What Worries the World

How’s that for a cheery headline? (Not!) Nonetheless, that’s the click-baity title that Ipsos gave its survey, and it worked, because you’re reading this blog post.

In its latest poll of people in 28 countries, the pandemic has fallen to third place in a list of things that worry us, replaced by poverty and social inequality. Unfortunately, here in the U.S., COVID is still holding strong as our number-one worry.

That said, hopefully someday (soon?) COVID will be in the rearview mirror, and our attention will turn to other issues.

The survey also found that a broader sense of empathy – like social justice or environmental commitments, for instance – are strong considerations for purchase decisions, especially among Millennials and Gen Z. The Ipsos poll shows that nearly all Americans (86%) say showing empathy is critical to creating greater loyalty.

It seems, however, that there is some work to be done in cultivating empathy. The poll also found that many Americans have never heard of newer terms such as BIPOC (63%), AAPI (58%) and Latinx (34%).

So, where do we go from here? Well, I’m glad you asked, because I have a few thoughts:

Many organizations reflect and plan for next year in the fourth quarter, so now is the time to add these issues to the discussion, if you haven’t already.

What are your goals for the new year? Where do you want to have an impact professionally or personally? Contact our Social Impact Consultancy to get started.


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