Describing behaviour
Market and public opinion research often describes how a population behaves. Research is useful and valuable. It tells us things that help public debate, makes us aware of something important, gives innovators the inspiration they need, or draws attention to a dangerous trend.
Examples from research
1. Meat-free diets and veganism
Ipsos carried out this unique study of veganism in 2019 together with the Association of Social Responsibility and the Czech Vegan Society. The aim was to map eating habits and attitudes to food in the Czech population, including vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians. A meat-free diet is preferred by 5% of Czechs and by 10% of Czechs aged 18–34, against a European average of 24%. Flexitarians — those who eat meat only occasionally — are four times less common in the Czech population than the European average. Lower meat consumption is motivated by the effect of animal foods on health and, especially among women, by ethical reasons. 45% of the population also believe that animal production harms the environment. More information is here.
2. How often do men go for a check-up?
Only a quarter of adult men in the Czech Republic go for regular preventive check-ups; most consider prevention unnecessary. Yet 220 people are diagnosed with cancer every day and 70 die of it. This emerged from research carried out in 2016 by Millward Brown (Kantar) for the Petr Koukal Foundation and Sanofi. The findings were used for an awareness and outreach campaign stressing the importance of prevention.
3. Do we throw food away? And is it a problem?
A team of researchers at CVVM looked into this in 2018. Besides overall attitudes to food waste, the survey told us that people who more often buy directly from growers, at farmers’ markets or at an ordinary market are more likely to see food waste as an important problem for society as a whole. The reasons that lead people to try to waste less food include making the household budget work and saving time on shopping, but also reducing the burden on the planet and the ethical dimension of waste. The press release is here.
