Ipsos Update - March 2017

This month sees us focusing on the essence of great customer experience. Roger Sant reminds us of the benefits that come from having customers who are emotionally attached to the brand. This can’t be done without providing an acceptable service in the first place. But the benefits of taking things to the next level are considerable – with great customer-staff interaction often at the heart of the best relationships. Meanwhile, Bharath Vijaryendra and Sherri Loweke look at how target-setting can provide a framework for really ensuring the Voice of the Customer is heard. They highlight the challenges of identifying which staff behaviours will really improve business performance – and how to build this into effective monitoring of how things are going.

Our new Ipsos Flair report looks at Thailand – a country still in mourning following the recent death of the king. Written by our local experts, it presents a picture of the dynamics of Thai society, one which has enthusiastically embraced the internet, but which now faces new challenges such as an ageing (and declining) population.

We introduce the new Ipsos Sustainable Development Centre, which will be dedicated to exploring how the views of individuals on the ground can be heard by policy makers. Of the 230 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators, just four are based on peoples’ perceptions. Meanwhile, our latest Understanding Society publication looks at public attitudes towards healthcare around the world, including a case study in Tamil Nadu.

We feature new research on young people around the world (69% would like to set up our own business), as well as our latest report on Affluent Americans and their (generally optimistic) expectations for 2017.

Finally, we look at technology, old and new. One of the opportunities now available to us is the opportunity to stream music through a smartphone - something which was of course unheard of 25 years ago. But this is not to say that the traditional forms of media are all disappearing: our new analysis finds that 9 in 10 Britons are listening to the radio each week, almost unchanged since the early 1990s.