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November 2007 - New Issues Give Power to ALP

A McNair Ingenuity Research Poll conducted during the week preceding the Federal Election of Saturday 24th November 2007 shows the key issues that gave victory to the ALP were their Health policies, their strategy for handling the economy and interest rates, the 'Education Revolution' and their environment policy.

The survey included 2,725 respondents from the McNair Ingenuity panel during the week just prior to the election, starting Monday 19th November and closing on the afternoon of Friday 23rd November 2007. Participants were asked to rate how important each issue was for them at the forthcoming election, on a scale of 1 to 10 ('not at all important' to 'extremely important').

The results show that while Labor voters rated Workchoices highly as an issue affecting their voting intentions, Health, Education and the Environment also rated highly. Amongst Liberal voters, Workchoices was not a key driver for retaining the Coalition government. By the time of the election the issue of interest rates and the economy had become the key issue for conservative voters, closely followed by Health.

The issues that were key in the 2004 election, such as security, the threat of terrorism and immigration policy were far less relevant to voters in the 2007 election.

Average rating of importance on scale of 1 to 10

Please rate the importance of each of these to you in choosing who to vote for at this election, using a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is not at all important to you and 10 is extremely important to you. Total ALP voters Liberal voters Health Policy 8.3 8.6 8.0 Interest rates and the economy 7.9 7.9 8.2 Education Policy 7.8 8.1 7.3 Environment Policy 7.7 8.1 7.1 Trustworthiness of the Politicians 7.7 8.0 7.4 Workchoices 7.5 8.3 6.4 Developing Technology 7.2 7.4 6.9 Security and Terrorism 7.2 7.1 7.6 Financial benefits from recent promises 7.0 7.1 7.2 Immigration Issues 6.7 6.8 6.7 Withdrawing troops from Iraq 6.5 7.4 5.2 Aboriginal Issues 5.6 6.0 4.9

* Highlighted scores show top 4 issues for ALP and Liberal voters.

September 2005 - The September 2005 Australians Today Consumer Insights Panel Survey explored a range of issues, including questions about what makes us loyal to various brands and suppliers, and our attitudes to work. The competition allowed members of the McNair Ingenuity Research Panel to either complete the sentence, "For me, doing a good job at work means...." or to send in a photograph of "people at my workplace".

We received some terrific photos and entries, as the examples below highlight. And the winners were Mrs Kristen Cairns of Bexley North, NSW with this poem:

My desk is clear when home time's near,
No grumbles from an unhappy peer,
What needs doing has been done,
The team's together, working as one!

And Mrs L Ford from Wagga for a dramatic photo of a not so typical day in the office! Helping wiht the Volunteer Bush Fire Fighters.

And we had a runner up winner this time from Mrs J Brunner of Wendouree in Victoria with her photo captioned "Learning need not stop with retiring" showing a few of her mature-age students learning about computers.

Loyalty Survey - The Results

In a recent survey of the McNair Ingenuity Panel, members were asked about loyalty to various products and services and what entices them to be loyal to a particular brand, company or service provider.

The results show that there are many forms of loyalty, which work in different ways. It is important to understand the different forms of loyalty from the customer's point of view, so that they can be rewarded (and retained) in the most effective manner.

Women more satisfied with work than men

According to the September 2005 McNair Ingenuity Panel survey, women were more likely than men to:

• Feel valued by their organisation
• Have a good work-life balance (particularly amongst those who were working part-time)
• Feel challenged in their jobs
• Communicate openly with their managers
• Recommend their workplace as a place to work
• Talk about their job with other people
• Have flexible work hours and practices
• Consider their pay to be fair.
  

Men were more likely to say that:

• Their work is full of "office politics"
• They work more than 45 hours a week; and
• They are actively seeking alternative employment.

People working part-time were more likely to be constantly concerned that they could lose their job (12%).

Men and women were equally likely to worry about work even when they were not there.

March 2005 - Environment Survey - The Results

The panel survey on environmental issues has found that while we will do our bit to help the environment through recycling we are not as likely to do things that cost us time, effort or money!

The research was conducted using our online panel, recruited via our national omnibus program. Respondents were asked to nominate which environmentally responsible behaviours they currently do, intend to do in the next 12 months or were not likely to do in the next 12 months.

A heated topic and some wonderful feedback. Thank you to all our panel members who replied. There were some fantastic responses and photos sent in which made judging the winner a hard task.

We felt that this photo from Paul S captured a scene that highlighted some of the environmental concerns for Australia - lack of water, salinity and unpredictable weather patterns. A clever balance of what should have been a very beautiful scene that unfortunately isn't so beautiful anymore.

There were other really good submissions as well, ranging from comments on how beautiful Australia is but how we need to protect and preserve it for the future.

Comments of optimism such as this one that shows that little things can make a difference.

"In St Kilda near Luna Park is a co-operative vegetable garden that is the beginning of something nice and innovative." (Justice K)

But generally people felt that more could and should be done to arrest the damage people are doing to the environment.

"The Australian Environment's at a critical state because long-term ecological damage is being done constantly and population attitudes have not altered sufficiently to change this." (Chris B)

But who needs to do what? Some suggest the government should do more, some suggest that industry and developers should be managed more stringently and some say education and individual responsibility is the only way forward.

"Australia has an environment of unbelievable beauty but it is being eroded by everyday human carelessness and greed. Everyone needs to take responsibility." (Catherine A)

As the chart below shows nearly everyone in the survey was committed to following water restrictions - which is not surprising given the incentive to do the right thing. And showing that positive incentives can work too, installing water tanks is currently at 20% with a further 25% planning to install them in the next 12 months. And those offers to install water saving devices have also worked with 49% currently installed and 25% planning to do so.

Recycling was equally common without the need for someone wielding a big stick or offering rewards. And it is not just recycling at home either, 89% of full time workers said they recycle paper at work and 74% recycle other materials at work such as toner, glass etc. And there is a market for recycled products with 67% of people saying they actively purchase products with a recycled content either for home or work. Self-employed people were even more likely than the average to buy recycled products (76%) perhaps reflecting their ability to make independent choices in the work environment rather than following corporate purchasing procedures. But composting is not so popular with only 35% composting currently and 24% planning to do so over the next year.

Cloth shopping bags are increasingly common (as are councils banning plastic bags!). In our survey 62% currently use cloth bags with a further 22% planning to use them in the next 12 months.

Only 21% of people currently use a "green" energy provider however 28% intend to change in the next 12 months. This still leaves over half (51%) of the population not considering a change to their energy supplier. Interestingly, converting from energy consuming hot water systems to solar hot water is not high on the agenda. Only 8% currently have solar hot water and only 16% are likely to consider it in the next 12 months. Considering that solar systems can now be retro-fitted to existing storage tanks there should be less need to wait till the old tank dies before thinking about a change-over - especially as when that moment comes people tend to opt for the fastest solution to that cold morning shower rather than consider all the options.

Perhaps the most staggering fact is that currently less than a third of the population uses public transport to get to work with NSW (44%) and ACT (50%) being the most likely to use public transport. And it doesn't look set to improve with only 7% considering changing their behaviour in the next 12 months. And only half (55%) walk or ride instead of using the car for short trips. Again the ACT (70%) comes out strongly as does the NT at 71% (both of which have good bike riding facilities around the city).

As a final thought…..

"There are many who care and many who don't and many who care in theory but not enough to act." (Charmaine L)

Which one will you choose to be?

The McNair Ingenuity Team

McNair Ingenuity Research Pty Ltd