Diversions September 20, 2012

Glass Shape Can Influence How Much You Drink

Price and availability both have an effect on alcohol consumption—and, a study found, so does the shape of the glass you drink from. 
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According to researchers at the University of Bristol in the U.K., participants who consumed alcohol from a straight-sided glass drank less than those who were served alcoholic beverages in glasses with curved sides. Social drinkers, both male and female, attended two sessions. They were randomly assigned to drink either beer or a soft drink from either a curved or a straight-sided glass. Next, they completed a task that asked them to identify what they thought was the midpoint of each type of glass.

Participants were significantly slower to consume an alcoholic beverage in a straight glass compared with one served in a curved glass. (Researchers quantified the difference as 60% slower.) This effect was observed only for a full glass and not a half-full one, and was not observed for a non-alcoholic beverage.

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When it came time to judge the halfway point of a glass, participants misjudged the midpoint of a curved glass to a greater degree than that of a straight glass, and—perhaps unsurprisingly—the more time they spent drinking, the greater the degree of error.

The study, “Glass Shape Influences Consumption Rate for Alcoholic Beverages,” was published by the Public Library of Science.

 

Data & Research September 19, 2012

Workers Welcome Automated Retirement Solutions

With defined contribution (DC) plans playing a growing role in retirement savings, one increasingly prevalent savings tool will be the target-date fund (TDF), BlackRock found.
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A survey from the asset manager BlackRock found more than nine in 10 workers find the TDF concept appealing—and one-third find it very appealing.  Younger workers, ages 25 to 34, are even more likely to find the concept very appealing (44%) than workers ages 55 to 59 (29%).  

More than six in 10 workers say they would react positively if their employer automatically moved their retirement assets into a TDF, and about the same number of retirees indicate an identical reaction.   

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Many workers would be comfortable with an employer taking “automatic” support for savings even further: Nearly four in 10 say they would be willing to have an employer automatically increase annually the amount of retirement savings deducted from a paycheck. A similar percentage of retirees indicate they would have been comfortable with their employer taking this step during their working years.  

According to Chip Castille, managing director and head of BlackRock’s U.S. and Canada defined contribution group, DC plan sponsors need to recognize that target-date funds have varying objectives and investment approaches that can affect investment performance as well as a fund’s suitability for a particular participant population. “Proper due diligence aligned with [a] good understanding of plan and participant realities can help a sponsor ensure that their target-date fund well supports their employees’ essential savings objectives,” he said.  

Boston Research Group conducted surveys of 1,035 retirees and 1,002 workers during March 2012 on behalf of BlackRock’s U.S. Defined Contribution business. Findings from the BlackRock survey can be found at http://www.BlackRock.com/RetirementSurvey.

 

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