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MapInfo Uncovers Spenders Who Are Racking Up Credit Card Debt
Business Wire
January 13, 2004
Following the holiday shopping season, MapInfo Corporation (NASDAQ: MAPS) today released market analysis using its PSYTE(R) U.S. Advantage Neighborhood cluster solution, identifying the U.S. locations in which residents should expect the most credit card bills in the mail. MapInfo demographers uncovered this information integrating PSYTE with data from Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI), the leading provider of syndicated, single-source marketing and media research in the United States.
Understanding the credit card lifestyle and habits of specific demographic markets is just one of the insights that MapInfo's PSYTE offers to its customers particularly in the retail, restaurant and banking industries. The following profiles cross reference a metros' propensity for credit card usage with MapInfo's PSYTE neighborhood clusters, providing a potential index ranking of each market.
-- Impulse Shopping, Southern Style--Some people would rather buy on credit than wait to save up for items, and that is certainly true for many in Jacksonville, NC; Punta Gorda, FL and Ocala, FL. These southern areas topped the list, respectively, with the highest indexes of impulse buyers who would sooner whip out the charge card than pass up a tempting item. Jacksonville--home to U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and Air Station New River--also has the second highest number of people with a personal line of credit, trailing behind Iowa City, Iowa.
-- Paying the Price for Paradise--Honolulu may be one of the most beautiful cities, but according to MapInfo's research, it is also one of the metros that index highest on average monthly expenditure using credit cards--ranking fourth in the country overall, Honolulu also tops the list with highest likelihood of its residents using gasoline credit cards.
-- But Baby it's Cold Outside--Getting around Anchorage, Alaska, could get difficult without a vehicle, and this might explain why it is one of the top cities with car-related credit profiles. Ranking in the top five for metros with the highest likelihood of residents to have auto retail credit cards, and in the top ten for people with gas cards, Anchorage's population makes sure it never gets left out in the cold.
-- Big Spenders in the Northeast--Stamford-Norwalk, CT, topped lists as the metro with the greatest likelihood of residents with a general-purpose credit card and the area with the highest average monthly expenditures using credit cards in the entire country. Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, NJ, ranked third with residents carrying any sort of credit card and sixth in overall credit card expenditures.
"Understanding credit card usage in specific regions and markets can give businesses tremendous insight into the consumer, behavioral and lifestyle attributes of a particular population," said Chris Michels, PSYTE product manager for MapInfo. "Following the holiday shopping season, when consumers tend to pull out their credit cards to make purchases more often, this analysis provides some timely profiles of particularly active markets. With MapInfo's PSYTE, companies can make more accurate predictions about consumer buying and lifestyle behavior and identify new potential markets or untapped areas within existing markets."
Additional Information
PSYTE U.S. Advantage is linked to Acxiom's InfoBase(R), the world's largest source of consumer data, MediaMark Research, Inc., consumer/lifestyle data and Simmons Market Research Bureau survey data for more effective direct marketing campaigns. Automobile data preferences linked to PSYTE is provided to MapInfo under agreement with the R.L. Polk Company. For more information about PSYTE, visit www.psyte.net.
About MapInfo
MapInfo Corporation is a global software company that integrates software, data and services to help customers realize greater value from location-based information and drive more insightful decisions. MapInfo solutions are available in 20 languages through a network of strategic partners and distribution channels in 60 countries. Headquartered in Troy, NY, MapInfo Corporation is on the World Wide Web at www.mapinfo.com.
MapInfo and MapInfo PSYTE U.S. Advantage are trademarks of MapInfo Corporation and/or its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Of Note
This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties. Any statement not a statement of historical fact is a forward-looking statement, including without limitation statements concerning demand for and benefits of MapInfo products and integration of MapInfo products with existing solutions. Market acceptance, potential integration difficulties, decreased customer spending and economic trends may cause these statements not to be true or to differ materially from the manner presented. MapInfo takes no responsibility to update any forward-looking statements.
SOURCE: MapInfo Corporation
CONTACT: MapInfo Corporation
Angela Girard, 518-285-6000
press@mapinfo.com
or
Schwartz Communications
Erin Del Llano, 781-684-0770
mapinfo@schwartz-pr.com
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