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The state of Greek public opinion: contempt towards elites and pessimism for the future

In the week that Greece presented its latest austerity budget to international creditors, GlobeScan’s latest analysis of Greek public opinion bears out the assessment of Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who recently compared Greece’s situation to that of Depression-era America.

Just 20 percent of Greeks in our latest survey express any faith that the lives of their children and grandchildren will be better than their own. Furthermore, 77 percent feel that economic well-being has worsened over the last 20 years, while 71 percent feel the move to healthier and more equitable societies over the same period had gone backwards. Looking ahead, just 23 percent believe that economic well-being will improve over the next 20 years.

The despair that Greeks feel about the future is matched by their contempt for elites. Just 9 percent of Greeks believe that the rich deserve their wealth, and only 27 percent trust Greekcompanies to act in the best interests of society. Trust in multinational companies is lower still, at 21 percent, while fewer than one in five (18%) has any trust in the Greek government to act in the best interests of society.

These levels of social pessimism, resentment towards wealth and business, and anger toward the political class raise questions about how long the status quo and political centre in Greece can be maintained, especially in light of the rise of the Golden Dawn and SYRIZA groupings. With many of the options seen as most likely to contain the Eurozone crisis off the political table for now, New Democracy and Antonis Samaras will be lucky to avoid the fate of PASOK, whose share of the vote collapsed after they pushed this year’s bailout.

 

Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 1, 2012 

For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)

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Credibility gap persists around companies’ CSR communications

The credibility of corporate communications around issues of social and environmental responsibility is an increasingly serious problem for companies, according to GlobeScan’s latest global public tracking. In the ten countries tracked by GlobeScan over the past decade, fewer than two in five (38%) now say they believe companies communicate honestly about their social and environmental performance. Other findings reveal a consensus view that companies embrace CSR not because they are genuinely committed to it, but in order to improve their images.

This proportion is particularly low in the world’s most developed economies, where well under a third feel that corporate CSR communications are credible.

Our latest data also suggests that, by failing to address the credibility gap, companies may be missing the chance to engage constructively with an increasingly receptive public. An average of 72 percent in the same countries say they are “very interested” in learning more about what companies are doing to be socially and environmentally responsible—a figure that has risen sharply in many countries over recent years.

There is unlikely to be a single solution to the lack of credibility of companies’ communications around social and environmental responsibility. A franker approach to challenges that companies are facing, the increased use of independent third parties to critically appraise companies’ reporting, and an embrace of social media are all likely to play important roles.

 

Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 1, 2012 

For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)

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VIDEO: National News Coverage of the 2012 Greendex Survey

GlobeScan’s Director of CSR and Sustainability, Eric Whan was interviewed by CBC News anchor Andrew Nichols to discuss how Canada faired in the 2012 National Geographic / GlobeScan Greendex: a worldwide tracking survey of consumer choice and the environment. For more information on the Greendex, please visit: www.nationalgeographic.com/greendex   This interview originally aired live on CBC News, Friday, July 13, 2012 at 2:30 PM To view on CBC.ca, click here. 

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What drives a company’s reputation for responsibility – and how sector affects it

GlobeScan’s public attitudes tracking shows that the corporate world as a whole continues to suffer from a lack of trust in the eyes of consumers. Companies, and global ones in particular, are far less trusted than NGOs, and nearly half of citizens when polled this year were unable to call to mind a socially or environmentally responsible company when asked to do so.

However, the latest analysis of our findings reveals that the companies that are named as socially or environmentally responsible tend to cluster in a number of key sectors – with food companies the most frequently mentioned as socially responsible, and accounting for 13 percent of the total. As our chart this week shows – and as befits a highly consumer-facing sector, personal experience of a food company’s products or services is highly influential in making people feel that it is socially responsible, with advertising not far behind as a key information channel for communicating a sense of social responsibility.

Interestingly, though, it appears that a controversial sector does not have to be a bar to a positive reputation for responsibility for a company. Despite being rated as one of the least responsible sectors overall, oil companies are third most likely to be cited as examples of environmentally responsible companies (by 5%, same as electronic equipment / electrical appliances companies). Here, however, the consumer experience is far less significant in driving this perception, and news reports are the most significant channel by some distance – well ahead of the experience people have when filling up their cars. This highlights the need for companies seeking to engage consumers around issues of corporate responsibility to adapt the information channels they prioritize carefully according to their sector, or risk wasting precious time and budget.

