Capital University News, California State University, Sacramento
April 4, 2005
The truth behind state's stereotypes
As if there were really any doubt, the results of a survey
by Sacramento State Marketing professor Dennis Tootelian for the state's California
Grown marketing campaign offer proof that Californians are indeed a special
breed:
21 percent of survey respondents have taken a mud bath.
47 percent have milked a cow (the percentage is slightly
higher in Sacramento and Fresno).
99 percent have barbecued or eaten barbecued chicken,
turkey, lamb or salmon, while 83 percent have made or eaten barbecued fruit
or vegetables.
70 percent have visited a winery.
The survey results disprove one especially persistent California
stereotype-only 24 percent of respondents, who were polled in Fresno, Los Angeles,
Sacramento, San Francisco and San Diego, have ever surfed-while suggesting that
other perceptions about Californians may not be far off the mark. For example,
63 percent of survey respondents have hugged a tree, 67 percent have called
someone "dude" on at least one occasion, and 71 percent have used the word "awesome"
to describe something they've tasted.
Tootelian conducted the survey for the California Grown campaign in February
as a lighthearted way to support the image of free-thinking Californians presented
in the "California Grown" television commercials, billboards and in-store signage,
which inspired the survey questions.
"It was a fun study to do," says Tootelian, who has consulted on other aspects
of the California Grown campaign. "It was interesting to look at the lifestyles
that determine the products Californians buy and the services they use."
Supported by public and private funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and 29 California agriculture
organizations, the California Grown campaign was launched to raise awareness
of California-grown food products.
