AnxietyIndex: United Arab Emirates
(November 2009)
For this AnxietyIndex study, JWT focused on the United Arab Emirates. Using computer-assisted telephone interviewing, the study interviewed 503 adults aged 18-64 to examine their anxiety levels and anxiety drivers—specifically, concerns about the economy, food prices, cost of living, health care and the impact of global warming. The study also takes a closer look at retail, finance and investment, and travel in the UAE.
AnxietyIndex: Saudi Arabia
(October 2009)
For this installment of AnxietyIndex, JWT focused on Saudi Arabia. Using computer-assisted telephone interviewing, the study interviewed 484 adults aged 18-49 to examine their anxiety levels and anxiety drivers—specifically, concerns about unemployment, cost of living, health care and disease. The study also takes a closer look at the economy’s effect on retail, travel and other major industries.
AnxietyIndex Quarterly: The Best Brand Responses to the Recession
(Fall 2009)
After almost a year spent surveying brand and consumer response to the recession through our AnxietyIndex.com, we found that only a handful of the 350 examples we collected across 24 countries truly stood out. Creating innovative work isn’t easy in any economic climate; it’s even harder when marketing budgets are low and risk aversion is high.
Our AnxietyIndex Brand Hall of Fame salutes 10 of the most notable responses to the recession that we’ve seen. We believe these will hold up in years to come as case studies of work that transcend typical approaches to a downturn. Our third AnxietyIndex Quarterly explains why we think so.
AnxietyIndex: A Cross-Market Look
(October 2009)
This cross-market look at JWT’s AnxietyIndex compares the levels, intensity and drivers of anxiety across 11 markets: the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, Spain, Australia, Brazil, Russia, India, China and Japan. It is based on data collected from adults age 18-plus through online surveys conducted in 2009. Data are weighted by age, gender and household income based on government population statistics.
AnxietyIndex Quarterly: What Hope-Fueled Markets Can Teach Brands
(Summer 2009)
Our latest AnxietyIndex Quarterly—a report that addresses a major theme we identify through our research each quarter—focuses on hope- and fear-fueled brands.
In analyzing 10 markets so far this year, we found that they tend to fall into one of two buckets: fear-fueled and hope-fueled. The hope-fueled markets comprise what are considered the emerging economies: Brazil, India and China. These mind-sets are manifesting themselves in brand behavior.
We argue that brands in established, fear-fueled markets must be more positive, optimistic and aggressive—taking a cue from hope-fueled brands—and we offer recommendations on how they can do this.
The Small Movement
(July 2009)
Everything is getting smaller, from homes to cars to technology to packaged goods. This trend is being fueled by a recession that’s forcing people to live with less but is also an outgrowth of the environmental movement, a necessary response to a growing global population with a rising standard of living, and a backlash against the long-held “bigger is better” mind-set.
In this trendletter, we discuss how the shift toward smaller—as well as simpler and more streamlined—can benefit business, the consumer and the environment.
The Recession and Its Impact on the Environment
(July 2009)
This wave of the AnxietyIndex looks at how concern for the environment and for the economy overlap—or diverge.
In partnership with Penn, Schoen & Berland, JWT surveyed adults 18-plus in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan and the U.K. The study examined their safety, security and economic anxieties, as well as their concerns about environmental issues and the recession’s effect on their “green” behaviors. Areas explored include:
- The perceived effect of the recession on the environment
- Adoption levels and drivers of environmentally friendly behavior
- Which environmental issues are causing the most anxiety and whether people think these issues will get better, worse or stay the same
- Consumers’ understanding of the terms “environmental,” “sustainability” and “going green”
Click here to download the Australia, Canada, Japan, U.K. and U.S. results, which are now available.
AnxietyIndex: India
(July 2009)
For this installment of the AnxietyIndex, JWT partnered with Millward Brown to focus on three major cities in India. Five hundred adults aged 18-49 from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore were interviewed face-to-face about their anxiety levels and anxiety drivers. The study examined safety and security concerns—the threat of terrorism, military hostilities, crime, etc.—and economic worries such as the cost of health care, the cost of living and job security. The study also takes a closer look into how different categories are being affected by the recession, including FMCG, consumer durables and services.
