A spate of data security scares fuels an on-going trend, says David Crosbie

My American colleague happened to mention to me the other day that she had received at least three emails in recent weeks from companies she’d shared personal data with admitting that the security of those data had been compromised in some way. One of the companies she mentioned had in fact contacted me as well, to inform me of the same problem.

Then came the news that the personal data of 77 million global users of Sony’s PlayStation Network (PSN) had been hacked into, which is only the latest in many news stories about information security, or lack of it, in today’s digital world.

Every year in our Roper Reports Worldwide study, we ask over 30,000 consumers globally which three issues they are most concerned about. In 2010, 8% – getting on for one in ten – of these consumers cited personal information getting into the wrong hands. This year’s results will be released in our Mood of the World 2011 report, coming soon.     

What this annual ‘concerns’ question reveals is that consumers around the world are plagued by a variety of worries, concerns and fears, which they of course try to mitigate through the products and services they buy. In fact, a sizeable proportion of global consumers agree they only buy products and services from a known or trusted brand. These findings help to inform our Safe and Secure trend, which is one of the 12 global consumer trends in our TrendKey framework.

Thanks first to 24 hour rolling news and then to online social networks, information (accurate or otherwise) spreads more quickly than ever before, and it can be envisaged that the spread of fear, coupled with the quest for reassurance, will continue and grow in coming years. In a world of increasing complexity and connectivity it is more challenging, yet at the same time more important, than ever that companies and brands provide credible reassurance and peace of mind at every touch point.

The search for peace and solitude gets ever trickier, says David Crosbie

I’ll admit it’s not often that I see links between my hometown and the latest global consumer trends, but I find one aspect of that sleepy corner of rural Scotland to be quite striking. The Galloway Forest Park in Dumfries & Galloway is recognized by the International Dark Sky Association as one of the best places for stargazing in the world. Due to its remoteness and lack of proximity to conurbations, it is one of the few places in the UK not to be affected in some way by light pollution, which renders many stars difficult to see or invisible.

To me, learning of the existence of such a place served to underline the fact that there are fewer and fewer places in the world that are completely untouched by human development, and consequently it becomes progressively more difficult for us to really ‘get away from it all’ – something we know from our Roper Reports Worldwide study is important to many of us. Many global consumers admit that they often feel stressed, and when asked what they do to give themselves a treat, they are most likely to say they simply take time for themselves.

Another much discussed symptom of modern life is information or sensory overload. The spread of portable electronic devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, coupled with the growth of social networking means that we have the ability to stay ‘connected’ like never before, and we are bombarded by ever increasing volumes of information in the form of text, images and data. Not surprisingly, many sources, including our own study, have identified a backlash against the overwhelming tide of information, with 34% of global consumers telling us that they have cut back on the amount of time they spend on social networking sites as it takes too much time and effort, for example.

We feel this is a symptom of a wider trend among consumers, most notably those in developed markets, who wish to feel they are in control of their busy lives and the information they receive, rather than the other way around. This necessitates rationalisation, curation and any number of coping strategies, including giving ourselves some time out and allowing our senses a chance to recover. These strategies could range from turning off the BlackBerry at a set time each night through to heading to the wilds of Scotland where not even the glow from the screen of an iPhone will break the gloom.

This trend, which we call Streamlining, is just one of the 12 global consumer trends in our brand new TrendKey framework, soon to be launched. For further information on this, click here.

By Tim Kenyon

The United States is one of the more environmentally cynical nations in the world with only 62% of the population believing that environmental pollution is a serious issue according to the findings from the new Green Gauge Global report. This ranks the US 24th out of 25 markets around the world – close to dead last.

The GfK Roper Green Gauge® Global report, which examines the green habits of 36,000 consumers in 25 countries worldwide, found that American consumers are also skeptical about the cost and efficacy of green products and their impact on the environment. Approximately two in three Americans perceive green products to be too costly and one-third believes they don’t work as well as “regular” products.

In the USA, these numbers also represent a dramatic increase from just two years ago.

In the US and around the world, marketers are being challenged by consumers to produce better green products that don’t cost too much.

