Ipsos Update - September 2017

We start with the future of audience measurement. We know that in this field, the greatest understanding comes from observations which have the least impact on behaviour. In this new Ipsos Views white paper on Passive Simplicity, Tim Farmer discusses the opportunities for working towards better measurements, while maintaining the focus on high quality, representative and equitable datasets.

In keeping with the theme of looking to the future, 60% of citizens around the world feel that their country is on the “wrong track”, according the latest What Worries the World study. Despite slight decreases in optimism compared to previous months, China, India and Saudi Arabia remain the most positive. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Mexico has replaced South Africa as the nation which is most anxious about the direction their country is heading.

Moving the spotlight to Russia, this special report on media consumption highlights how digital devices are impacting on the media habits of Russians. Despite the high usage of computers/laptops (71%), smartphones (62%) and tablets (16%) among the Russian population, the majority still use a TV set, rather than a digital device, to view television content.

Still on the topic of digital influence, in a new white paper from Ipsos Connect on the role of surveys, François Guérin and Charlie Ballard explore whether we still need to ask questions in an era where data and technology are changing the way brands communicate with consumers.

Taking the focus to China, we look at the ‘the rise of the ‘cashless lifestyle’ in a country where, between 2013 and 2016, the number of transactions made through non-banking mobile apps increased from 3.7 billion to more than 97 billion. WeChat Pay has become the main online payment method for the Chinese – reflected in the fact 74% said they can live with only 100 RMB (£11.60) in cash for more than a month.

Meanwhile, on the subject of money, we present five surprising facts about affluent Americans – an increasingly influential demographic defined as the 75.5 million adults with a household income of more than $100,000 a year in the US. These new infographics help shed some light on their daily lifestyles and purchase patterns.

Using last year’s U.S. presidential election as an example, this Ipsos Public Affairs white paper on the rise of populism suggests that populism is not actually an ideology, but instead a strategy that ‘political entrepreneurs’ employ to achieve power. The paper goes on to debate the topic in more detail, looking at current perceptions of populism globally, and examining how populism and nativism have ‘re-emerged’.

Finally, why is corporate reputation important? And why do we use ‘trust’ as an overall measure of reputation? Reflecting on these questions is this new set of FAQs from the Ipsos Global Reputation Centre –  providing answers your all queries around corporate reputation and corporate social responsibility (CSR), including how we help clients deal with crises.