While a deal may be emerging at the Rio+20 sustainable development conference, it is already being criticized as inadequate to address pressing global challenges, particularly in terms of environmental protection and mitigating climate change. The inability of political leaders to agree to radical policies—changes that could prove unpalatable to their electorates in the midst of economic crisis—is often cited as a reason for the failure of recent UN summits to meet expectations.
Nonetheless, the latest GlobeScan public attitudes tracking suggests that most citizens around the world remain optimistic that progress on environmental protection will be made over the next two decades—and those in the world’s major emerging powers are significantly more optimistic than many of their developed-world counterparts.
Summit hosts Brazil, and China, emerge as the most bullish about the prospects of leaders making environmental progress in the decades to come (77% optimistic in both cases, with 35% very optimistic in Brazil). Emerging economic powers Indonesia and Mexico are not far behind. Among developed economies, Germans are the most optimistic (67%), followed by Americans (62%)—despite the US administration being widely seen as an obstacle to a more far-reaching agreement at Rio.
While optimists are also in the majority in the UK, Canada, and France, two in five or more are pessimistic in each of countries. However, the only country with a majority of pessimists is Greece—in keeping with the very downbeat worldview apparent in our recent polling there. This suggests that, overall, electorates may be more willing to accept a switch to environmentally sustainable policies than is sometimes assumed.
Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 1, 2012
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
As businesses seek ways to project credible messages about responsibility, many have been turning to partnerships with NGOs. This is not surprising—GlobeScan’s tracking indicates that public trust in NGOs continues to outstrip trust in business by a very significant margin, and most citizens in our global survey say that they would have increased respect for companies that choose to partner with NGOs.
However, GlobeScan’s latest monitoring of public sentiment on the issue suggests that the issue of partnerships is becoming more hazardous—for NGOs. A majority (53%) of those polled earlier this year across 23 countries say that their respect for a charity/NGO would go down if it chose to partner with a company. And this increased skepticism appears to be more pronounced in some major developing economies. Notably, the proportion in China who say they would lose respect for an NGO engaged in a corporate partnership has risen from 46% in 2003 to nearly four in five (78%) this year. There have also been significant rises in the proportions of such skeptics in India and Russia.
With the reputation of private business in these countries having been tainted by many high-profile corruption scandals, this may reflect public fear that NGOs’ independence and ability to act as rallying points for social change could be compromised. The rise in skepticism may also reflect misgivings about the coherence of existing corporate/NGO partnerships. On a recent GlobeScan webcast, SC Johnson’s Kelly Semrau stressed the importance of retaining “authenticity” when businesses and NGOs work together. These findings show this is also a preoccupation for consumers.
Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 1, 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)
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)
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)
GlobeScan regularly tracks the level of trust that people around the world have in different institutions—in global and national businesses, governments, NGOs, the media, and others. Our recent research show that trust in business to operate in the best interests of society remains low—and finds that, while trust has increased somewhat in recent years, business continues to suffer from a significant trust deficit compared to the non-profit sector.
To investigate further, we asked people around the world to say what business had done to earn their trust recently. The word cloud derived from their responses starkly illustrates the cynicism that many feel, with the most common response, by far, being that companies have done “nothing” to earn trust. Those who are able to name a trust-building accomplishment most commonly cite the benefits to society that come from employment and from higher-quality products and services. This lack of awareness highlights how difficult it is for corporate CSR initiatives to “cut through” to the wider public: words such as “social,” “charity,” or “environment” are much less prominent in the cloud.
However, the picture diverges sharply between the world’s major industrialized economies, where cynicism about the motives of business dominates, and emerging economies, where the increased corporate activity associated with rapid economic growth also raises the profile of companies’ social investment, infrastructure projects, and environmental initiatives, as well as job creation.
Next week’s Featured Finding will look at trust in NGOs.
Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 2, 2011
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
The potency of water as a political issue in the world’s major emerging economies was underlined again this week when it was reported that water levels had plunged in the Siang river in India’s north-east. Allegations were levelled that China—where water stress is also a major concern—had diverted much of the water on the Chinese side of the border, preventing it reaching farmers and residents who depend upon on it in the Indian state of Assam.
This controversy is not surprising, given the central importance that Indian citizens attach to water as an issue, according to Globescan’s global attitudes tracking. Our most recent data reveal that Indians consider fresh water shortages to be the most serious of a range of environmental problems, with nearly seven in ten (68%) rating them as “very serious”—up nearly ten percentage points since 2008. Furthermore, water pollution was cited this year as the second most serious environmental problem, with 59% rating it “very serious,” well ahead of problems like climate change (47%).
With the Indian economy registering its seventh consecutive quarter of slow growth, water insecurity, already an important concern, is likely to become increasingly central to the politics of this huge emerging economy.
Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 2, 2011
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
US Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has caused controversy this week because of his aggressive stance on America’s economic relations with China. He recently promised, if elected, to declare China a “currency manipulator” and impose tariffs on Chinese goods, prompting fears of a trade war.
But while Romney’s comments have attracted criticism from some on his own side, who argue the US has more to lose than gain from a tariff war with China, GlobeScan’s most recent public attitudes tracking suggests that Romney’s stance on tariffs is consistent with a majority of US public opinion. Since it was initially measured in 2002, American public support for trade barriers as a way of protecting jobs has remained consistently high, rising from 60% in 2002 to 65% in 2011.
However, other findings suggest this is not part of a new mood of economic nationalism. GlobeScan’s data also show that the numbers who think that government should prevent foreign companies from buying national companies has fallen significantly since 2006. Taken together, these findings suggest that in hard economic times, the need to safeguard US jobs is winning out over both free-market doctrine and patriotic sentiment among the US public.
Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 2, 2011
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)