Guess what Indians want to do in '07!

New Delhi: Guess what is the most popular resolution for the New Year among the Indians!

With less than few days to go before the end of the year, over half (59 per cent) of the India's online population has already decided on their New Year’s resolutions, with 67 per cent of them promising to exercise more and 74 per cent planning a better home/work balance, according to ACNielsen, the world’s leading market research and information company.

The ACNielsen Online Consumer Opinion Survey, the largest half-yearly survey of its kind, was conducted in late October/early November, surveying 25,408 Internet users in 46 countries from Europe, Asia-Pacific, North America, the Baltics and Middle East.

The survey found Indian men to be more in favour of having a New Year Resolution (60 per cent) as compared to women (54 per cent). Another interesting finding that the research shows is that people in India (74 per cent) surpass their Asia-Pacific (61 per cent) counterparts in their desire to strike a better work-life balance in the coming New Year, Sarang Panchal, Executive Director of Customized Research at ACNielsen South Asia, said.

The third most popular (50 per cent) resolution among Indians was to 'spend more time with the family'.

'Exercise more' is the most popular New Year resolutions for Indians in their 50s (68 per cent) and it changes to 'spend more time with family' as soon as they cross 65 (70 per cent). For younger generation in their 25s, 'work-life balance' is the most sought-after New Year resolution (82 per cent). Over 67 per cent of online Indian consumer under the age of 20 would like to 'quit smoking' in the coming year.

"People make New Year’s resolutions to make up for the things they should have done but didn’t in the past year," says Panchal. "Judging by our survey findings, there is a strong connection between the top three most popular New Year's resolutions among global consumers – ‘Exercise more, better work-life balance and go on a diet’ – are all designed to set us on a path to a better and healthier 2007."

Though there is always a common complaint that New Year resolutions are hard to keep, most people participated in the survey expect to keep it. In fact, over 99 per cent of Indians who made a New Year’s resolution said they expect to stick to it.

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The Nielsen online survey, involving 25 408 web participants in 46 countries, also found many respondents who wanted to lose weight and stop smoking in 2007, while 26 per cent were planning to take up a new hobby.

Here is a summery of the findings of the survey in some other parts of the world:-

New Zealand: Kiwis plan to exercise more, achieve a better work-life balance and spend more time with their families in 2007. In fact, 71 per cent of those surveyed said the plan to exercise more. The next most popular resolution was to achieve a better work/life balance (49 per cent), then spending more time with family (29 per cent), taking up a new hobby (25 per cent) and going on a diet (23 per cent). People were more worried about cutting down or giving up smoking (18 per cent) than wanted to cut down or stop drinking alcohol (8 per cent). More cryptically, 13 per cent of people wanted to avoid disastrous personal relationships, while 10 per cent of New Zealanders wanted to change jobs.

United States: One in three US consumers -- who have the highest rate of obesity in the developed world -- planned to go on a diet.

"Consumers have realised a healthy lifestyle is not about the latest celebrity diet or trendy exercise fads, but is simply about having a balanced diet and lifestyle," ACNielsen Europe President Patrick Dodd said.

South Africa: The most popular single resolution in South Africa is to exercise more. Over 62 per cent of respondents worldwide want to burn off the kilojoules and 51 per cent want to achieve a better balance between work and personal life. About 60 per cent of South Africans who took part in the survey had considered or made New Year's resolutions, and 54 per cent of them thought that they would stick to them.

Vietnam: Nine out of every 10 Vietnamese want to turn over a new leaf next year. In fact, Vietnam topped the world with most people seeking a better work-life balance (84 per cent), spending more time with family (54 per cent), avoiding disastrous personal relationships (50 per cent) and a change of job (28 per cent).

Thailand: Thais top the world with most people planning to take up a new hobby (58 per cent) and cut down on alcohol (18 per cent) in the New Year.