The JWT AnxietyIndex was launched in February 2003 during the run-up to the war in Iraq. It tracks the level and intensity of consumer anxiety and the drivers of that anxiety. It examines safety and security concerns—the threat of terrorism, potential and current military hostilities, crime—as well as economic worries, such as the cost of health care, the cost of living and job security.
JWT launched the baseline study for AnxietyIndex in Egypt in November 2010, less than three months before the popular uprising. Our quantitative online survey included 580 adults ages 18 and older.
2. AGENDA
Background and Methodology ........................................................................3
What is making Egyptians anxious today?..................................................5
2
3. BACKGROUND AND
METHODOLOGY
The JWT AnxietyIndex was launched in February 2003 during the run-up
to the war in Iraq.
It tracks the level and intensity of consumer anxiety and the drivers of
that anxiety. It examines safety and security concerns—the threat of
terrorism, potential and current military hostilities, crime—as well as
economic worries, such as the cost of health care, the cost of living and
job security.
JWT launched the baseline study for AnxietyIndex in Egypt in November
2010, less than three months before the popular uprising.
Quantitative online survey: n=580 adults age 18+
3
4. What was simmering here ...
Tahrir Square, Cairo
... that made this a reality?
4
6. Leading up to the current crisis, anxiety was
running high: Three out of four Egyptians said
they felt somewhat or very nervous/anxious.
70
77 2010
60
54
50
40
24
30
23
20
20
10
4
0
Very Somewhat Not very Not at all
nervous/anxious nervous/anxious nervous/anxious nervous/anxious
%
Overall, given everything that is going on in the world, the country, and your family’s life,
how nervous or anxious would you say you currently are?
6
7. In a global context, Egypt ranks among the
most anxious nations, and it’s significantly more
anxious than other markets in the region.
Percent who are Very/Somewhat Nervous/Anxious
100
90
80
70
60
50 90
84
40 77
74
30
70 70 66 63 61 57 54 51
20
35
10
0
Japan Russia Egypt India U.S. Spain Brazil U.K. Australia U.A.E Canada Saudi China
Arabia
%
Overall, given everything that is going on in the world, the country, and your family’s life,
7 how nervous or anxious would you say you currently are?
8. ANXIETYINDEX MAP
SAFETY/SECURITY ECONOMIC
The Current State of the
Economy
The Potential Threat The Cost of Health
of Terrorism Care in Your Country
FURTHER FURTHER
FROM FROM
“HOME” “HOME”
Potential Military
Hostilities Around The Current Cost
the World of Living
in Your Country
CLOSER CLOSER
TO TO
“HOME” Current Military
You and Your
“HOME”
Hostilities Around
the World Family’s Current
Job Security
The Current Political The Rate of Crime in
Leadership in Your Country Your Community
SAFETY/SECURITY ECONOMIC
8
9. On a macro level, Egyptians are most
concerned about economic issues: the overall
state of the economy and the cost of living ...
The Current State
of the Economy
600
The Potential The Cost of
Threat of 500 Health Care in
Terrorism Your Country
400
300
200
Potential The Current
Military Hostilities 100 Cost of Living
Around the World in Your Country
0
Current Military You and Your Family’s
Hostilities Current Job Security
Around the World
The Current The Rate of Crime
Political Leadership in Your Community
in Your Country
AnxietyIndex: % who are nervous or anxious/% who are not
Events in your life, in the country and in the world can make people nervous or anxious. For each of the following, please indicate
9 how nervous or anxious you currently are, or not.
10. ... which translates on a micro level to
anxiety around the basics of getting by:
employment and food prices.
Quality of Products
from China
700 Your Government’s
Global Pandemic Diseases
Budget Deficit
600
Impact of Global Warming 500 The Stock Market
400
300
Natural Disasters 200 Bank Failures
100
0
The war in Afghanistan The Housing Market
The war in Iraq Unemployment Rates
The State of Your National Gasoline Prices
Infrastructure
Safety of the Food Food Prices
Supply
AnxietyIndex: % who are nervous or anxious/% who are not
Events in your life, in the country and in the world can make people nervous or anxious. For each of the following, please indicate
10 how nervous or anxious you currently are, or not.
11. When asked pre-crisis about sources of anxiety
specific to Egypt, Egyptians cited political
instability/government as one of their key concerns ...
