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)
Recent GDP figures from some of the world’s major economies suggest that prospects for a return to sustained growth in the global economy remain uncertain. But many have also questioned whether a return to pre-crisis rates of economic expansion is even desirable, given the apparent link between GDP growth and negative environmental consequences such as rapid natural resource depletion and increased carbon emissions.
GlobeScan and SustainAbility’s regular tracking of specialists in sustainability around the world suggests that experts are split on whether economic growth can be reconciled with sustainable consumption. Those polled recently were divided on the question, with 40 percent agreeing that there was an “inherent conflict” between economic growth and sustainable consumption, and 43 percent disagreeing.
The findings reveal a difference in perspective on either side of the Atlantic. The North American experts polled are more optimistic that aspirations for growth can be reconciled with sustainable consumption, with 51 percent disagreeing that there is an inherent conflict between the two, and only 34 percent agreeing. In Europe, by contrast, experts are much less sure, with those who see a fundamental conflict between the two goals (44%) slightly outnumbering those who think they are reconcilable (40%).
Either way, with anemic growth rates in most of the G7 economies, the challenge for responsible companies is more likely, for now, to be focused on how to remain profitable yet sustainable in a flat economy.
Finding from The 2011 GlobeScan/SustainAbility Survey
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
The last year has seen an increased profile for activism of all types. Sometimes this has manifested against the practices of corporations (such as the ongoing Occupy movement) while at others the targets are governments, as with the Arab Spring and Wikipedia’s online protest against proposed US anti-piracy legislation.
GlobeScan and SustainAbility recently polled an international panel of experts in sustainability on what they considered the most effective activist tactics to be. As the chart above shows, the panel (drawn from businesses, NGOs, government and academia) rated tactics that focus on key business value drivers as the most effective in influencing corporate behaviour: product boycotts (or on the flip-side, preferential purchasing) for their impact on sales and shareholder activism for its effect on access to capital. The most confrontational tactic – civil disobedience – is seen as the least effective by some distance, while the more collaborative method of dialogue with companies is rated the second-least effective.
With experts also rating socially responsible investors – a group in a particularly strong position to shape companies’ business value drivers – as the most important audience for businesses and government to pay attention to, the pressure on companies to respond to different agendas as they move towards sustainability looks likely to increase.
Finding from The 2011 GlobeScan/SustainAbility Survey
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
Sustainability experts strongly believe that companies have a duty to practice “choice editing” for consumers, the lastest GlobeScan/SustainAbility tracking reveals.
GlobeScan and SustainAbility regularly poll a panel of experts in sustainability issues across businesses, NGOs, government, and academia on emerging trends in sustainability. The panel was polled during September about their perspective on sustainable consumption, and the results reveal that while experts feel strongly that sustainable consumption is achievable, they have doubts about the degree to which it is compatible with economic growth, and also feel that companies have a duty to hasten the transition by restricting the choices available to consumers. Nearly four in five (78%) think that businesses have a duty to offer sustainable product lines instead of, rather than as well as, unsustainable ones.
With sustainable options still associated with premium pricing in many sectors, this perspective is likely to be challenging for companies, particularly during hard economic times, but it reflects how the terms of the debate are shifting. Another challenge is that GlobeScan consumer tracking also reveals that many people are skeptical about the claims that companies make for the responsible credentials of their products, citing “greenwash” as a major barrier to adopting more responsible consumer behavior. Sustainability champions within businesses will need to address both these issues if “choice editing” is to become a reality.
Finding from The 2011 GlobeScan/SustainAbility Survey
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
11 October 2011 – Consumers across the world remain firm in their belief that their shopping choices can make a positive difference for farmers and workers in developing countries, according to a new global survey of 17 000 consumers in 24 countries conducted for Fairtrade International by international research consultancy GlobeScan. Six out of ten consumers (59%) feel empowered to make a difference through their shopping choices. This conviction remains as strong as or stronger than at the outset of the … “Shopping Choices Can Make a Positive Difference to Farmers and Workers in Developing Countries”
Shopping Choices Can Make a Positive Difference to Farmers and Workers in Developing Countries: Global Poll 11 October 2011 – Fairtrade is cementing its position as a market leader in ethical labels and a trusted brand across 24 countries, according to a comprehensive global study of 17,000 consumers carried out for Fairtrade International by international opinion research consultancy GlobeScan. The study showed that Fairtrade is the most widely recognized ethical label globally. Nearly six in ten consumers (57%) across the 24 … “High Trust and Global Recognition Makes Fairtrade an Enabler of Ethical Consumer Choice”
The latest GlobeScan tracking data suggest that a shift may be taking place among ethical consumers, from a focus on punishing irresponsible companies to one characterized by rewarding those companies seen as socially or environmentally responsible.
Since the early years of the last decade, there has been a marked increase in self-reported rewarding and punishing of companies on ethical grounds by consumers across 14 developing and industrialized countries. The numbers punishing companies have been much more volatile, however, likely driven by the periodic emergence of high-profile scandals affecting individual companies. But since 2005 such punishment, rather than reward, has been the dominant expression of ethical consumerism.
This picture now appears to have changed, with the numbers punishing companies for bad practices falling away, while those rewarding responsible companies remain stable. This is probably a consequence, at least in part, of increased consumer choice of ethical products in many sectors—though economic factors may also be at play in the sharp decline in those refusing to buy from irresponsible companies.
Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 1, 2011
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)
20 July 2011 – Regular users of Facebook, Twitter and other online social media expect higher levels of corporate responsibility from companies, and are more likely to act on their values as ethical consumers, according to a new GlobeScan 28-nation poll released today. The poll of 28,889 people reveals that when compared to non-users of social media, regular users hold companies to a higher ethical standard, particularly when it comes to their environmental responsibility, and are also more likely to act … “Social Media Users “More Active” As Ethical Consumers: Global Poll”
GlobeScan has been tracking consumer expectations towards business in society for a number of years. We routinely find that the global public have the highest expectations of companies around their core operational responsibilities – the safety of their products and services, how they treat the environment, and how they treat their workforce and supply chain. We have also noted a major increase in consumer expectations around transparency in recent years.
Looking at the various stages of the product lifecycle for clothing manufacturers, we find that expectations in the UK and USA are fully in line with this global picture. Consumer expectations are highest around a company‘s level of transparency with its customers about the social and environmental impact of its products, which is regarded as ‘very important‘ by over half of both UK and US consumers. In both countries, the second most important consideration is about a company’s social and environmental responsibility itself.
Expectations around the way it sources its fabrics, and its responsibilities to educate the public around caring for and disposing for their clothes are currently less well developed.
But this underlines the key task for companies in communicating with consumers – to meet consumers’ demand for reliable information. People want reliable, verifiable information presented in an accessible way, to allow them to make informed choices.
Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 1, 2011
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)