MapInfo Tracks Cupid

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MapInfo Tracks Cupid This Valentine’s Day
North Carolina is Ready with a Bouquet and California Shows up with Chocolates; MapInfo Uncovers Where Singles Live with PSYTE U.S. Advantage



TROY, NY—February 12, 2004—Valentine’s Day is a day for lovers and MapInfo (NASDAQ: MAPS) today released statistics using its PSYTE® U.S. Advantage Neighborhood cluster solution, identifying the U.S. locations that might be the most swept up by romance. MapInfo demographers uncovered this information integrating PSYTE with data from Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI), the leading provider of syndicated, single-source marketing and media research in the United States.

The marital status and consumer behavior of specific demographic markets are just some of the insights that PSYTE offers to companies wanting to better understand the lifestyle and habits of their customers. Here’s how some U.S. metros ranked in the romance department:

Love Blooms in Indiana—Romance should be in the air in Bloomington, Ind. this season, with MapInfo identifying this college city as the metro with the highest percentage of single men and women never married. It is no surprise that college towns offer the most number of singles; other metros leading the list including Lawrence, Kansas; State College, Penn.; Iowa City, Iowa; and Athens, Georgia.
Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places—If you are a woman seeking a beau, you may want to steer clear of several metros in Florida such as Punta Gorda, Naples, Ocala, Fort Myers and Sarasota. These cities have some of the highest percentage of men already hitched. For men seeking women, Jacksonville, North Carolina is not the best dating grounds. Not only does this metro have the highest percentage of married women, but its sounds like they are getting special treatment too—Jacksonville is also the top metro for potential expenditures over $100 at flower shops in the last six months.
Object of My Confection—Chocolates are a simple way to say “I love you” or at least, “I know what you love” and what better place to say it than Honolulu! According to MapInfo, this island paradise leads as the metro with the highest potential to have bought boxed chocolates in the last six months. California is the state with the biggest sweet tooth—four of its metros, San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and Orange County, made the top ten. New Jersey comes in a close second with three of its metros, Bergen-Passaic, Jersey City and Newark with high market potential for chocolates.
Wait a Minute, Mr. Postman—When it comes to sending love, greeting cards can be an easy way to share loving words. People across the Northeast seem to prefer the written word to the rest of the country. Metros such as Danbury, Connecticut; Monmouth-Ocean New Jersey; Nashua, New Hampshire and Pittsfield, Massachusetts come out on top of the list. Texas won’t be mailing too many valentines. El Paso, Mcallen-Edinburg-Mission, Brownsville-Harlingen-San Benito and Laredo were last in MapInfo’s search.
“Finding where the most married and single people live not only offers interesting statistics into the lifestyles of the nation’s population but also provides valuable insights into consumer behavioral attributes and habits that retail companies can use to fine tune their marketing,” said Chris Michels, PSYTE product manager for MapInfo. “Through this Valentine’s Day market analysis, we have revealed areas with the highest potential for buying occasion-related gifts, such as flowers, candy and gift cards. Retailers can utilize this type of predictive analytical insight to better tailor marketing efforts and gain deeper understanding of their target markets and customers.”

Additional Information

PSYTE U.S. Advantage is linked to Acxiom’s InfoBase®, the world’s largest source of consumer data, Mediamark Research Inc., consumer/lifestyle data and Simmons Market Research Bureau survey data for more effective direct marketing campaigns. Automobile data preferences linked to PSYTE is provided to MapInfo under agreement with the R.L. Polk Company. For more information about PSYTE, visit www.psyte.net

About MapInfo

MapInfo Corporation is a global software company that integrates software, data and services to help customers realize greater value from location-based information and drive more insightful decisions. MapInfo solutions are available in 20 languages through a network of strategic partners and distribution channels in 60 countries. Headquartered in Troy, NY, MapInfo Corporation is on the World Wide Web at www.mapinfo.com.