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Global Confidence in Innovation
Holds Despite Economy
South America Tops List, Europe Trails in
Expanded IIIP Innovation Confidence Index
San Francisco, January 27, 2009 —
The public's inclination toward innovative products was largely unaffected by
the drop in consumer confidence last year, according to the 2008 IIIP
Innovation Confidence Index that was expanded to cover every region of the
world and released publicly today.
The survey also found that societal values are more important than individual
demographics, such as age or education, in predicting whether local consumers
will accept innovative products. For example, a middle-aged non-entrepreneur in
a traditional society like Colombia is significantly more likely to believe new
products or services will improve his life than a young Finnish entrepreneur.
"Worldwide, we found that people's confidence in innovation seems to be
independent of whether the economy is going up or down and that people in
countries with more traditional social values are more likely to welcome
innovation. The IIIP Innovation Confidence Index is the only clear snapshot of
consumers' receptivity to innovative products, and findings like these provide
important insights for developing global marketing strategies," the report's
author Dr. Jonathan Levie of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow said.
The annual survey commissioned by the Institute for Innovation & Information
Productivity (IIIP) shows a dip of just 1 percent on average in consumers'
openness toward innovation across the seven countries sampled in both 2007 and
2008. Comparatively, overall personal confidence in local economic conditions
dropped 8 percent on average across the same countries during an equivalent
period, as reported by A.C. Nielsen's consumer confidence index.
The 2008 IIIP Innovation Confidence Index incorporates responses from 81,000
consumers and covers 25 countries, more than doubling the geographic reach of
the 2007 study. The survey provides a country-by-country average of the
percentage of consumers between 18 and 64 years old who agreed that within the
next six months they were likely to buy products or services new to the market,
they were likely to try products or services that use new technologies for the
first time, and that new products and services would improve their lives.
Innovation Linked to Values; Most Popular in Developing Countries, Among
Young
Overall, the report found that societal values eclipsed personal demographics
in determining how receptive individuals are to innovation. Countries rated as
"traditional" by the World Values Survey, like Ireland, the United States and
those in South America, had a higher level of innovation confidence than
countries where secularism is valued, such as the Netherlands, Finland and
Japan.
Overall the survey found:
- The people of South American and African countries, including Colombia,
Peru, Angola, South Africa and Uruguay, scored highest as accepting of
innovative new products and services.
- The average innovation confidence index for eight South American and
Caribbean countries was 70, compared with an average of 53 for ten European
countries.
- The United States and Mexico both had mid-level scores of 60.
- Countries in the Middle East and Asia varied widely in their attitudes
toward innovation.
- On average, two-thirds of working-age consumers in developing countries
were receptive to innovative products and services compared with half of this
group in more developed countries. This is partly because younger people tend
to be more receptive to new products and the age profile of developing
countries is younger.
The IIIP-sponsored index was implemented by the Hunter Centre for
Entrepreneurship at the University of Strathclyde in association with the
Global Entrepreneurship Research Association and its annual Global
Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report. It is intended to provide business and
government a valid measurement of which regions and types of consumer are most
open to innovative products and provides insights for evaluating markets or
economic policies.
The report with country-by-country innovation confidence chart and analysis is
available at no cost on the Institute's Web site at www.iii-p.org. The 2008
IIIP Innovation Confidence Index was issued as an independent supplement to the
annual GEM report to attendees at the 2009 GEM Planning Meeting on Jan. 15-18
at Babson College in Mass., U.S.A.
Changing 21st Century Business Metrics
Phil McKinney, IIIP president and vice president and chief technology officer
of the Personal Systems Group at HP, said, "Armed with an understanding of the
cultural impact of innovation, global companies can execute new products and
services that really matter. The IIIP Consumer Confidence Index provides
important direction to industry and world governments seeking to encourage the
social benefits of innovation through policy direction and investment".
The Institute is a collaboration of business, academic and philanthropic
professionals working together to define the new metrics of the information age
and has released a number of studies seeking to understand the most effective
ways to deploy innovation and achieve a positive impact on society. For
example, the IIIP is currently finalizing a study of the economic impact of
social networks and the relationship between consumers, behavior patterns and
revenue generation.
About the IIIP
Business performance metrics today often fall short of 21st century needs
because they ignore the gains from new technology or tradeoffs among multiple
investments. The Institute for Innovation & Information Productivity develops
new measurements and best practices to better understand the factors affecting
organizational performance, studies the impact of technology, and encourages a
global dialogue on improving operational results. Formed in 2006 and
headquartered in San Francisco, the IIIP is led by HP, Johnson & Johnson
Pharmaceutical R&D, Microsoft and Quintiles Transnational Corp. and looks to
provide vital insights for managing business in the knowledge economy. More
information about the Institute is available at www.III-P.org
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Media Contact:
For interviews with Phil McKinney or other members of the IIIP Board, please
contact Linda Marcus, APR, Astra
Communications, 714-974-6356.
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