June 11th is National Corn on the Cob Day. This vegetable not only happens to be one of summer’s most bountiful and beloved offerings, but it also lends itself to a variety of different cooking methods. This means that corn on the cob fans may not always agree on the best way to prepare it and may even engage in heated debate.
As the data show, 44% of Americans prefer to boil their corn on the cob, outpacing the 35% who like theirs grilled. Rounding out the top three are the 12% who enjoy a cob cooked on the campfire (among those with an opinion).
When it comes to preferences, age plays a role: adults aged 65+ lead all others in their preference for boiled corn on the cob by at least 16 percentage points. Meanwhile, adults aged 18-29 outpace all other age groups by at least six percentage points in their preference for campfire-cooked corn.
However, this demographic data is just the start of what sets boiled corn on the cob lovers apart from the rest. Here’s what the data show:
Newspaper Readers: Those who enjoy their corn on the cob boiled are more than twice as likely to read the newspaper daily as those who prefer their corn on the cob cooked over a campfire (31% vs 14).
Lawn Care Trends: While 50% of those who enjoy boiled corn on the cob tend to their lawn themselves, just 28% of those who enjoy a campfire-cooked cob say the same (among homeowners).
Sports Interest: Boiled corn on the cob fans are 10 percentage points more likely than campfire cob fans to say they’re not interested in sports (40% vs 30%).
Splurging Habits: While 31% of boiled corn on the cob fans say they don’t splurge on themselves, just 10% of campfire cob fans say the same.
Search Engine Usage: Although Google is the top search engine for all corn fans, those who prefer their corn boiled are 22 percentage points more likely to use the search engine giant than those who cook their corn over the open campfire flame (64% vs 42%).
Where do you stand? Take this poll now and see how your preference compares with other Americans:
Clearly, corn on the cob is so much more than what meets the eye. And while your preferred cooking method may not be something you think much about, the data reveal that this one choice speaks volumes about your consumer preferences, beyond the cob.
Love taking polls? Sign up to receive topical polls straight to your inbox every day in The CivicScience Poll of the Day here.
This article’s data comes solely from CivicScience’s database, which contains nearly 700,000 poll questions and 5 billion consumer insights.
