Americans Are Confident the U.S. Can Lead Innovation in the 21st Century But Want More Focus on the Areas That Really Matter

Americans Are Confident the U.S. Can Lead Innovation in the 21st Century But Want More Focus on the Areas That Really Matter

JWT-Commissioned Survey Coincides with American Inventor Debut on ABC

MIT's Eric von Hippel to Keynote at JWT's American Inventor Premiere Party; JWT Launches AmericanInventorOnline.com

NEW YORK, March 14 /PRNewswire/ -- A solid 62% of Americans are confident that the United States has the right mix of factors to be the world leader in innovation through the 21st century, and an even higher 80% rank the nation alongside Japan as a world leader in innovation now and going forward, far ahead of the 43% who ranked China in third place.

In an online survey of Americans conducted ahead of the new ABC primetime show American Inventor, 69% of the 1,075 respondents reckoned that the free- market system of the United States encourages inventiveness, although 79% also thought that Americans are too easily seduced by shiny new things and ideas. While a surprisingly lower 41% rate Americans as the most innovative and inventive people in the world, they apparently expect immigration to help make up the shortfall; 62% of respondents think the U.S. attracts the world's innovators.

The survey was commissioned by JWT, the largest ad agency in the U.S. and fourth largest in the world with a rich 162-year history of innovation, to coincide with the March 16 debut of American Inventor, the series from Simon Cowell and the producers of American Idol that will capture the biggest search ever for America's best new invention. Ed Evangelista, an executive creative director at the New York headquarters of JWT, is one of the experts on American Inventor's panel of judges, which also includes: Doug Hall, an inventor, best-selling author, and radio host; Mary Lou Quinlan, founder and CEO of Just Ask a Woman, one of the premier women's marketing companies in the U.S.; and Peter Jones, one of the U.K.'s brightest young entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

In the spirit of inventiveness, JWT's American Inventor premiere party in New York on March 16 will feature a keynote address from Eric von Hippel, Professor and Head of Technological Innovation and the Entrepreneurship Group at the MIT Sloan School of Management, whose academic research examines the sources and economics of innovation. JWT also today announced the launch of a Web site, www.americaninventoronline.com, which includes more material on American ingenuity, American Inventor, and this survey.

Asked to select three areas of invention where the United States is currently outstandingly inventive, 38% of Americans singled out medical science, making it the top scorer, while the related field of pharmaceuticals stood in seventh place with 17%. Second place went to military and weaponry with 33%, ahead of space exploration with 29%. Moviemaking and aviation both scored 25%.

Outstanding U.S. inventiveness in medical science and pharmaceuticals is very much in line with where Americans think the U.S. should be strong. Asked to choose just three areas where the U.S. should focus its inventive skills and energies to come up with world-leading innovations, 50% of respondents chose medical science, making it the leader by far, while 17% chose pharmaceuticals. But the next-highest areas of focus chosen are very different from what Americans see as the nation's current strengths.

Just 5% rated education as a current area of inventive strength, but 41% chose it as one of the three areas on which the U.S. should focus. An even lower 3% rated social security and welfare as a current strength, but 36% thought it should be. And only 5% of Americans rated environmental technologies as a current top-three inventive field, but 24% thought it should be a top-three focus. Conversely, just 13% chose military and weaponry and 7% chose space exploration as areas where the nation should focus its innovation efforts.

"It's reassuring to see Americans' confidence in our capacities to invent and innovate," says Rosemarie Ryan, president of JWT New York, "but the issue now is what those capacities should be applied to. Just look at the difference between what Americans see as our current strengths and what they would like the United States to focus on in the future. Education, social security, and welfare might have shown up as neglected fields before, but environmental technologies are surely a significant newcomer. We believe there's a real shift of focus towards areas that have an immediate bearing on people's everyday lives and sense of well-being, especially following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina."

The survey also reveals gender differences in attitudes about innovation and invention. For example, almost three-fourths of Americans (73%) wish they were more inventive, but far more women than men harbor this wish (78% vs. 68%). This suggests that women are more interested than men in being inventive. Yet more men than women say they fantasize about thinking up new inventions (64% vs. 54%), more men than women rate themselves as taking an active interest in invention and innovation (51% vs. 40%), and more men than women find the idea of an American Inventors Investment Fund appealing (54% vs. 44%).

The reason why fewer men than women wish they were more inventive is probably that men are more likely to consider themselves inventive already: More men than women think they are inventive in their work (52% vs. 42%) and in their life outside work (59% vs. 50%).

Gender differences are also apparent in perceived and desired areas of American inventive strength. Broadly speaking, men are more focused on what might be regarded as gung-ho areas of innovation such as military and weaponry (40% of men vs. 27% of women), space exploration (30% vs. 27%), and aviation (32% vs. 19%). Women are more focused than men on what might be regarded as caring or creative fields such as medical science (40% vs. 35%), moviemaking (32% versus 18%), and music (14% vs. 8%).

Although both men and women prioritize the same "caring" fields for future development, the percentages of women are significantly higher than the percentages of men for medical science (55% vs. 45%), for education (45% vs. 35%), and for social security and welfare (43% vs. 29%). Both men and women are equally keen to see focus on environmental technologies (both 24%), and equally lower percentages want the U.S. to focus its inventiveness on military and weaponry (13%).

"Historically and culturally, Americans have associated innovation and invention with technology and gadgetry, and those have been very much in the spotlight with the digital revolution and the various military conflicts. Since the early 1990s, the first Gulf War, the various Balkan conflicts, Afghanistan, and Iraq have all raised awareness of military technology and IT coming together, which are typically male areas of interest -- what women tend to call 'boys' toys.' Women have been and felt peripheral to innovation," says Marian Salzman, executive vice president, chief marketing officer of JWT. "But we are seeing that, across the board, women are becoming more of a force in American society, and the survey shows that female values and interests are also being felt by men. After a long history of 'yang' inventions, Americans are looking for more 'yin' innovations. Whether they will recognize and reward them is another matter."

The survey also holds a cautionary note for anyone thinking that becoming a successful inventor can open the door to celebrity. Asked to rate their familiarity with 16 great U.S. inventors, Americans showed the greatest familiarity with long-dead luminaries such as Thomas Edison and Samuel Morse. Living innovators were little known. Faced with the name Steve Wozniak (coinventor of the Apple Computer), 40% of Americans had never heard of him, and another 21% weren't sure whether or not they had. Celebrated innovator Ray Kurzweil fared even worse -- 50% had never heard of him and 27% weren't sure.

About JWT

JWT, which celebrates its 142nd anniversary this year, ranks as the largest advertising agency brand in the United States and as the fourth largest full-service network in the world. Since the agency's founding in 1864, passion for innovation has led JWT to invent copy and layouts, build the first full-service advertising agency, pioneer ad careers for women, produce the first sponsored TV program, develop account planning, and forge the first international network. Its parent company is WPP (NASDAQ:WPPGY).

Contact: Erin Johnson, Communications Director, JWT
212.210.7243
Erin.Johnson@jwt.com

Source: JWT

CONTACT: Erin Johnson, Communications Director, JWT, 212-210-7243, or
Erin.Johnson@jwt.com

Web site: http://www.jwt.com/
http://www.americaninventoronline.com/

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