February 18, 2011 – A study undertaken by Coca-Cola East and Central Africa has uncovered the leading sources of happiness in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The study, called The Coca-Cola Happiness Barometer, identifies what happiness means to different nationalities all over the world.

Similarly to results elsewhere, the study reveals that human contact wins hands down when it comes to happiness in East Africa. People in Kenya overwhelmingly voted family/partner as the biggest source of happiness (95%).

Overall, in all 19 countries where the survey was done people agree real world contact with family and partners is a greater source of joy (77%) than virtual world alternatives.

Supporting this notion that human, rather than virtual interaction is a greater source of pleasure, some of the biggest highlights of the day for Kenyans include eating (85%), catching up in the evening (68%), and chatting during the day (62%). Watching TV (73%), was also a key source of happiness.

“Happy people usually have close personal relationships, and are healthier and live longer. The married are consistently happier than the never married, and religious people are happier than average,” said Dr. Chris Hart, a renowned Nairobi-based psychologist,

“The results of The Coca-Cola Happiness Barometer show that neither gender, race nor education make much difference, and people of almost every economic class seem to be equally happy. This is consistent with results of similar global studies.”

The Coca-Cola Happiness Barometer confirms some of the stereotypes often associated with the different cultures. For instance, the way to a man’s heart is still through his stomach, the study reveals, while females are over three times more likely than males to shop when they need some happiness (14% for females versus 4%, of males, respectively).

Within Kenya, Kisumu residents were found to be more social than their counterparts in Nairobi and Mombasa, according to The Coca-Cola Happiness Barometer. The study also confirms the popular belief that most people move to the big city for work and money, as Nairobi residents where almost twice as likely to be motivated by money and work as their counterparts in Kisumu and Mombasa. Overall, Mombasa residents proved to be the most religious.

In East Africa, Tanzanian teens are by far the most likely to go dancing to cheer up (25%), while many Kenyan teens turn to the online world for a little happiness (15%). Overall, Kenyans are also the most family oriented (91%), while Ugandans often seek their comfort in food (88%) and music (41%).

“Coca-Cola provides simple moments of pleasure throughout the day. Our global campaign, “Open Happiness”, builds on that heritage, recognizing that even with the difficulties and stresses of modern day life, there are still opportunities, every day, to find a moment for life’s simple pleasures,” said Catherine Mudachi, Senior Marketing Brand Manager, Kenya, for Coca-Cola East and Central Africa.

“We were especially pleased to see that it’s the great taste of Coke that is still putting a smile on faces around the world,
as it has done for nearly 125 years.”