To that end, marketers need to be cognizant of the distinctive perceptions and attitudes about green products in order to convey these products as a smart, pragmatic purchase.

The report also identifies five distinct groups of environmental consumers ranging from the critical, “Jaded” category, who tend to exhibit the least concern about the environment, to the “Green inDeed,” the group of consumers who are not only green in their lifestyles but advocate for others to become environmentally responsible as well.

Between these segments lie the “Carbon Cultured,” consumers who are concerned about the environment, yet their green behaviors tend to lag a bit, as well as the status-seeking “Glamour Greens.” “Green in Need” consumers have the desire, but lack the means to be environmentally responsible.

Our Green Gauge Global report not only discusses the unique elements of each of these population segments, but it also provides actionable strategies for developing green marketing campaigns and tailored customer communications in every region across the globe. Now, more than ever, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to reach those consumers across the globe who embrace green behaviors compared to others who are less passionate about the environment.

As consumer perceptions of green products continue to evolve globally, marketers should keep in mind that not every consumer is out to change the world one purchase at a time. However, by understanding the varying green attitudes and behaviors globally, marketers can more effectively tailor their communications and strategies to reach their target audiences.

Clarks Sunbeat Sandal (tan)

By Diane Crispell

Were you ever talking to someone when all of a sudden you thought – maybe even said out loud – “Gee, I sound like a commercial”? It happens to me reasonably frequently, most recently when I was extolling the virtues of my favorite sandals.

By Jon Berry

It’s never been harder to make money in the stock market. Millions of Americans need career help. The world is being tested environmentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It’s time to talk about food. 

Politicians, multinationals, consumers – David Crosbie considers who should be taking responsibility for protecting the environment

A couple of stories in the news lately have reminded me of a question that we have previously asked consumers in our GfK Roper Reports Worldwide study – namely, who ought to be shouldering the responsibility for environmental issues.

First of all, the oil leakage in the Gulf of Mexico and the ongoing efforts to stem it are a stark reminder of the responsibilities faced by multinational corporations, particularly those dealing with chemicals or pollutants. When something goes wrong, the consequences can be dire, and citizens expect the company involved, in conjunction with government, to stop at nothing to put the damage right.    

Secondly, one of the most interesting stories from the UK’s recent general election – apart of course from the first hung parliament since 1974 and the first coalition government since World War II – was the election of the UK parliament’s first ever Green Party member in the form of Caroline Lucas. This, coupled with the fact that other parties published separate green manifestos, shows that the issue is increasingly important in voters’ decision making process.

 As I said, GfK Roper Reports Worldwide tackled the question of responsibility for the environment a couple of years ago by asking consumers around the world to name the one group they felt should take the lead on the issue of global climate change. Globally, 30% replied that this role should fall to national governments, more than double the next most common response (environmental groups) and way ahead of those who cited business and industry or individual citizens.

 Given the immense nature of the problem, one might have expected even more consumers to delegate the problem upwards and let government sort it out. However, at the same time a large proportion of consumers do tell us that they feel they ought to be doing something about the issue of the environment themselves, even if it’s something relatively small. It seems that global consumers are aware that dealing with the issue of the environment is not something that they can do solely by themselves, but they are willing to do their bit if they know that other stakeholders in business and government are doing their fair share as well.

 One thing’s for certain, it’s a topic that is becoming more and more important, and beyond political parties being judged on their green manifestos, companies are being judged on their policies too. This topic is one of many attitudinal and behavioural measures that feature in GfK Roper’s new Green Gauge Global product, which aims to advise companies on how they can best respond to the changing and complex attitudes of global consumers towards green. For more information, click here. 

As the dust settles on an unprecedented week of travel disruption, David Crosbie  considers the effect such events can have on how we plan ahead.

In GfK Roper Reports Worldwide, we ask 30,000 consumers around the world about the issues that concern them most. We ask about recession and unemployment. We ask about crime and lawlessness. We even ask about climate change and global warming. We do not ask about disruption caused by volcanic ash, but that has been at the foremost of millions of people’s minds around the world since last Thursday.

