“Happenings at Home” Survey Identifies Holiday Priorities and Concerns

Kenmore® found in the homes of more than 100 million Americans*, released its first, quarterly “Happenings at Home” survey results that reveal holiday priorities and concerns.

“Despite holiday stresses of cleaning the house and entertaining guests, Americans aren’t losing sight of the true meaning of the holiday season – spending quality time with their families and creating memories,” says Michael Castleman, vice president and acting head for Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands.

“The “Happenings at Home” survey provides a glimpse into what’s happening in homes across America and helps Kenmore to create solutions that minimize holiday stress and free our customers to enjoy their holidays even more.”

Pleasing the Masses

The “Happenings at Home” survey results indicate satisfying the varied taste buds at the table is a top priority among Americans as main dishes, sides and desserts offer an assortment of flavors. It’s more apparent than ever that the “traditional” holiday menu no longer exists with more than 70 percent of Americans noting diversified holiday menus coming to the table.

Additionally, nearly half of “Happenings at Home” respondents (48 percent) noted strong concern about preparing a meal that everyone at the table will enjoy.

As kitchen concerns center around the holiday meal, the Kenmore Elite Double Oven Electric Free Standing Range brings holiday chefs greater versatility for cooking without compromise. “Happenings at Home” found 42 percent of Americans fearing some items will not make it to the table in time, this oven’s unsurpassed capacity** and new configuration offers an innovative solution to ensure cooking flexibility for all menu needs.

It boasts two, 3.5-cubic foot ovens that perform equally and independently to allow multiple main dishes, such as full-sized turkeys or hams, to cook at the same time in separate ovens and at different temperatures for greater cooking convenience and flexibility.

Additional “Happenings at Home” Seasonal Findings

The Kenmore “Happenings at Home” Survey identified the following additional holiday trends in American homes:

Quality Time is a Priority: No matter how stressed, 80 percent of Americans leave time to enjoy the season with their family and 62 percent create personal, family traditions to ensure family time and annual memories
Healthy Meals at the Holidays: Only 28 percent of Americans include healthy meal options at every holiday meal
Cleaning, Stress Rise Together: A majority of Americans (80 percent) increase household chores during the holidays and 65 percent of those note this causes the most seasonal stress
Dividing and Conquering Needed on the Home’s Front Lines: Only 21 percent of Americans say their families always pitch in to help with chores around the home during the holidays

As hosts prepare the home for family and friends to gather, they can rely on Kenmore as a holiday helper with its innovative cleaning products. In the laundry room, the Kenmore Elite® Front Load HE Steam Washer and matching Kenmore Elite Steam Dryer deliver technology that produces time, water and energy savings. For added convenience and ease of mind when tackling home cleaning, the Kenmore Progressive canister vacuum’s SWIVEL+ STEERING SYSTEM^TM provides versatile cleaning performance and flexibility for any room in the home.

Certified Asthma and Allergy Friendly^TM by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, this bagged vacuum’s True HEPA filtration helps keep irritating allergens at bay during the holiday season and year round.

The Kenmore “Happenings at Home” Survey is issued quarterly to a national audience as a means of tracking cultural and societal trends in addition to keeping a pulse on Americans’ sentiment towards appliance capabilities overall.

The “Happenings at Home” survey was conducted by Russell Research, an independent research company, in October 2011.

The Kenmore brand is an industry leader in delivering smart and stylish appliance innovations that help consumers do things quicker, easier and better. Recognized as a top appliance brand, Kenmore continues to raise the bar with industry-leading products across small and large appliance categories.

The brand took on a major overhaul re-launching and revamping packaging, product, marketing and social media efforts with the promise of consistently delivering more. The brand also introduced the Kenmore Live Studio is an interactive space in the heart of Chicago equipped to stream innovative experiences and events live online via the Kenmore Facebook page. For more information, log on to www.Kenmore.com or their Facebook page.

Pat Wyman is the best selling author of Instant Learning for Amazing Grades, Learning vs. Testing, CEO and founder of HowToLearn.com . and the creator of the Personal Learning Styles Inventory.