AnxietyIndex: China
(July 2009)
For this iteration of the AnxietyIndex, JWT partnered with Millward Brown ACSR to focus on several cities in China. Using computer-assisted telephone interviewing, the study interviewed 500 adults aged 18-50 in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Yantai and other cities. The study examined their anxiety levels and anxiety drivers—specifically, safety and security concerns such as crime, the economy, the cost of health care, the cost of living and job security. The study also looks at how the economy is changing consumer behavior, consumer attitudes toward brands and car-buying behavior.
The Rise in DIY
(June 2009)
DIY isn’t just what you do after a shopping spree at IKEA. Today, do-it-yourself is influencing a range of categories, including entertainment, food, beauty and fashion. A confluence of factors is shifting this movement from the fringe to the mainstream, chief among them the anxiety brought on by the Great Recession.
This trendletter explores how DIY ideas and attitudes are affecting consumer behavior and purchasing habits in a range of categories, and looks at what it means for brands and marketers.
AnxietyIndex Quarterly:
The Genericizing of Brands
(Spring 2009)
More than a hundred blog posts on AnxietyIndex.com and mounds of research and trends data later, we are introducing our inaugural AnxietyIndex Quarterly. This publication seeks to contextualize the content we published in the past quarter, presenting a major theme that has emerged.
The first quarter’s theme: The Genericizing of Brands. While many brands are predictably focusing on price and value messaging, this is an area of marketing where, historically, normal branding rules have not applied. In this paper, we argue that tactics must be approached in a branded way, and we offer recommendations on how marketers can address this challenge.
The Recession and Its Impact on Luxury
(May 2009)
Pre-recession, luxury was big, bold and blingy. Now, the sector is shrinking—not only because consumers can’t afford the luxe life but because attitudes toward conspicuous consumption have shifted dramatically, especially in older, more established markets. This trendletter discusses how the recession has affected consumer attitudes toward luxury, how prospects for the luxury industry differ between developed and emerging markets, and how luxury brands can respond to consumers’ newfound appreciation for modesty and value, among other topics.
AnxietyIndex: Straight from the Consumer
(Spring 2009)
As a qualitative complement to our AnxietyIndex surveys, our bloggers asked people from their respective countries what they thought about the recession and its impact on their lives. Our research included both online and offline interviews with adults of different ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. We also partnered with ExpoTV.com, a video-based community of consumer reviews, to collect video confessionals from people online. This presentation outlines key themes from the research.
Balancing Health, Wellness and Budgets
(Spring 2009)
Before the recession, there weren’t as many barriers when it came to spending on things that contributed to overall health and well-being. Today, of course, the world has changed, and price has become a far more central consideration. This trendletter examines how the boom in health and wellness has been affected by the global financial crisis and the growing consumer desire for thrift.
As a complement to the trendletter, we also surveyed adults to find out how their health and wellness attitudes and behaviors were being affected, looking specifically at grocery shopping, dining out and pharmaceutical compliance.
Click here to download the trendletter and U.S., U.K., Australia and Canada results from the quantitative study.
AnxietyIndex: The Recession and Its Impact on the Youth Market
(March - April 2009)
For this AnxietyIndex study, JWT focused on the recession’s impact on the youth market, specifically teens and twentysomethings—the age cohort that is often referred to as the Millennial generation or Gen Y. Areas the research explored include:
- The anxiety levels and anxiety drivers of young adults and teens as compared with the general population
- What amenities youth would be most reluctant to forego if money becomes tight
- The perceived effect of the recession on twentysomethings’ lives
- Where teenagers are getting recession-related information
- How parents are handling the economic crisis with their teen(s)
- Brands that teens perceive as providing better value
Click here to download U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada and Brazil results from the multi-market study, which are now available.
