Some 27% of Americans claim chocolate is their favorite ice cream flavor

Chocolate is the favorite flavor, followed by vanilla and cookie dough/cookies and cream

As summer heats up and Americans turn to ice cream as a way to cool off when the temperatures rise, over one-quarter (27%) say chocolate is their favorite flavor while 22% each say vanilla and cookie dough/cookies and cream. One in five (20%) say butter pecan/Swiss almond and 17% of Americans say their favorite flavor is mint chocolate chip. Lesser numbers say rocky road (14%), strawberry (13%), cherry vanilla (9%), coffee (9%), pistachio (8%) and peanut butter (8%), while 3% of Americans do not eat ice cream.

These are some of the results from The Harris Poll®, a new study of 2,177 U.S. adults surveyed online between June 8 and 15, 2009 by Harris Interactive®.

Different Tastes for Different Generations

When it comes to favorite flavors, there are generational differences. Two in five (41%) Echo Boomers (aged 18-32) say cookie dough/cookies and cream is their favorite flavor followed by 23% who say it is mint chocolate chip. Chocolate is the favorite for the other three generations, but for 24% of Baby Boomers (aged 45-63) and 28% of Matures (aged 64 and older) butter pecan/Swiss almond is the favorite, putting it as second for those two generations. After chocolate (29%), one-quarter (25%) of Generation Xers (aged 33-44) say cookie dough/cookies and cream is their favorite.

But How Do They Eat It?

When it comes to actually eating ice cream, under half (45%) say their favorite way to eat ice cream is in a cup while three in ten (29%) say it is in a cone. Two in five (18%) Americans who eat ice cream say their favorite way is as part of a sundae while just 2% prefer an ice cream sandwich. There is a slight gender difference here. Half of men (50%) say a cup is their favorite compared to 41% of women. But over one-third of women (34%) say they prefer a cone compared to 24% of men who say that.

What’s On Top?

When it comes to favorite toppings, 57% of those who eat ice cream say it is hot fudge while 43% say nuts and 40% say whipped cream. Over one-third of Americans who eat ice cream (35%) say their favorite is caramel, while 31% say it is fruit, such as strawberries or bananas. Just under one in five say sprinkles (18%) are their favorite, 13% say candy bits and 12% say marshmallow while 16% don’t use any toppings on their ice cream.

Again, some generational differences emerge as three in ten Echo Boomers (31%) say sprinkles compared to just 7% of Matures. Half of Matures (50%) say nuts are their favorites while just one-third (34%) of Gen Xers say the same.

Methodology

This Harris Poll® was conducted online within the United States June 8 and 15, 2009, among 2,177 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online. Full data tables and methodology are available at www.harrisinteractive.com.