New Study From MEC Shows 18-34 Year-Old Shoppers Trust Their Idols

NEW YORK—Young adults are more likely to purchase a product or service based on the recommendation of a celebrity endorser than older shoppers, according to a new study by leading media agency Mediaedge:cia (MEC).

The report revealed that 30 percent of respondents aged 18-34 said they would try a product promoted by an admired celebrity compared to 14 percent of consumers in the 35-54 age group and 11 percent of respondents aged 55-plus.  Additionally, the survey showed that the younger group was also almost 50 percent more likely than their older counterparts to recommend a celebrity-endorsed product to others.

By Laura Fitzpatrick

Esoteric climate-science warnings about America's oil dependence can make even the most well-meaning of eyes glaze over. Amanda Little, author of Power Trip: From Oil Wells to Solar Cells — Our Ride to the Renewable Future, took a different approach. She traveled from an offshore oil rig to the halls of the Pentagon, from NASCAR racetracks to the office of a pricey plastic surgeon in order to tell a more human side of the energy story. TIME talked to Little about how fossil fuels saturate our lives and why taking personal responsibility is the key to pulling out of this mess.

Posted: 11/10/09

(Nov. 9) -- Opening a can of soup on a cold winter day is a time-honored tradition in America. It may also prove harmful to your health, according to a new study.

In the study released by Consumer Reports, canned soup, tuna, juice and green beans have all been found to contain potentially dangerous levels of bisphenol A, a man-made chemical preservative that increases shelf-life. Hundreds of scientific, peer-reviewed studies have suggested health risks from exposure to the chemical, known as BPA, including increased incidence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, liver disorders, breast cancer and abnormal reproductive organ development, Consumer Reports said.

Wednesday November 11, 2009

Plain Speaking - By Yap Leng Kuen

CONSUMERS have to be more proactive and exercise their rights when it comes to merchant surcharges on credit cards.

No longer should they passively agree to the surcharge just because they have become used to that particular merchant or are simply too disinterested to shop elsewhere.

Banks are firm when it comes to merchant surcharge. RHB Bank head of retail banking Renzo Viegas told consumers not to “accept any imposition of surcharge, report such incidents to the bank or go to other merchants that do not impose surcharge.’’

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: November 7, 2009
Your body is probably home to a chemical called bisphenol A, or BPA. It’s a synthetic estrogen that United States factories now use in everything from plastics to epoxies — to the tune of six pounds per American per year. That’s a lot of estrogen.

More than 92 % of Americans have BPA in their urine, and scientists have linked it — though not conclusively — to everything from breast cancer to obesity, from attention deficit disorder to genital abnormalities in boys and girls alike.

Now it turns out it’s in our food.