WHAT THE DATA SAY: 1 in 4 Americans are voting liars

By: Ray Day

CONTACT:

Ray Day
ray.day@stagwellglobal.com 

We wanted to share our latest consumer and business insights, based on research from Stagwell. Among the highlights of our weekly consumer sentiment tracking:

LYING ABOUT VOTING

Half of Gen Z and nearly one in four U.S. voters overall have lied to people close to them about whom they’re voting for, according to our Harris Poll survey with Axios.

• 48% of Gen Z admit they have lied to someone close to them about whom they’ve voted for. That compares with 38% of Millennials, 17% of Gen X and 6% of Boomers.
• Overall, 23% admit to lying about their voting choice, and 22% say they potentially would lie.
• Men (30%) are twice as likely to lie about their vote than women (17%).
• 27% of Democrats acknowledge lying about voting, as do 24% of Republicans and 20% of independents.
• 58% of all voters say voting is a private matter.
• Being private – or even lying – helps preserve relationships: 33% of Americans say they are disenfranchised from some family members over politics. That rises to 44% for Gen Z and 47% for Millennials.

CEOs SAY ELECTION WILL CHANGE 2025 BUSINESS PLANS

4 in 5 CEOs expect the result of the U.S. elections will change their 2025 business strategy. Stagwell’s new “Priorities and Perspectives of the Global CEO” survey finds:

• 29% of CEOs expect a significant impact of the election on their business strategy, and 48% expect a moderate impact.
• 14% expect minor and 5% no impact.
• The biggest expected business strategy impacts include: immigration policy (31%), global trade (31%) and economic stability (27%).
• Global CEOs – all CEOs except those based in the U.S. – are split on which presidential candidate will better boost the global economy. Of global business leaders, 35% believe Vice President Harris and 30% believe former President Trump will be better for the economy.
• U.S. CEOs, however, strongly favor Trump (52%) to boost the global economy over Harris (15%).
• 35% of CEOs worldwide identify inflation as the most critical economic issue facing their countries, followed by consumer confidence (30%) and energy prices (25%).
• When it comes to global societal issues that businesses must help address, top needs are mental health (56%), financial stability (44%) and physical health (43%).

UNHAPPIER AMERICA

Americans are far less happy today than they were 16 years ago, when the Harris Poll first began analyzing public sentiment about interpersonal relationships, spirituality, health and work, according to our 2024 Happiness Index.

• Today, the Happiness Index stands at 31 overall, compared with 35 in 2008.
• The index is at 30 for men and 31 for women, compared with 33 for men and 36 for women in 2008.
• Least happy on the index are Gen Z members (at 27 today), followed by Millennials (28), Gen X (28) and Boomers (37).
• Dragging them down are relationships with family members (86% strongly or somewhat agree today versus 92% in 2008); relationships with friends (88% today versus 93% in 2008); spiritual beliefs as positive guiding forces (74% today versus 77% in 2008); and “I rarely worry about my health” (46% today versus 49% in 2008).

WHAT WE WANT IN FAST FOOD

Half of Americans (52%) order from quick-service restaurants at least once a week, and they would do so more with lower prices, discounts and larger portions, according to our latest Harris Poll research on the QSR industry.

• Frequent QSR diners – those ordering at least once per week – are primarily between the ages of 18 and 34 (65%), people of color (59% versus 48% for White Americans) and men (58%, versus 48% of women).
• The appeal of quick-service restaurants: it’s a treat for themselves or someone else (46%) or convenience and saving money (45%).
• QSR owners and operators looking to increase in-restaurant traffic should invest in cleanliness (cited as most important by 69%), service quality (63%) and speed (56%).

ICYMI:

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