WHAT THE DATA SAY: 85% like to travel; half planning a personal trip in next six months

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 (fielded Aug. 4-6):

WEEKLY WORRIES ABOUT ECONOMY MIXED

Today, 83% of Americans are concerned about the economy and inflation – up 1 point from last week and nearly equal to December’s 82% rate.

• 77% worry about a potential U.S. recession (up 1 point)
• 73% about affording living expenses (up 5 points)
• 77% about political divisiveness (up 3 points)
• 83% about U.S. crime rates (up 1 point)
• 68% about the War on Ukraine (up 2 points)
• 57% about a new COVID-19 variant (up 5 points)
• 56% about losing their jobs (up 4 points)

LOVE FOR TRAVEL

With less than a month to complete summer vacations, we used the Harris Brand Platform to rank the top 10 brands with the highest brand equity scores across travel and hospitality – as part of our Travel & Hospitality report. We also looked at brands that are rising stars.

• 85% of U.S. adults say they like to travel, and 48% plan to take a personal trip in the next six months.
• Hilton (at 56% brand equity), Marriott (55.2%) and Holiday Inn (54%) come out on top of all travel brands overall.
• Among airlines, American Airlines (50.4%) edges United (49.3%) and Delta (48.2%).
• Rising stars include Marriott (with 3.5% brand equity growth in the second quarter compared with the first quarter), Vrbo (3.1% growth), Intercontinental (2.9% growth), Kayak (2.7% growth) and Booking.com (2.3% growth).
• Americans who take at least one personal trip a year most often consider cost (66%) when selecting a travel destination.
• Beyond cost, consumers consider the overall trip experience, including the type of destination (58%), local weather patterns (51%), “bucket list” destinations (37%), nearby entertainment options (36%) and proximity to family or friends (31%).
• When asked which parts of air travel they would like to see improved, Americans cite ticket costs (27%), flight consistency (17%), comfort (14%) and booking flexibility (8%).

HOW MANY JOB INTERVIEWS ARE APPROPRIATE?

Do job interviews seem to be taking longer and involving more steps? Our Harris Poll survey with Express Employment Professionals suggests that job seekers and candidates should brace for a lengthy interview process.

• American job seekers and employers agree that multiple interviews are necessary when filling open positions.
• Candidates say two interviews should be enough.
• 40% of hiring managers say candidates can expect to go through two interviews before receiving an offer.
• Yet 15% of hiring managers say job seekers can expect to go through five or more interviews at their companies.
• 27% become fatigued or disillusioned with a business if the interview process takes too long.

87% OF GEN Z EXPERIENCING MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES

Sociopolitical issues are causing adverse mental health effects on the country’s younger population, according to our Harris Poll research with Blue Shield of California.

• 87% of Gen Z say they are experiencing mental health challenges regularly.
• 58% report experiencing anxiety regularly.
• They feel weighed down by gun violence (69%), racial and social injustice (54%), and climate change (44%).
• 78% say they have talked about their emotions and mental health with others in the past year.
• 71% have used resources to help address mental health challenges.
• Yet 61% report experiencing barriers in accessing professional mental health care, saying it’s challenging to find someone they relate to and believing they cannot afford mental health care.

CUTTING THE ALWAYS-ON CORD

Most Americans would prefer to live in a simpler era before everyone was obsessed with screens and social media, according to our Harris Poll survey with Fast Company.

• Asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was “plugged in” – with always-on internet and smartphones – 77% of Americans ages 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.
• Even among younger respondents with no memory of a world before social media, 63% of 18- to 34-year-olds agreed.
• While many Americans want to unshackle themselves from the burden of constant connectivity, 90% said that being open-minded about new technologies is essential.
• Yet more than half find keeping up with new technologies overwhelming, and the same number believe technology is more likely to divide people than unite.

ICYMI

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