Over ten years ago, the Yankelovich Monitor asked Canadians whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement “I have a great need to get rid of some of the non-essentials in my life.” 58% of Quebeckers agreed compared to 45% of Canadians living in the rest of Canada.
This desire to simplify their life is true in their homes as well.
A new Ipsos Reid survey conducted on behalf of Kijiji asked Canadians how much clutter they have in their home. One in two Quebecker (48%) claim they don’t have any clutter while the national average is 29%.
The great majority of parents would like to see their children become better off economically than they are, and some would argue that hope would be even more common among the children.
Yet many polls suggest that neither the majority of children nor parents in Canada, the United States and other parts of the world are confident that this progress will happen.
Wealth is one thing but what about happiness? There’s much talk these days about happiness being a better indicator of prosperity than strictly an economic one.
A study by the University of Michigan says Canada is the ninth happiest country on Earth. Denmark ranks first on happiness and life satisfaction while the U.S.A came in 16th place. The World Values Survey, conducted by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, collected national surveys from 97 countries between 1981 and 2007. The authors of the study say the reasons for Canada's strong showing are probably linked to prosperity and political freedom. The full survey results are in the chart below.
What about happiness in Québec?
A recent survey provides an indication of happiness levels in Canada by region. Ipsos Reid asked Canadians to what extent they agree or disagree with the statement: I think I’m happier than my parents were when they were my age. Quebeckers are the least likely to say they’re happier than their parents were.
Top2Box Agreement
These are somewhat surprising results given the general view that Quebeckers have this ‘joie de vivre’, an outlook on life that is anchored deep in their socio-cultural makeup. I would argue that this is still very much the case. And this sense that they are less happy than the previous generation doesn’t indicate that Quebeckers are less happy than Canadians in the RoC. Just that the bar was set pretty high by their parents.
We wrote in a previous post that Quebeckers generally give fewer gifts, of lesser value to fewer people than Canadians living in the rest of the country.
Like everyone else, they receive unwanted gifts.
Ipsos Reid conducted a poll on behalf of Kijiji to find out what Canadians say they would do with an unwanted gift.
When presented with a hypothetical situation of being presented with an unwanted holiday gift and the gift giver never finding out, three in ten (31%) Canadians admitted they would exchange the item for something they want or need. One quarter (26%) would re-gift the item to someone who would want or need it (26%), give the item to charity (23%), store the item but never use it (8%), sell the item for cash (7%) while five percent (5%) say they had other ideas for how to deal with an unwanted gift.
There are some revealing regional differences:
Residents of the Prairies are significantly more likely to say they would exchange the item for something they want or need – Quebeckers are the least likely to do so.
Quebeckers appear most likely to re-gift the unwanted item.
This is the time of year when various polls tell us what Canadians are intending to spend on gifts and celebrations this holiday. Scotiabank released one such poll last week. The survey conducted by Harris|Decima confirmed once again that Quebeckers plan to spend the least. Those in Alberta plan to spend the most on overall holiday spending ($1,388) and on gifts ($886), while those in Quebec plan to spend the least ($776 and $494).
We have been reviewing similar polls over the years and Quebeckers usually stand out for giving fewer gifts, of lesser value, to fewer people.
This week a different kind of poll was released. While it doesn’t deal with gift giving for the holiday season, it’s still about giving – charitable giving. The Fraser Institute published the survey. And it led to this headline in the Toronto Sun: “Quebeckers are the least charitable, study finds”.
According to the Toronto Sun, in the Fraser Institute's 2010 Generosity Index, Quebec was dead last among provinces and even came behind Yukon when it came to charitable giving.
Quebeckers gave an average donation of $609 or 0.31% of their total income in 2008. By comparison, Manitobans gave the highest percentage of their income -- 0.94%, or an average donation of $1,620.
The article quotes Filip Palda, professor at École nationale d’administration publique in Gatineau, Québec. “We are generous but we are collectively generous, not individually generous.” Palda said in some ways it's not surprising that Quebec is on the bottom of the list. The province is one of the most heavily-taxed jurisdictions in Canada.