The Rising Cost of
I Worry about Losing Living/Inflation
My Job/Not Finding a Job 700 The Quality of Education
Religious
Tension/Conflicts/Fanaticism 600 Traffic Congestion
500 Political Instability
Fulfilling Financial Obligations
(Defaulting on My Loans) and Government
400
300 The Quality of
Starting a Family Health Care in Egypt
200
The Increasing 100 Being Able to Afford
Level of Pollution Proper Education
in Egypt 0
The Effect of Internet
Time Pressure and Satellite on
Egypt’s Societal Values
New Presidential The Increasing Level
Elections of Violence and Crime
Welfare and Future of the
Retirement Benefits Economy/Country
Buying a Home Food Hygiene
or Apartment
The Increasing Consumer Protection
Level of Health Risks and Safety
and Diseases in Egypt
AnxietyIndex: % who are nervous or anxious/% who are not
Events in your life, in the country and in the world can make people nervous or anxious. For each of the following, please indicate
11 how nervous or anxious you currently are, or not.
12. ... and were highly pessimistic, especially
around the factors that affect them every day.
2010 WORSE BETTER
Bank failures -5
The state of your national infrastructure -16
The stock market -16
You and your family’s current job security -17
The potential threat of terrorism -23
The current political leadership in your country -23
Global pandemic diseases -30
Current military hostilities around the world -31
Potential military hostilities around the world -33
Your government’s budget deficit -38
Safety of the food supply -39
The housing market -40
The rate of crime in your community -41
The cost of health care in your country -41
The current state of the economy -44
Gasoline prices -52
Unemployment rates -56
Food prices -64
The current cost of living in your country -66
%
% who expect it will get “better” minus % who expect it will get “worse” in the next six months
And over the next six months, do you expect that each of the following will…?
12
13. While many Egyptians report finding it
difficult to keep up their standard of living,
perhaps most telling is the fairly low level of
satisfaction with their current lot.
Sources of Anxiety: Economics
It is getting harder to maintain
my living standards
47 36 82
The economic situation is getting worse and
resluting in higher levels of violence and crimes
37 45 82
The cost of education is increasing; it’s harder
to get a good education for myself/my kids
35 46 81
I would like to slow down, but I can’t 44 29 73
afford the luxury of doing less
I am satisfied with my current living standard 43 13 55
I am satisfied with my current job 38 17 55 Somewhat Agree
Employment opportunities are Strongly Agree
becoming more available
18 7 25
%
Given everything that is going on in the world, in your country and in your family’s life, how much would you say you agree or
13 disagree with each of the following sentences?
14. A majority of Egyptians report that the
recession has impacted them personally, with
one in three indicating a high level of impact.
How much has the recession impacted you personally?
60%
36%
Total 6%4% 7% 6% 17% 11% 13% 11% 6% 19%
1-Hasn’t impacted me 10-Has impacted me a
great deal
No Impact Great Impact
%
On a scale of 1-10, where 1 means the recession hasn’t impacted me personally at all and 10 means the recession has
14 impacted me personally a great deal, how would you rate yourself?
15. Few expressed hope that things would
improve soon, with close to half saying they had
no idea when the economy would start looking up.
When will the economy get better?
60
50 48
40 In the Future
30
20
19
12 14
10
5
2
0
It has already It will start to It will start to It will start to I have no idea I never
started to get get better get better get better when it will considered
better this fall (2010) next year (2011) in 2012 get better the country
or later to be in a
% recession
When, if ever, do you think the economy wil start to get better?
15
16. And while the human spirit to improve one’s
well-being is strong in Egypt, some signs of
societal discontent hinted at what was to come.
Sources of Anxiety: Egyptian Society
I am making an effort to improve the person I am 39 50 89
I am actively trying to figure out what
makes me happy 41 48 89
More and more, I find I am looking for ways
to simplify my life 45 41 87
Scheduling down time or ‘me’ time is important to me 43 43 87
I worry society has become too shallow, focusing on things
that don’t really matter 28 58 86
I’ve become more concerned about the need to conserve
natural resources in the past 12 months
43 39 82
Life is becoming less enjoyable 44 37 81
As a society we have become intellectually lazy 39 39 78
I am increasingly worried about the threat 36 41 77
of health risks
It is getting harder to start a family 40 36 76
I have become less patient 45 23 68
I am more pessimistic about the future of Egypt 34 30 64
I don’t feel I can make much difference in
Egypt on my own 35 26 61
I am planning to emigrate soon, because Egypt’s
future is not promising 32 22 54
Society is getting more conservative 25 9 34
% Somewhat Agree Strongly Agree
Given everything that is going on in the world, in your country and in your family’s life, how much would you say you agree or
disagree with each of the following sentences?
16
17. THANK YOU
Mark Truss Ann M. Mack
Director of Brand Intelligence Director of Trendspotting
JWT Worldwide JWT Worldwide
mark.truss@jwt.com ann.mack@jwt.com
www.AnxietyIndex.com
(c) 2011 J. Walter Thompson Company. All Rights Reserved.