AnxietyIndex: A Cross-Market Look
(February - March 2009)
The 16th installment of JWT’s AnxietyIndex—which tracks the levels, intensity and drivers of consumer anxiety—polled 1,065 American adults, 1,004 Britons, 992 Canadians, 500 Brazilians, 983 Australians, 203 Spaniards, 205 Russians and 500 Japanese online. Data are weighted by age, gender and household income based on government population statistics.
AnxietyIndex: A Cross-Market Look
(January 2009)
The 15th installment of JWT’s AnxietyIndex focuses on data gathered from online surveys of 500 American adults, 564 Britons and 500 Canadians. JWT first launched the AnxietyIndex in February 2003 during the run-up to the war in Iraq.
The AnxietyIndex tracks the levels and intensity of consumer anxiety and, importantly, the drivers of anxiety. It examines safety and security concerns—the threat of terrorism, potential and current military hostilities, crime, etc.—and economic worries such as the cost of health care, the cost of living and job security.
Rethinking Aspirations
(December 2008)
The global economic crisis is challenging the aspirations of hundreds of millions of people, especially in the developed world, forcing consumers to focus on basic needs rather than higher-level hopes and ambitions. This trendletter considers how expectations are being downsized as economies transition out of a long boom period into the most serious recession in decades.
It explores signs that hard times are prompting people to re-examine their lifestyles, the new role that governments will play in shaping aspirations, how frugality will morph from distressing necessity to smart lifestyle aspiration, and how marketers and brands should respond to this shift in aspirations.
Holiday Season 2008
(December 2008)
In early November, amid a volatile global market and rising consumer anxiety—and following the U.S. presidential election—JWT asked more than 1,500 adults age 18 and older in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. about their holiday plans and their feelings about the holidays. The resulting report explores consumers’ overall mood, their travel and hosting plans, their gift-giving intentions and the role brands are likely to play in their purchasing decisions. It also takes a look at which categories and retailers consumers are gravitating toward.
The random and representative online survey included 508 Americans, 503 Canadians and 501 Britons. The analysis primarily addresses differences across countries; each country analysis looks at variations by gender, household income and family structure.
American Dream in the Balance
(October 2008)
This is a complex time for the American Dream, and it is being both affirmed and challenged. Against this backdrop, we conducted a random online survey of 2,112 Americans age 18 and older in mid-September 2008 to explore what the American Dream means today, how that definition has changed over the years and how it has remained constant. We primarily looked for variations by generation, household income and political affiliation; we also make occasional references to gender and race/ethnicity.
Weathering the Storm: The Financial Crisis
(October 2008)
Amid the financial crisis hitting Wall Street, JWT conducted a large online survey of more than 1,000 American adults to understand its impact on their attitudes and behaviors. The study was carried out September 18-23, the period between the downfall of Lehman Brothers, the $85 billion federal rescue of AIG and the government proposing a massive bailout plan.
The quantitative analysis includes detailed findings on consumer anxieties, changes in their behavior, and their current confidence and trust levels toward financial brands and institutions. We looked for variations by gender, age, income and political affiliation.
Marketing in a Recession
(Fall 2008)
This paper—a short audit of existing thinking on the topic of marketing during a recession—is a synthesis of historical and current material published by ad organizations, marketers, journalists and research and consulting companies based on findings from past recessions. It highlights key recurring ideas about why marketers should continue to spend during down times and strategies for how best to go about it.
I understand that retailers still have to keep turning over stock during hard times. But some are going about this in a way that does serious damage to their brands. JoS. A. Bank, the North American menswear chain, had a reputation of offering pretty good stuff at a fair value. That image is gone, as their recent promotions have me believing their prices are pure fiction. The base offer is now “buy one, get one free,” and they also do a “buy one suit, get another suit AND a sport coat free” on Mondays and Tuesdays, with similar deals available on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Recently, fast food purveyors such as KFC and a local chicken fast food chain called Al-Tazaj (which translates as “fresh”) have been offering budget meals. This is notable because it represents a change in approach; normally, these companies run all-you-can-eat promotions, rather than discounted price offers.
Even with interest rates at a historic low, the global housing market remains in 
