

Blake Droesch:

Yeah, I took the money back.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

They told you, I mean you have to have the PIN number.

Marcus Johnson:

From the gift card you gave me?

Blake Droesch:

No, after a certain amount of time, if the gift card is not spent, then the retailer is required to report that to the state, along with who purchased it. So if the purchaser wants to go to the website and it's the Division of Consumer Protection. If it's an expired gift card, they can get the money back, because the retailer is required to report it.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

I've never heard of this, but 65% of gift cards are purchased directly from the retailer or the institution, so that's a weird liability for them in New York.

Marcus Johnson:

All right, very good. I won't tell you the score yet, otherwise you know who won? I will not because, well, Paul's still got to go, but you get it. Paul, you're up.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Oh my god, I think I won.

Paul Verna:

May I say though?

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Before you even got to go Paul, I won.

Paul Verna:

Marcus, you told Blake his number, but you didn't tell Suzy her number.

Marcus Johnson:

Yeah, I can't, because if I say it then you might know that Blake, maybe he's out already, maybe he's not so now it's all to play for. Yeah.

Paul Verna:

Fascinating.

Marcus Johnson:

See what I did?

Paul Verna:

Crazy.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Dubiously subjective.

Marcus Johnson:

Whoa, steady on.

Blake Droesch:

He's just trying to add some drama, a little fanfare to it.

Marcus Johnson:

Yeah.

Paul Verna:

Yeah.

Marcus Johnson:

Thank you.

Paul Verna:

I've never heard of the Weekly Listen, rest its soul, as being subjective so.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Oh yeah, no, of course. You're right. I take it back.

Marcus Johnson:

Thank you.

Paul Verna:

All right, my dinner party data is unbreakable sports records. While it's true that records are meant to be broken, there are some records that I don't think, and I'm not the only one who thinks this way they will ever be broken. I'm going to mention three. Wilt Chamberlain's most popular record is his 100 point game, closely followed by his average of 5.4 points per game in the 1961-62 season. But another truly astounding statistic and one that is not likely to be broken is he played an average of 48 and a half minutes per game in that same '61-'62 season. As Marcus, you know better than anyone, there are 48 minutes in a regulation game.

Marcus Johnson:

Yeah, how's he?

Paul Verna:

That includes points played in overtime.

Marcus Johnson:

Serious overtime, yeah.

Paul Verna:

Yes, so that's one record.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Guys, I don't know what sport that is.

Marcus Johnson:

Basketball.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Oh, basketball?

Paul Verna:

Yes. We won't take time off of my clock with that.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

No.

Marcus Johnson:

We wouldn't dare, yeah.

Paul Verna:

Nolan Ryan's strikeout record's 5,714. That's just not going to be broken just by the sheer volume, the longevity of his career. He played 27 years at a time when starting pitchers played deep and long. Honorable mention of unbreakable sports records goes to Cy Young for 749 complete games. Baseball is played differently now and there are very, very, very few complete games, so that one is definitely going to stand the test of time. And then the last one is Wayne Gretzky's career points record of 2,857. The interesting thing about this record is that if Wayne Gretzky had never scored a goal, he would still have more points than anyone else in NHL history by virtue of his assists.

Blake Droesch:

What about Barry Bonds?

Paul Verna:

There are many, many more that we could talk about including Michael Phelps' gold medals, a lot of football records and yeah, Barry Bonds, others.

Marcus Johnson:

LeBron James amount of points.

Paul Verna:

But in the interest of time, and I know what you're trying to do, Blake, you're trying to make me go over my 90 seconds. It's not going to work.

Blake Droesch:

I actually, you're already almost-

Marcus Johnson:

You're over.

Blake Droesch:

Sorry, Paul.

Marcus Johnson:

That's tough.

Blake Droesch:

It's called defense.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Was the second one baseball? The first one was basketball, the second one was baseball.

Marcus Johnson:

The other way.

Paul Verna:

Basketball, baseball, and hockey.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

And then obviously hockey, the greatest sport of all time.

Marcus Johnson:

Wow. Very nice. Very nice indeed, folks. All right, that's what we've got time for for breakfast, lunch, and dinner party data. I don't even know what we're calling this. Count the scores. I'll also take a drum roll. This week's winner of the championship belt of the last Weekly Listen dinner party data is Suzy, Blake, and Paul. Joint winners.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Aw, nice.

Blake Droesch:

To Suzy, this is a fate that's even worse than losing.

