New Delhi: Guess what is the most popular resolution for the New Year among the Indians!

With less than few days to go before the end of the year, over half (59 per cent) of the India's online population has already decided on their New Year’s resolutions, with 67 per cent of them promising to exercise more and 74 per cent planning a better home/work balance, according to ACNielsen, the world’s leading market research and information company.

The AC Nielsen Online Consumer Opinion Survey, the largest half-yearly survey of its kind, was conducted in late October/early November, surveying 25,408 Internet users in 46 countries from Europe, Asia-Pacific, North America, the Baltics and Middle East.

The survey found Indian men to be more in favour of having a New Year Resolution (60 per cent) as compared to women (54 per cent).

Another interesting finding that the research shows is that people in India (74 per cent) surpass their Asia-Pacific (61 per cent) counterparts in their desire to strike a better work-life balance in the coming New Year, Sarang Panchal, Executive Director of Customized Research at ACNielsen South Asia, said.

The third most popular (50 per cent) resolution among Indians was to 'spend more time with the family'. 'Exercise more' is the most popular New Year resolutions for Indians in their 50s (68 per cent) and it changes to 'spend more time with family' as soon as they cross 65 (70 per cent).

For younger generation in their 25s, 'work-life balance' is the most sought-after New Year resolution (82 per cent). Over 67 per cent of online Indian consumer under the age of 20 would like to 'quit smoking' in the coming year.

"People make New Year’s resolutions to make up for the things they should have done but didn’t in the past year," says Panchal. "Judging by our survey findings, there is a strong connection between the top three most popular New Year's resolutions among global consumers – ‘Exercise more, better work-life balance and go on a diet’ – are all designed to set us on a path to a better and healthier 2007."

Though there is always a common complaint that New Year resolutions are hard to keep, most people participated in the survey expect to keep it. In fact, over 99 per cent of Indians who made a New Year’s resolution said they expect to stick to it.