I myself was somewhat preoccupied by it as I scratched my head and wondered how to get back to London after a meeting in Frankfurt that was meant to be a day trip. Having unwittingly flown out on one of the last planes leaving the UK, I was faced with the prospect of taking five trains over three days to make it back to the UK.

This gave me plenty of time to muse on the possible long-term implications of the incident. Particularly if the disruption recurs intermittently, could it make travellers more wary and less reliant on air travel, which has become increasingly cheap and accessible in recent years? Would flying be shunned as an expensive, unreliable and environmentally damaging pursuit? Commentators were quick to point out the effects of previous large-scale eruptions, such as the one that may have precipitated the French Revolution. In the event, most people will probably not easily give up the convenience that they have grown used to lightly. But the important point is that just a couple of weeks ago it would be unthinkable to most people that the skies above Europe could be free from air traffic for days on end.

To me, this incident serves to underline that future scenario planning involves acknowledging that in the next five to ten years things will happen that are completely beyond our wildest imagination. Instead we should take into consideration what kind of things might happen, and plan accordingly. Former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was widely pilloried for his explanation of this kind of thing, which warrants repetition in full:

“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. These are things we do not know we don’t know.”

However, in the business of scenario planning this is exactly the approach to take. GfK Roper Consulting’s TrendKEY global framework of consumer trends provides a model, informed by global consumer insight data, which is designed to help inform a view of the next few years, particularly with regard to shedding light on the things we know we don’t know (or, to add another category to the list, drawing out those things we don’t know we know).

As my illustrious compatriot and national poet Robert Burns once put it in his poem ‘To A Mouse’, “…thou art no thy lane,/ In proving foresight may be vain/ The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley.” While my day trip to Frankfurt proved this sentiment is as valid now as when it was written over 200 years ago, there are many ways in which you can reduce the chances of your future plans going awry, and in a business context, a robust consumer trends product is certainly one of them! 

By Diane Crispell

Have you ever had the experience that you were thinking about some great new product that would make your life better, and then it suddenly appeared on store shelves? It’s happened to me a number of times. My reaction has typically been one of delight that someone figured it out, tempered by the (totally unrealistic) regret that I wasn’t the one to do it and ‘make millions’.

As a Baby Boomer, I’ve always enjoyed the benefits of being part of the mass market that all businesses wanted to reach. So it’s not really surprising that my wants and needs have been anticipated through different life stages, from teen skin-care products to family-size frozen-food entrées. But we Boomers are getting older, and older has never been a very popular market, so I wonder whether I will see as many new products directed at my generation in the future. Maybe not.

The fact is that Boomers are not as entranced by novelty as they used to be or as much as younger people are. For example, 33% of Boomers strongly agree they “actively seek new ways to do things in everyday life,” compared with 44% of Gen Yers, according to a recent GfK Roper Reports^® US survey. Similar patterns hold for everything from technology to food.

By Jon Berry

When I grow up, I want to be Cedar Walton, Jimmy Cobb, or Buster Williams. Not literally, of course. For one, I’m already a grown-up. Second, I don’t have their talent. And, if I did, it still would take six or seven decades to catch up with Walton, 76, Cobb, 81, and Williams, 67, three legends of American jazz.

I recently caught the first set of their five-night run in New York with saxophonist Javon Jackson (a mere stripling at age 44). Over 90 minutes, the group unspooled a vision of aging that was more real – and more appealing – than any that I see in contemporary media or marketing.

What could have been a nostalgic tour through time – Cobb and Walton played drums and piano, respectively, on two of the most influential jazz records of all time, Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and John Coltrane’s Giant Steps – instead became a larger lesson.

Playing with force, wit, tenderness, and craft, ranging from hard bop to soft standards, all the while with the intuitive, group sixth-sense of great jazz musicians, they showed that it’s possible to grow into aging, and keep growing, no matter your age. 