Marcus Johnson:

This is the final Weekly Listen. I know.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

It's the biggest pity.

Marcus Johnson:

That's why I did it.

Paul Verna:

Having to share, yep.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

No, I don't mind sharing, it was pity.

Marcus Johnson:

You all won, and lost.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Thank you for coming and doing this with me, I'm going to miss you. Pity win.

Marcus Johnson:

Kind of.

Paul Verna:

Now Marcus, don't you usually bring dinner party data to Weekly Listen episodes?

Marcus Johnson:

I do, indeed.

Paul Verna:

Not to put you on the spot.

Marcus Johnson:

And I've brought one for today, but before I go, we would like Victoria who edits the show to also jump in on this because she listens intently every week to what we have to say and we were curious to know what her dinner party data would be. So Victoria, over to you.

Victoria Grace:

Listen intently except for today, because I was trying to find dinner party data. I don't know how you guys do this every week.

Blake Droesch:

Welcome to the show. Yeah.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Yeah.

Victoria Grace:

Oh my God, where do you even start?

Paul Verna:

Good question, yeah.

Victoria Grace:

My brain is a cornucopia of chaos to begin with on a good day. And then saying, "Oh, pick one interesting thing to talk about." There's so many interesting things to talk about, but I will land on something a little bit fluffier than what everybody has brought today. You guys are so smart, it amazes me and inspires me every single day. But let's talk about Christmas cookies. Do you guys like Christmas cookies?

Marcus Johnson:

Here we go.

Blake Droesch:

Yes.

Paul Verna:

Yes.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Yes.

Victoria Grace:

Okay. I have a huge sweet tooth and I was brought up in a family where Christmas cookie season started the day after Thanksgiving. So according to Monmouth University, shout out to my home state of New Jersey.

Marcus Johnson:

Sources, love it.

Victoria Grace:

In a poll asking Americans what their favorite Christmas cookie is. Or let's call them holiday cookies because not everybody celebrates Christmas, but everybody can appreciate a sweet treat. Favorite holiday cookie at 32% is a frosted sugar cookie?

Marcus Johnson:

No.

Victoria Grace:

Are all of you people insane?

Marcus Johnson:

No.

Victoria Grace:

32% of you decided a frosted sugar cookie?

Paul Verna:

Come on people, we can do better.

Marcus Johnson:

Oatmeal raisin. Talk to me.

Victoria Grace:

Marcus, that's-

Suzy Davidkhanian:

I'm surprised it's not ginger.

Victoria Grace:

Gingerbread was second. Gingerbread came in second at 12%, followed by chocolate chip? Is everybody depriving themselves of a sweet treat throughout the year that they say-

Marcus Johnson:

Oh, yeah, chocolate chip.

Victoria Grace:

... a chocolate chip cookie is their favorite holiday cookie. I don't know. Followed by 6% at snickerdoodle, 4% at butter, 4% at peanut butter. Very big difference.

Marcus Johnson:

Maddening.

Victoria Grace:

Chocolate spiced German fruit and nut. Oatmeal at 2%, Marcus.

Marcus Johnson:

2%?

Victoria Grace:

That's your people. 2% at almond.

Marcus Johnson:

Throw this out.

Victoria Grace:

2% at wedding and tea cakes? I don't know about that. And then 2% at bars and brownies. Brownies have no place in my holiday cookie boxes.

Marcus Johnson:

What's your favorite?

Victoria Grace:

That's like asking me if I like my right or my left hand better. But my mom, she does a delicious rum ball.

Marcus Johnson:

There you go.

Victoria Grace:

We're big fans of alcohol spiked desserts in my family. We do a nice rum ball. We do an Italian rainbow cookie. That's the red, green, and white layer cookies covered in chocolate. Those are good ones.

Marcus Johnson:

Okay.

Victoria Grace:

Pecan snowballs, I just.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Wow.

Victoria Grace:

I take this information and I say I think we all need to expand our minds-

Marcus Johnson:

Yeah, no.

Victoria Grace:

... our tastes, our palates, and our sense of adventure.

Marcus Johnson:

America.

Victoria Grace:

Because there's so much more out there besides frosted sugar cookies.

Marcus Johnson:

[inaudible 00:34:05].

Blake Droesch:

Victoria, what about the? Tell me, I bet you're a fan of the lady fingers with the little jelly in between where one end's dipped in chocolate and it's got some sprinkles on it.

Victoria Grace:

Obviously, and there's a little bit of raspberry jam or apricot jam.

