Ipsos Update – February 2019

People around the world are less optimistic about the global economy than in 2018, our Global Advisor Predictions 2019 survey suggests. Two in five (37%) expect major stock markets around the world to crash in 2019, which has risen from around a quarter who anticipated a crash in 2018 (28%). Expectations of a crash have almost doubled in Great Britain (47% compared with 25% last year) and Russia (47% compared with 26%). Additionally, one in two people (50%) think that their personal data will be leaked on the internet this year.

Staying with personal data, a third of people globally know “nothing” or “very little” about how their personal information is used by companies and government, our new report developed with the World Economic Forum finds.

The importance of sustainable packaging is the theme of our new white paper, The Third Moment of Truth. Our analysis finds effective packaging offers real rewards for brands as environmental views and consumer shopping habits shift.

On the back of Gillette’s new advert, our new report asks: should brands try to change the world? We look at the initial response to the advert on social media, where 36% reacted negatively and 16% positively.

In the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), we look at childhood obesity, where our analysis finds it has reached epidemic proportions. One of the contributing factors is the sustained socio-economic growth across the region which has transformed the traditional Arab lifestyle.

Turning to luxury market, we have launched two new briefings on affluent consumers in China. With Chinese consumers expected to account for 44% of the world’s spending on luxury by 2025, we explore who are the country’s affluent consumers and how to engage them.

Marketers and market researchers should no longer assume it is their task to develop innovative product concepts for consumers, our new white paper on ‘Lead Users’ argues.

Finally, looking at the media sector we have released two papers analysing the market and the ingredients for success. It’s about time: measuring media impact and Media optimisation: does your media plan maximise, or just cut costs?