Washington came in second for body waxing in the LivingSocial poll. (Photo by Christopher Chen)LivingSocial released today the results of a survey it recently commissioned about how consumers in 20 major U.S. cities view themselves. The poll ranked the cities according to vanity. Though Washington might be the top-ranked city for a few things, top honors for physical confidence went to Miami. In fact, Washington came in at No. 8, though we topped the list in a few choice categories.
The survey, conducted by Mandala Research, queried 4,000 online consumers nationwide, including 200 in the Washington metropolitan area. Among the perceived qualities—good and bad, depending on your tastes, of course—that D.C. came in at No. 1:
- Women here are beautiful
- Men are metrosexual (more shocking because I thought that term peaked in 2004)
- People are superficial
- Men are bald
Washington also came in near the top of the rankings in bad hygiene, short men, overweight people, handsome men, sloppy dressers and athletic types. Apparently, the survey did not test for passive-aggressiveness toward the dating pool.
To our credit, perhaps, D.C. didn’t lead in any cosmetic surgery procedures, though we did finish in the top five for nose jobs, collagen injections, facelifts and liposuction. (We also came in No. 6 for butt implants.)
So, even though I sometimes chuckle when I see LivingSocial or Groupon’s featured deal is botox or some other invasive beauty treatment, there is some methodology to this madness.
“With doing these surveys we’re trying to help our members find things to do or procedures to get done,” says LivingSocial spokeswoman Jody Gavin. But even though she also called the tone of the vanity poll “lighthearted,” there is clearly some data mining to be had. “We’re always trying to meet the needs,” Gavin says.
But a few things Washington consumers buy more than others: massages and spa treatments. So, a Spa World deal is surely in the future, right?
The full survey results for Washington below:
Vanity Survey Fact Sheet_WDC_final
