Cars and Bars for the Better Off

Two global agencies have this week released latest results from elite surveys. Ipsos Media reveals that European business leaders are compensating for increased time away from home with gadgets, cars and holidays; while hybrid methodology is helping Synovate's Media Atlas get past the security gates to chart the rise of AsiaPac's urban affluent.

The latest wave of Ipsos Media's EBRS survey is launched at a special event at The Savoy Hotel in London, and gives details of the media habits of senior business executives representing over 1.3 billion Euros in annual expenditure. The survey was created in 1973 and is carried out across Europe every two years - equivalents in the USA, Asia and Japan have been added recently.

The survey targets the top 0.2% of business leaders at medium to large-sized companies, and represents the views of 441,000 individuals across 17 countries, returning questionnaires between February and July this year. A separate survey in Central Europe targeted business leaders in a further three countries.

Results show executives hungry for business news and information, from a wide variety of sources – new media such as the Internet and digital and satellite television have by no means dulled their appetite for business magazines and journals, with a number of titles experiencing big gains over the past two years. Readership of the Economist has increased from 7.7% to 10.5%, while Time has jumped from 4.8% to 7.7%. The Harvard Business Review has experienced an increase from 5.6% to 7.3%, while CFO Europe has leapt from 3.2% to 5.2%. Web sites operated by these media have also proved popular. Interestingly, when asked which source provided them with the most accurate news, the highest proportion chose newspapers (29%), followed by television (19%), the Internet (7%) and magazines (5%).

In terms of lifestyle, business leaders now spend more nights in hotels, but travel less often in business class, in order to save money for their companies. 74% of business leaders have flown through business at least once in the last year (up from 71% in 2004), while 43% have taken at least six flights in a year (up 1%). The number of executives who have spent more than 30 nights in a hotel has jumped from 9% to 14%. Six per cent spend more than 45 nights a year in hotels. The proportion flying by first and business class has dropped 5% since 2004, to 37%.

The company is on the web at www.ipsos-mori.com .


Synovate's Asian Media Atlas study uses a combination of CATI and face-to-face interviews to gauge urban consumer habits and media reach. The survey was launched in July 2005 and focuses on the media consumption, product ownership, lifestyle, attitudes and values of urban consumers. Findings from the first study of a sample group of 10,000 respondents in Peninsular Malaysia were unveiled yesterday in Kuala Lumpur - details are available at www.synovate.com .

Presenting the results, Synovate Media Director for Asia Pacific Steve Garton said there were more well-off people than ever before, and 'signs of affluence wherever you look across the key urban centres with construction, new cars and new shops springing up on every corner.' However, Garton also spoke of the increasing difficulty of relying on face-to-face contact for surveys of the affluent in the region – Garton says mixed methods are now necessary to achieve a representative sample and that CATI interviews allow greater access to 'middle class and rich consumers'.

Synovate found that in Kuala Lumpur access to respondents' homes is becoming increasingly restricted. 80% of households approached had security measures such as external gates, while one fifth of flats had guards / security personnel at the building entrance.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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