With the world aging, we need more such visions of authentic aging. According to the United Nations, the median age of the world’s population will rise from 27 years old in 2000 to 38 in 2050; in more developed countries, it will go from 37 to 46. By midcentury, 4 in 10 of the UK’s population will be over 60. In Spain, it will be close to half. The U.S. population over age 65 is expected to double to 87 million people (more than the combined population of the top 10 U.S. metro areas).

And yet, the language and imagery around aging is stuck in clichés of the past. We are to “age gracefully” ($5 to anyone who can convince me of what that really means) or “fight aging.” “Take a walk at the mall.” “Find a hobby.” “Get the early-bird specials.” “Update your estate plan.” Depressing.

There’s a richness out there that, with few exceptions (notably AARP and its publications), is not being captured. It’s not just that people are doing incredible things later in life – though there is that. Yohihisa Hosaka last year broke the 60-plus world marathon record, running the 26.2 mile course of the Beppu-Oit Mainichi Marathon in 2 hours 36 minutes. I don’t know what’s more eye-opening, his new record or the old one, which was only 2 minutes slower. Or Tao, my friend Alan’s yoga teacher, who is still teaching yoga in her mid-90s; she’s also a champion ballroom dancer.

More impressive than the feats, though, is their day-in, day-out immersion in life. Hosaka’s 18-mile training runs. Tao’s daily yoga practice. Cedar Walton sitting down to the piano, which “does everything but say, ‘please come and play me,’” he confided last year to the New York Times. Imagine all they’ve seen, stored, retained.

We’re not, as a society, good at unlocking that treasure. We can’t even agree on definitions – a recent Roper Reports U.S. study shows there’s almost a 20-year gap between where 18-29 year olds (61) and people 60 and older (80) say old age begins. Demographics will change that. The oldsters will become elders – venerated for their experience and insights, and affirmed for their humanness, including quirks and imperfections. Some smart marketer or media person will figure that out and point the way. Until then, check out Cedar Walton, Jimmy Cobb, Buster Williams – or any of the other great jazz musicians who are still growing into their craft, and showing us all how to grow into aging.

Reaction to awareness campaign underlines the controversial nature of this topic, says David Crosbie

Once upon a time – last October in fact – the UK government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) created a TV and poster campaign that highlighted the dangers of climate change in language that all consumers could understand. The series featured well known nursery rhymes, whose original lyrics were altered to take account of the effects that climate change has had on the environment. So for example, when “Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water”, they found that, “[t]here was none, as extreme weather due to climate change had caused a drought.”

The campaign, however, was the subject of nearly 1,000 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) from members of the public who varyingly claimed that it was misleading, scaremongering and frightening to children. In mid March, the ASA ruled that two of the print ads, ‘Jack and Jill’ and ‘Three Men in a Tub’, had breached its guidelines, noting that they “should have been phrased more tentatively.” In the wake of the judgement, some commentators have weighed in with further criticism of the campaign, going so far as to say that it set back public debate on the subject several years.

This incident serves to underline the contentious nature of the issue of climate change. The number of complaints received suggests that there is a body of UK consumers who, if not opposed to the idea of man-made climate change, are sceptical about it and alert to exaggerated or misleading claims made on the subject. The aim of the campaign seems to have been to cajole or even frighten consumers into action by reducing their carbon emissions, but what are the current levels of engagement (and cynicism) amongst Brits?    

Roper Reports Worldwide data from 2009 show that 59% of UK consumers agree that “we/I have to do something now to save the planet”, which falls somewhat short of the global average. On the other hand, 27% agree that, “global climate change/global warming is not as much of a threat as the media make it out to be”, again a lower proportion than globally. Rather than leading to increased agreement with the former statement, this latest campaign may have inadvertently led to increased agreement with the latter. The fallout has led some to ask what is the best approach to environmental communication.

While the answer to this query is by no means straightforward, what is not in doubt is the complexity of the debate on this topic. That is why GfK Roper Consulting is taking its consumer research on environmental attitudes one stage further in 2010 with Green Gauge Global, a new product that includes a worldwide green segmentation of consumers. You can now sign up to receive the latest news on this product as it is released, so that you can sleep safe in the knowledge that you won’t miss out…