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by Kevin Coupe

There is an old joke: Marriage is a great institution. Then again, who wants to live in an institution.

The answer, apparently, is fewer people than ever.

Slate.com reports on the second annual Singles in America study, which reveals that “among those singles 21 and older, 27 percent said they didn't want to get hitched while roughly another 40 percent were uncertain whether they did. A little more than one-third (34.5 percent) said they knew for sure they wanted to get hitched.”

The survey also found that, according to the survey, “that the top five deal-breakers in order of importance are having a disheveled or unclean appearance (67 percent), being lazy (66 percent), being too needy (63 percent), lacking a sense of humor (54 percent), and - woe to long-distance relationships -- living more than three hours apart (49 percent).”

It is a shift priorities that marketers - especially those who traditionally have catered to married couples and families - need to be consider as they move forward.

In other words, they have to keep they Eyes Open.
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