The Story Wave 44

Stone Fruit Season: A Dive into America’s Summer Favorites – Instacart-Harris Poll

Yesterday was the official start of summer – a time of year best accompanied by peaches, plums, mangoes…all the stone fruit. To celebrate stone fruit season, Instacart and The Harris Poll investigated Americans’ fruit-filled habits: 

• How do you like your stone fruit? The majority of US adults (85%) enjoy eating their stone fruits fresh. In contrast, one third (31%) like to enjoy their stone fruits in baked goods. 
• Peaches take the crown…: 62% of US adults are most looking forward to eating peaches this season. 
• …But they aren’t perfect: Less than a third (29%) of Americans love the peach’s fuzzy exterior. 
• Do you say ‘ape-ricot’ or ‘app-ricot’? Six in 10 Americans (63%) stand behind ‘app-ricot’ as the correct pronunciation. 

Are You Booking Your Summer Travel With Credit Card Rewards? – TPG-Harris Poll

According to a Harris Poll survey conducted on behalf of TPG, 76% of US adults intend to travel in the next 12 months. Often, they look to use credit card rewards to get them there. Check out these insights on Americans’ travel and credit card habits:

• Racking up points: Almost a third (27%) of US adults have a travel rewards credit card.
• Another day, another card: almost half (45%) of rewards cardholders have opened a credit card specifically to receive travel rewards.
• Free money anyone?: 81% of rewards cardholders who are traveling this summer plan to use their rewards to help pay for their travel expenses.
• But should I use them?: 40% of rewards cardholders say that they are unsure when to save or spend their credit card rewards.

Takeaway: Travel is a big part of the summer season, but paying for trips can crunch your wallet. Many consumers are looking to use credit card rewards to help them afford their vacation plans. Are you one of the savvy consumers who strategically uses credit card rewards to jet set?

How Did Instagram’s Political Content Policy Impact User Perceptions? – Brand Story

Following Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel, individuals across the globe began disseminating political information, personal stories, and updates across Instagram. Users’ heightened political discourse sparked mixed reactions, with some users claiming that Instagram’s algorithm appeared to be biased.

• In February, Meta announced that it would no longer automatically recommend political content on users’ feeds, and Instagrammers’ perceptions of the platform began to shift.
• Using data from QuestBrand by the Harris Poll, we can see how Instagrammers’ recommendation score for the platform changed after Meta announced their new political content policy.
• The graph below tracks Instagram users’ recommendation of the platform. While recommendation dropped after the Oct 7th attack, Instagram experienced a significant increase in positive user recommendations after they updated their political content policy – jumping from 30.5 pre-February 9, 2024, to 38.6 in the post period.

Read the full brand story.