CHARLOTTE, NC May 24, 2015 – According to a recent survey by Accelerant Research, the vast majority (92%) of American adults are at least aware of why Memorial Day is celebrated, however, those with an active or retired military family member are substantially more likely to understand the holiday’s significance (95% vs. only 86% for those without a military family member). Interestingly, no matter how distant the relationship (whether military family members are immediate family or extended family), any presence of a family member who is serving or has served has the same impact on correctly defining Memorial Day.
Of the one in 12 Americans who do not know why we celebrate Memorial Day, most identify the holiday as the first day of Summer, while a handful confuse Memorial Day with Independence Day.
The survey also investigated how Americans plan to spend their time during the holiday weekend. Half of Americans are planning a barbecue/cookout, while one in three plan to visit with loved ones and one in four plan to visit a veterans memorial or monument. Again, the presence of military family members has a substantial impact on Memorial Day weekend plans, with one in three Americans who have active or retired military family members planning to visit veterans memorials, compared to only one in ten Americans without military family members.
Accelerant Research conducted the Memorial Day survey online among a demographically representative sample of 1,459 Americans 18 years of age or older. For more information about this study, please contact Accelerant Research at info@accelerantresearch.com.
About Accelerant Research:
Accelerant
Research (www.AccelerantResearch.com) is an independent, nonpartisan full-service marketing
research and consulting firm headquartered in Charlotte, NC, which specializes
in customer loyalty, product development, customer satisfaction measurement,
modeling, tracking, qualitative research, and brand analytics.