Blake Droesch:

Yeah, of course. Absolutely.

Victoria Grace:

It's the best cookie on an Italian cookie tray, in my opinion.

Blake Droesch:

100%.

Victoria Grace:

Other Italians will say that the pignoli cookie is the best cookie, and to that I say that's an old lady cookie.

Blake Droesch:

Shots fired.

Victoria Grace:

So give me another 30 years, and then I'll say that the pignoli cookie is a better cookie. It's got to be, like you said, Blake.

Blake Droesch:

The Italian rainbow cookie's great. That's a great one.

Marcus Johnson:

This week's-

Blake Droesch:

Put it in the box with a little sfogliatelle, some cannoli.

Victoria Grace:

Oh, he's pulling out the sfogliatelle.

Blake Droesch:

Oh, yeah, here we go.

Victoria Grace:

Then we're talking pignoli, then we're talking about rum cake.

Blake Droesch:

I'm expanding it.

Marcus Johnson:

This week's winner? Victoria is the winner of the game of the week. Congratulations-

Victoria Grace:

Thanks for including me, you guys. This was great.

Marcus Johnson:

... to her. Another game of the week, dinner party data, all of it. Of course, V, thank you so much for sharing. That one was excellent. I should invite you on every week.

All right, I've got one for you real quick. How American households have changed over time, specifically from 1960 to today. In the last 60 years, Dorothy Neufeld, Visual Capitalist, had a piece citing data from the Census Bureau. She noted that in 1960, married parents, so 1960, 6-0, married parents with kids made up 44% of all American households. That share has fallen to 18%, married parents with kids from 44 to 18%.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Wow.

Marcus Johnson:

In the last six decades. Over that time, the share of folks who are single, no kids has more than doubled from 13% of people to 29% of American households. The largest group today is married, no kids, so that's close to 30%, the same share as 60 years ago. Single parents have gone from 4% to 7%, and the other category, roommates, adult relatives, et cetera, has grown from 8% share to 16. So what does that look like? So today basically, they're saying that just over 29% folks are married, no kids. 29% are single, no kids. 18%, married parents, 7% are single parents, and then 16% are in the other category. A few things to note based on that. That means 58% of American households now consist of married or single adults, no children. That was 43% back in 1960, now 58.

Ms. Neufeld points out more Americans today are delaying or foregoing marriage altogether with just one in five men and women aged 25, one in five of them aged 25 being married, the lowest on record. She also notes the US fertility rate has fallen to a historic low of 1.6 children per woman in 2023. That's below the 2.1 replacement level needed for population stability. And final one here, by 2030, one in five Americans will be 65 or older because of this low fertility rate. By 2030, one in five Americans will be 65 or older. By 2060, be closer to one in four of us will be over 65 years old. I thought this is a good one because it tracks how things have changed over time.

And yeah, the Weekly Listen has certainly changed over time. But it's been an absolute pleasure having you guys listen into it. And an absolute pleasure having everyone who's been a guest be part of it, especially you three. I think you guys have been on the most, more than anyone, and we've had some great folks on. So thank you to everyone who's listened to it, who's been a part of it, really appreciate it. We'll have more shows for you on Fridays, but they'll look a little bit different, and we'll have those coming for you in 2025. But huge thank you to my guests for hanging out with me today. I thank first, Paul.

Paul Verna:

Thank you, Marcus. Take a bow.

Marcus Johnson:

Yes, indeed. Thank you, sir. Not necessary.

Paul Verna:

And thank you, Victoria.

Marcus Johnson:

Thank you to Blake.

Blake Droesch:

Yep, thank you, Marcus. Thank you to the team for making this such a fun experience for us as a part of our work week for many years now. We look forward to what you guys are going to do next, sincerely.

Marcus Johnson:

Thank you. Thank you, Suzy.

Suzy Davidkhanian:

Thanks so much. I couldn't say it better than my colleagues did, it's really been a pleasure and it's so much fun to do.

Marcus Johnson:

We really appreciate it, and thank you so much to Victoria who edits the show. Stuart runs the team, and Sophie does our social media. Thanks to everyone who listened in to the Weekly Listen these past six or seven years, an eMarketer podcast made possible by LiveRamp. You can come hang out with us on Monday for our last Around the World show with Bill Fisher where he'll be doing his usual festive forecast of past, present, and future, and then we'll have our last episode of the year of 2024 on Tuesday for you before we break for the holidays. Our first episode of 2025 will be out on Friday, January 3rd, happiest of weekends.