 

Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 1, 2012 

For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)

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Worldwide, Consumers Who Feel Most Guilty About Their Environmental Impact Are Least to Blame

Washington, DC – 13 July 2012 – A new global analysis released today by the National Geographic Society finds that U.S. consumers rank last of 17 countries surveyed in sustainable behavior, with a score of 44.7 on the 2012 Greendex. U.S. consumers are among the least likely to feel “guilty about the impact” they have on the environment (21%), yet they are near the top in believing their individual choices could make a difference (47%). The National Geographic Society’s complete 2012 … “Worldwide, Consumers Who Feel Most Guilty About Their Environmental Impact Are Least to Blame”

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Tell Me A Story: The Power of Narrative in Corporate Leadership

What companies do people see as socially and environmentally responsible? Why do some make the cut, and others don’t? For whatever reason, efforts of businesses around the world to project a responsible message are failing to connect with the global public. Sam Mountford, Director of Global Insights at GlobeScan, writes in our latest Proof Points blog for GreenBiz.com about recent Radar Research Program findings that show there are certain factors that the public recognizes more than others – and that the … “Tell Me A Story: The Power of Narrative in Corporate Leadership”

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Public Remains Concerned Over Wealth Inequalities: Global Poll

Download the Press Release (PDF) 5 July 2012 – As the debate over top earners’ pay continues, public dissatisfaction with income inequality remains high, according to new GlobeScan data from a 23-nation study released today, with fewer than half in most countries polled believing most rich people in their country deserve their wealth. GlobeScan polled more than 12,000 adults across 23 countries about their attitudes towards economic inequality as part of the annual GlobeScan Radar global public opinion study on business … “Public Remains Concerned Over Wealth Inequalities: Global Poll”

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Rio+20’s Legacy: Filling the Leadership Vacuum

GlobeScan President, Chris Coulter writes in Triple Pundit to provide his impressions on how Rio+20 stacked up to expectations. While the formal governmental declaration issued last Friday is as at least as disappointing as predicted, Coulter argues Rio featured enough examples of commitments and leadership from business and civil society to enable us to visualize how a transition to sustainability can happen even if governments refuse to lead the way.   Read the full article on Triple Pundit.

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Trust Wins Over Ethical Consumers

Published by The Financial Times on June 25th, this letter was in written by GlobeScan Chairman, Doug Miller, in response to a June 7th article entitled “In search of the elusive ethical consumer”.   Michael Skapinker’s “In search for the ethical consumer” was good as far as it went, but missed a couple of key points. The corporate interest in the ethical consumer that he outlines is well founded. It is a significant and growing segment of the consumer marketplace, currently in the range … “Trust Wins Over Ethical Consumers”

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Majorities in most countries optimistic we will make environmental progress in the coming decades

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)

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Rio+20 Dispatch: Rio Re-Do

GlobeScan Sustainability Director, Eric Whan writes in The Huffington Post to explore the challenges and disappointments some delegates at Rio+20 have experienced so far. Eric explains: “some 3,000 people are spending most of their time away from the Rio Centro in the Windsor Barra hotel talking about the role of the private sector in the transformation to global sustainability. Such high levels of interest bode well. The problem is, these same people do the same thing at conferences every year. This gathering … “Rio+20 Dispatch: Rio Re-Do”

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Will There Be Icebergs Near Rio?

One hundred years since the sinking of the Titanic, it is still debated why that fabled and fated ship hit an iceberg and went under. But surely the root cause was the widespread belief that she was unsinkable. Twenty years since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro — which did so much to elevate environment and development on the global policy agenda — GlobeScan President, Chris Coulter, Dan Hendrix, President and CEO of Interface, and Mark Lee, Executive Director of SustainAbility fear a … “Will There Be Icebergs Near Rio?”

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Rio+20 Dispatch: Government Is Dead. Long Live Government.

