The ongoing economic crisis appears to be having a negative influence on the global public’s judgment of progress on economic wellbeing, according to our latest global polling.
When asked to evaluate the state of progress on societal challenges over the last twenty years, people across 22 countries were more likely to feel that environmental protection and creating healthier and more equitable societies had got better over that period than felt the same way about improved economic wellbeing, which nearly as many felt had got worse (36%) as felt it had improved (39%).
These findings suggest that current socioeconomic difficulties may be making it difficult for citizens to perceive the widespread increase in living standards over the last two decades, which has been particularly marked in middle-income countries such as Brazil, India and China. Not surprisingly, these are the three countries most likely to perceive an improvement in economic wellbeing over the period, while troubled European and North American economies, particularly Greece, are the least likely.
The findings are drawn from The Regeneration Roadmap, GlobeScan and SustainAbility’s collaboration aimed at generating a roadmap for sustainable development over the coming years.
Finding from The Regeneration Roadmap, 2012
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
In the past few years the internet has become a widely used tool for Chinese people to access information that would otherwise not be available, such as critical information about the government, but also for consumers to learn about the social and environmental responsibility of companies. In response to the banning of global social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, Chinese internet users have instead developed their own widely used platforms for social networking and microblogging. China now boasts more than double the internet users of the USA, and more than 300 million Chinese consumers use social media according to a recent survey by McKinsey.
Chinese consumers use their newfound access to information to find information about the behaviour of companies; recent findings from GlobeScan’s 2012 Radar research programme shows that Chinese consumers are much more likely than consumers in other key markets to use social media to discover how responsibly companies are behaving on social, as well as environmental, issues. Compared to British or American consumers, the Chinese are twice as likely to claim they use social media to learn about CSR.
In 2011, several corporate scandals in China were uncovered and spread through social media, such as food safety problems of China’s largest meat processor Shuanghui, tainted Mengniu milk products, and a cover-up by authorities of the oil spill in the gulf of Bohai by the American company ConocoPhillips. As more scandals emerge, Chinese consumers are becoming more alert to corporate misbehaviour and increasingly eager to spread the word online.
Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 1, 2012
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
The newly elected French President, François Hollande, has recently stated that China’s relationship to the EU is fundamentally adversarial. This is just the latest of many calls from Western officials trying to address a perceived unfairness in the world’s trade system, an unfairness for which they consider China mainly responsible.
Yet, despite this official “hostile” rhetoric, GlobeScan’s 2012 Country Ratings Poll finds that the global public’s opinion of China has improved significantly over the past year. The poll asked respondents to rate the influence of 16 countries and the European Union. On average, in 21 tracking countries, 50 per cent of respondents rate China’s influence in the world positively, while 31 per cent consider it to be negative—a substantial improvement since 2011, with positive views increasing by four points and negative views dropping by the same amount. China has now overtaken both the EU and the US on this measure. This improving trend is remarkable in Western countries—although in some of them negative perceptions continue to outnumber the positive. In Australia (61%), Canada (53%), the UK (57%), the US (42%), and Germany (42%), the proportion of positive views has never been higher since tracking began in 2005. Opinion has grown more positive in Spain and France as well.
A subsample of respondents was asked to say which of four possible areas was most influential in their judgment—foreign policy, the economy (including products and services), traditions and culture, or the way people are treated. Of those who think Chinese influence is positive, 51 per cent say this is because of China’s economy, products, and services. While China certainly triggers some feelings of apprehension—the economy is also the top reason (30%) cited by respondents who hold unfavourable views of China—these positive results suggest that publics increasingly acknowledge that China’s economic power has become vital to the world economy.
Finding from the 2012 GlobeScan/BBC Country Ratings Poll
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
GlobeScan’s ongoing tracking of public attitudes towards corporate leadership in social and environmental responsibility reveals a highly disparate picture, probably reflecting persistently low levels of public awareness of corporate activity in this area. When asked to name a company they consider to be socially or environmentally responsible, the public around the world names a very broadspectrum of companies, with the only companies able to “cut through” in individual countries usually being flagship brands strongly associated with the prestige of the nation in question (for instance, Samsung in South Korea, Petrobras in Brazil, VW in Germany, or Safaricom in Kenya).
The reasons given for considering a company to be socially responsible are equally diverse, but show some regional patterns. Charitable support—particularly as governments retrenches—is highly significant in North America. Employee treatment is key in Europe, where the workforce traditionally has higher expectations of employment conditions, while in the wake of a number of product-related scandals, the quality of products and services is dominant as a consideration in Asia. This suggests that companies looking to establish reputations for responsible business will need to take care to tailor the focus of their messaging to the regional context.
Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 1, 2012
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
The recent wave of foreign investment in Africa—much of it from China—has started to transform the employment situation and infrastructure in parts of the continent. According toThe Economist, trade between China and Africa surpassed $120 billion in 2010, and it is claimed that China has given more loans to Africa over the past two years than the World Bank. Despite the controversy surrounding China’s new-found influence in the continent—with concern as to whether the benefits of the investment stay in Africa or are all repatriated to China—GlobeScan’s recent public attitudes poll for BBC World Service suggests that Africans themselves are much more relaxed about it than much of the rest of the world.
