How market research on news topics tells us what people really care about

The economy and climate are issues that people don’t know enough about but care a lot about. How do we know? We asked.

Last year, Ipsos launched the Care-o-Meter. It asks a simple two-part question: Do you know about this thing that happened in the news recently? And, now that we asked, do you care? This research query has uncovered some fascinating patterns that have broad implications for newsrooms and content marketers alike.

Economic stories, especially positive ones, often pop into the quadrant of things we don’t know about but care about. So do climate stories. (Wildfire smoke stories are among the most cared about and known about of more than 200 topics tested.) Pop culture and sports? It’s very hard to find a majority of people who care about them.

So, in the spirit of newsrooms thinking more like brands to understand their audiences, what products or services could you offer to satisfy this unmet interest?

For further reading

• The Ipsos Care-o-Meter: What does America know about vs. what does America care about?
• Introducing the Interactive Care-o-Meter
• Here's what Americans cared most about this year