Brexit – Is the global citizen actually bothered?
25/09/2017 By James Myring
Economists and social scientists have long hypothesised about a ‘global class’ of citizens. It is broadly agreed that they are products of a progressively globalised society; the better educated and travelled that people become, the more likely they are to develop shared views of the world. They watch the same news bulletins, films and TV shows. They stay in the same hotel chains, drink the same brands of cola and increasingly share common tastes for food – often branded ‘fusion’.
BVA BDRC’s recently released study, Media GPS, investigates the views and consumption habits of the world's most frequent international travellers, and results support the view that the ‘World Citizen’ does indeed exist. They watch and read more international media and appear to have more in common with each other than they do with their less well travelled compatriots. This is, of course, great news for marketers trying to reach this valuable marketing segment - homogeneity in terms of information sources means that they can be reached effectively with a relatively small set of media vehicles. Media GPS was deliberately targeted away from self-bookers and users of budget airlines, with a consequentially greater proportion of higher income groups.
What does this have to do with Brexit? Well, among this most informed group of citizens, the UK remains a major draw. The study, conducted after the UK’s referendum on leaving the EU, among 16,300 respondents in 140+ countries, showed that the UK was the only European nation to come in the top ten of most attractive foreign direct investment (FDI) markets - ranking 5th overall behind the United States and amongst a group of Asian markets. The study also demonstrates that Britain's robust position goes beyond its business appeal, featuring in the top ten of trending global tourist destinations.
London is integral to the UK's transnational profile, and the Media GPS study demonstrates that it remains a “must-see” city for international travellers around the world - ahead of Paris, and behind only New York amongst first and business class air passengers.
While politicians, diplomats and the media may fret about Britain's diminishing role in the World, these mostly well heeled ‘World Citizens’ don’t see things quite so gloomily. Who knows, they might be right!
About Media GPS
Media GPS is a large and unique dataset, profiling the media consumption of 16,000 global air travellers. The data reveals which of 45 media brands and 120+ sub-brands these influential people engage with, across locations, channels and devices.