He’s not alone in making this argument and I’m sure there is some truth to it. However, we have looked at other indicators of Quebeckers’ orientation towards charitable giving over the years. One stands out. Quebeckers are also least likely to give their time to volunteer. And that has little to do with taxation.
Survey findings from Statistics Canada indicate that volunteer activity varies substantially among the provinces and territories. The volunteer rate was highest in Saskatchewan (59%), the Yukon (58%), Prince Edward Island (56%) and Nova Scotia (55%). It was lowest in Quebec (37%).
Source: Caring Canadians, Involved Canadians: Highlights from the 2007 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating Statistics Canada – Catalogue no. 71-542-XIE
I was once the EVP Chief Intelligence Officer of a large agency. With a title like that, imagine telling the border agent what you do for a living on your way to Buffalo.
My boss thought it sounded great. He was the CEO. And I was the CIO in a very crowded C-suite along with the Chief Creative Officer, the Chief People Officer, and other chiefs. A very senior client also told me back then that he wished he had that title. He was the CMO. I guess the title is always greener...
Some of you may think it’s an oxymoron but the concept of “intelligence” isn’t new in ad agencies. Just have a look at JWT Intelligence’s blog full of trends and deep thoughts.
‘Insight’ is another catchy concept, albeit a tired and overused one. Marketing Magazine's latest issue quotes a creative director discussing the strategy for a campaign for the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada. He says that photocopying one's butt is a staple of office life and that's "the insight driving GetYourButtSeen.ca." That's an insight?
It’s now common practice for an agency to have a Director of Insights. Director of Consumer Insights says what it is. But omitting the word ‘consumer’ makes it sound even more like this person is in charge of epiphanies. And those capable of apprehending the inner nature of things don’t rely on focus groups. They draw insights from ethnography. They study archetypes. They even study the human brain. Heady stuff that they eventually share via dramatic slides to a mesmerized audience.
Insight is dated. The industry needs a new term to describe those who keep the pulse on trends, archetypes, etc.
How about “zeitgeist”?
It’s fresh. I checked various lists of marketing buzzwords
for 2010 and couldn’t find it amidst good ones like ‘digital native’ and
‘online evangelism’.
It sounds really smart like another German buzzword used in marketing: gestalt.
Because it’s about the spirit of the times, it’s totally in synch with social media and what Facebook friends are thinking. It must of course be linked to social media because it seems everything must.
And because this blog is about brand building in Québec - by now you’re probably wondering what this has to do with Québec - Zeitgeist works in both official languages the same way the French adopted “directeur Insights”.
Finally, I Googled “Director of Zeitgeist” and got Peter Joseph, the director of the documentary Zeitgeist. So it’s up for grabs. You’re welcome.
I had the opportunity to listen to a talk by Arianna
Huffington yesterday. The co-founder of the Huffington Post was in Toronto to
give a speech to the communications industry as part of Advertising Week.
She had much to say in her speech and in interviews about ‘The Brave New World of the New Media” including about what she calls the ‘linked economy’. Here’s an excerpt from an item in the Toronto Star - ironically the lead sponsor of her talk:
The site has raised $30 million (U.S.) in two rounds of financing, the most recent by venture capital firm that valued the site at $100 million.
All this while many traditional U.S. newspapers are struggling with the challenge of new media made worse by an economic downturn that saw advertising dollars shrink.
At least some of that could also be due to sites like The Huffington Post, which freely borrows content from mainstream media sites to enhance their coverage. Huffington calls it the "linked economy. We link to others, they link to us and that's how we see the future."
Self-expression as a new form of entertainment
Huffington asserted that everything from user generated content, to citizen journalism, to blogging, and social networking has become a new form of entertainment.
I guess that's really why I’ve been blogging for the past two years. I just want to have fun.
Disconnect to recharge
She repeatedly encouraged her audience to turn wireless devices off at the end of the day to recharge and get some sleep in order to make the most of what technology enables us to achieve.
I’m going for a nap.
Ipsos-Reid recently asked 2006 adult Canadians online about their views on gift giving this holiday season.
It looks like residents of Québec and B.C. are slightly harder to please. And they know it.
Which of the following is closest to your point of view when it comes to receiving Christmas presents?
How about a vacuum cleaner or a handgun?
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