Ipsos Update - April 2018

Welcome to Ipsos Update – our monthly selection of research and thinking from Ipsos teams around the world. April’s edition features our Flair France report, a global study on gender equality, a report on Russian outbound travel trends and a paper examining purchase decisions from a behavioural science perspective.

We start with Flair France, a report exploring three possible developments for France in 2018: a country that will simmer out of anger at undelivered promises, shudder at how fast the world is changing or quiver with joy at the idea that future could again mean progress.

Moving to Russia, this special report on Russian outbound travel, using RusIndex survey data, highlights key trends over the past year, including the type of trips taken and preferred travel providers, transport and accommodation.

Meanwhile, this special edition of Understanding Society examines how to best understand, measure, and improve patient experience in the US, drawing on the perspectives of healthcare leaders and latest research.

Turning our attention to global matters, March’s Consumer Confidence Primary Index – reflecting attitudes across 24 countries about the current and future state of local economies – has risen to 50.6 to equal January’s record high since Ipsos started tracking in 2010. Nine countries saw a significant increase in their Primary Index score, with the most significant changes seen in South Africa (+7.4pts), Turkey (+3.3pts), and Hungary (+3.2pts).

Keeping a global perspective, our special 27-country study on gender equality highlights public opinion on a number of equality issues. In the wake of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, the study finds that sexual harassment is seen as the top concern facing women and girls across the world today.

Next up, this paper on Embracing Social Purpose looks at how, by using an evidence-based approach to defining social purpose, businesses can support the development of an authentic, credible, and effective corporate citizenship programme.

We also feature a new paper on Purchase Decisions, exploring the link between brand associations and brand salience. Taking a behavioural science perspective, the paper sets out a framework explaining how consumers make choices when they do not have the mental capacity or motivation to engage in more deliberate thinking.

Meanwhile, Italy’s recent general election ended in a political stalemate and revealed a divided nation. In this post-vote analysis, we compare the results alongside those from 2013, highlighting some potentially transformational dynamics.