If you're the kind of customer who lets their little darlings run wild in a store while swearing into your mobile phone then you're not the kind of customer Kiwi businesses appreciate, according to a recent survey.

Commissioned by daily deal operator GrabOne, the survey found 96 per cent of New Zealand business owners believe good manners are important and older generations are better than younger people at using them more frequently.

Respondents ranked swearing (18%) as the most impolite trait from a selection in the survey, followed by letting children loose in stores (15%), not saying 'please' or 'thank you' (14%) and talking on mobile phones while being served (12%).

Businesses generally rate Kiwi customers highly on the politeness scale, reporting in their everyday dealings with customers that 91 per cent were always or mostly polite. No customers were recorded as being not polite at all, the lowest ranking on the scale.

Findings suggest a customer's age and even gender could have bearing on how polite they are likely to be. Twenty five per cent of respondents said women were more polite compared to 12% favoring men, though the vast majority (63%) said both genders were equally polite.

When it came to age, respondents said just 56 per cent of customers under 18, and 67 per cent of customers aged 18-25, always or mostly said 'please' and 'thank you', compared to 88 per cent of customers aged 35-50 and 88 per cent over 50 years of age.

GrabOne Marketing Director, Campbell Brown, says the findings act as a good reminder that taking time to acknowledge people and conduct ourselves in a certain way with the businesses we interact with is just as important as it is amongst friends and family.

"It seems the old saying 'manners maketh the man' is alive and well in New Zealand. Businesses deserve, and respond well to good behaviour from their customers. So keep the swearing in check, the kids under control and be respectful if you expect great service in return," he advises.

GrabOne surveyed 318 business owners across 13 regions in New Zealand during May 2012. For further information on GrabOne visit www.grabone.co.nz