A narrow majority of those we polled across 22 countries at the end of last year saw foreign investment in Africa as a very or somewhat good thing for the continent, with around one in four holding the opposite view. However, the results indicate that some of the world’s major donor countries have misgivings. A majority of Germans (56%) and significant minorities of French (44%), Spaniards (40%), Britons and Americans (both 32%) think it is a bad thing.
In contrast, the four African countries in our sample all have very large majorities feeling that the foreign investment is a positive thing, with support highest in Nigeria (85%), but also very high in Kenya (75%), Ghana (72%), and Egypt (71%).
Finding from a February 2012 GlobeScan/BBC Poll
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
The worsening labour market and government debt crisis in Spain is leading Spaniards to re-evaluate their attitudes towards their current economic system, according to GlobeScan’s latest global public attitudes tracking across 22 countries for BBC World Service.
Globally, views of the fairness of the economic system and of free market capitalism have remained broadly stable since 2009, when GlobeScan last looked at this question. There has been some polarisation in attitudes about the free market, with an increase in the proportion of people who feel that the system works fine and does not need reform, but also an increase in those who view it as “fatally flawed”’ and feel a new economic system is required.
However, the change in Spanish attitudes over the past few years is strikingly at variance with this picture. The number of Spaniards who regard free market capitalism as “fatally flawed” has jumped from 29% in 2009 to 42% this year, while the view that economic benefits and burdens have not been fairly shared in Spain is now almost universally held (up from 66% in 2009 to 92% this year). In both cases, these proportions are the highest of any nation polled.
These figures suggest that the new right-of-centre Spanish government may face significant public opposition to austerity measures whose impact is likely to fall heaviest on the less well-off.
Finding from a 25 April 2012 GlobeScan/BBC Poll
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
GlobeScan’s most recent tracking of consumer confidence around the world confirms that to talk about “global” economic sentiment is somewhat misleading.
The polarized picture we have noted in recent years continues, with consumers in the world’s major industrialized economies remaining predominately downbeat, while those in some of the major emerging economies are more likely to feel positive about their financial situation.
Notably, despite increasing talk of an economic slowdown, Chinese consumers appear much more upbeat about their financial situation than they did in 2011. The situation in India is more balanced, although those who report that their financial situation is better than last year still outnumber those who feel worse off than a year ago.
The contrast with the G7 is stark. If the recent improvement in US unemployment figures is translating into less negative sentiment among consumers there, the same cannot be said in France or, particularly, the UK, where sentiment remains heavily negative. There is little sign that Western consumers are ready to be the motor of any sustained economic recovery.
Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 1, 2012
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
Despite the ever-increasing attention being paid by many companies to developing and communicating a responsible approach to business, there is little evidence that consumers are connecting with the CSR and sustainability efforts being made by the corporate world.
GlobeScan’s international tracking reveals that the number of consumers across 26 countries who said they knew a lot about what companies were doing to improve their social and environmental performance actually decreased slightly between 2009 and 2011, while the proportion saying they were not well informed increased.
While this may reflect greater focus on companies’ financial performance (and job losses) during the recession, it may also reflect the disconnect that continues to exist in many companies between marketing and communications functions and CSR/sustainability functions. Our research suggests that many consumers and stakeholders have not yet been engaged by the way companies try to show what they are doing to be more responsible, and view corporate claims in this area with continuing skepticism.
Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 1, 2011
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
Over many years, GlobeScan’s regular tracking of global publics’ trust in different types of institutions has shown that NGOs are clearly the most trusted. Compared to global and national businesses, governments, and the media, trust in NGOs is significantly higher and continues to rise slowly.
To further investigate why this high level of trust exists, we asked people to say what NGOs had done recently to earn their trust. The word cloud derived from their responses starkly illustrates two key findings. The first is the prominence of “help” (and to a lesser extent “support”) along with two key recipients of that help, “people” and “environment.” This highlights how important tangible outcomes are to people’s willingness to see NGOs as trustworthy. It also adds weight to what GlobeScan found in its global public polling in 2008—that the consensus of public support for NGOs’ role in aid and assistance work is greater than for their political campaigning and advocacy.
Paradoxically, the other very frequent response is “nothing.” This raises an important question of whether the high level of trust in NGOs we witness is, at least in part, based on blind faith that NGOs can be trusted, simply because of what they represent. Indeed in recent research conducted in the US and UK, we found few people admit to knowing much about how non-profits and charities operate, despite most people believing they are the most effective change-makers.
NGOs should be wary of this potentially shaky foundation of public trust. Both historical and recent examples of scandals and controversies engulfing NGOs demonstrate how quickly trust can be wiped away, especially in the age of social media.
Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 2, 2011
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
Body image is generally more positive in the developing world than in the West, according to GlobeScan’s latest global public opinion polling. A week after a major health charity warned that more than half of British women’s waists are too large, GlobeScan’s opinion polling shows that while most of those polled across 23 countries (77%) are at least somewhat happy with their body condition, Indonesians are most content (92% say they are happy), followed by Kenyans (91%), Ghanaians (87%), and … “Most people still at least “somewhat” happy with their body condition despite changing social norms—particularly in developing world”