GlobeScan President, Chris Coulter writes in The Huffington Post to explore the discussions at Rio+20 that have been focused on the poor performance of, and low expectations for, governments when it comes to making progress on sustainable development. The level of criticism of governments across stakeholders is remarkable: in recent polls by GlobeScan and SustainAbility on the performance of institutions in the transition to sustainable development, both experts and the global public give governments the lowest ratings.   Read the full article … “Rio+20 Dispatch: Government Is Dead. Long Live Government.”

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Businesses Cannot Afford to Ignore the Benefits of a Green Economy

From Financial Bottom-line Advantages to Job Creation and Sustainable Growth: Businesses Cannot Afford to Ignore the Benefits of a Green Economy, Report Says Download the Press Release (PDF) Rio de Janiero, 16 June 2012 – Businesses making the transition towards the green economy are already reaping rewards worth hundreds of millions of dollars in savings and high return on investment, while benefiting consumers, communities and the environment, says a new report entitled The Business Case for the Green Economy: Sustainable Return … “Businesses Cannot Afford to Ignore the Benefits of a Green Economy”

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Down to Business: Leading at Rio+20 and Beyond

In the latest The Regeneration Roadmap white paper, we share the perspectives of over 1,600 sustainability experts from 117 countries, and nearly 25,000 members of the global public from 22 countries. Through a series of surveys this spring, we gathered insights from these groups about their views of the state of sustainable development and perspectives on what is needed from business to accelerate progress. Click image to download the full report:   Global Public Opinion Report on the State of Sustainable … “Down to Business: Leading at Rio+20 and Beyond”

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Increased Misgivings About NGO/Corporate Partnerships in Major Emerging Economies

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)

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Consumers Call for Ambitious Leadership from their Governments at Rio+20 Earth Summit: Global Poll

Only 1 in 20 say their country should not commit to any international agreements Download the Press Release (PDF) LONDON, UK, 13 June 2012 – As the Rio+20 Earth Summit kicks off in Brazil this week, a new poll of 17,000 consumers across 17 countries finds that 55% of people worldwide want their government to “play a leadership role in making ambitious international commitments to reduce global poverty in ways that improve the environment.” A further 40% want their government to … “Consumers Call for Ambitious Leadership from their Governments at Rio+20 Earth Summit: Global Poll”

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Developing world consumers more upbeat about economic impact of a Green Economy

It is often asserted that a responsible approach towards the environment is a luxury that emerging economies—with large proportions of their populations often remaining in poverty—are unable to afford, and that their top priority must be economic growth, whatever the cost.

However, GlobeScan’s and SustainAbility‘s most recent survey of global consumers, conducted in collaboration with National Geographic, shows that those in emerging economies are even more likely than their developed-world peers to reject the notion that environmental responsibility and economic prosperity are mutually exclusive.

The survey among consumers across 17 countries asked them to say whether they thought a Green Economy would be more or less effective than today’s economy in addressing a range of environmental and social challenges—and found that, globally, consumers thought a Green Economy would be more effective in all areas except for the creation of low-paying jobs.

Consumers in emerging economies are much more optimistic about the overall impact of a Green Economy than those in industrialized countries—particularly on “improving quality of life.” In those emerging economies, net expectations of the Green Economy’s effectiveness at “improving quality of life” are nearly 20 points higher than in developed economies. Similarly, the Green Economy’s effectiveness at “increasing long-term economic growth,” “reducing poverty,” and “creating high-paying jobs” is rated much more highly in emerging economies than in industrialized ones, as this chart shows.

Emerging-economy governments—notably in China—having taken a hard-line stance against tougher environmental targets in international climate negotiations in the past, but these findings suggest that they may be underestimating their peoples’ ability to take a long-term view.

 

Finding from a recent Regeneration Roadmap press release on Green Economy.  

For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)

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How Unilever Crowdsourced Creativity to Meet its Sustainability Goals

– This article originally appeared June 7, 2012 on GreenBiz.com – June 8, 2012 – Unilever had painted itself into a corner. After the global consumer goods company published its Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan laying out ambitious sustainability goals, company leaders realized meeting those goals was going to be tough. So they got creative. Working with GlobeScan, they created an online collaboration platform with one clear purpose – to enable Unilever to hit its sustainability targets for 2020. “We can’t solve these issues on our … “How Unilever Crowdsourced Creativity to Meet its Sustainability Goals”

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