Based on an in-depth analysis of what life means to Brazilians, we changed the life insurance industry: instead of compensating death, we created a new equation value to reward those who want to live more and live better.
Based on an in-depth analysis of what life means to Brazilians, we changed the life insurance industry: instead of compensating death, we created a new equation value to reward those who want to live more and live better. Itaú Unibanco (the country's largest private bank) and BOX1824 (a reference for behavioural and innovation trend studies) designed together a daring and innovative project: based on board research, studies and cultural analysis carried out with beta consumers, they began to redesign the insurance business model in Brazil.
A group of citizens called Khon Thai (Thai people) have a passionate mission to promote a harmonious society and to raise the quality of life for the Thai people. Market research is renowned for its ability to improve the quality of products and services but can we use market research to improve the quality of life for a nations people? To meet this mission, Khon Thai Monitor was initiated to understand, measure and monitor the quality of life, development and progress of Thailand according to a series of relevant and comprehensive indicators. This paper presents how Khon Thai Monitor was conceived under a new market research platform, the challenges faced, and how the results have been applied to improve a nation.
A group of citizens called Khon Thai (Thai people) have a passionate mission to promote a harmonious society and to raise the quality of life for the Thai people. Market research is renowned for its ability to improve the quality of products and services but can we use market research to improve the quality of life for a nations people? To meet this mission, Khon Thai Monitor was initiated to understand, measure and monitor the quality of life, development and progress of Thailand according to a series of relevant and comprehensive indicators. This paper presents how Khon Thai Monitor was conceived under a new market research platform, the challenges faced, and how the results have been applied to improve a nation.
With the exponential growth in population, issues in the public sector are ever more complex, they range from how to tackle poverty and social exclusion, to dealing with the ecology and environment, from improving healthcare to the integration of divergent ethnic and religious groupings as we try to live with one another. More and more people are actively involved in shaping opinions and they are joined by the mass media which is demanding a role in the public debate which can often appear to be manipulative. In this issue of Research World, we take a closer look at the practice of research in this high profile, high tension area.
To be under stress, to be short of time, to be late - these are all typical expressions in modern society. We envy - and despise - those who live on Indian time, who have not any time concept, who do not know what punctuality means, and so on. Forecasts concerning a leisure-time paradise have failed. Although the weekly hours of work were reduced in the last 30 years, the time available for oneself did not increase very much. The reasons for this typical process are discussed. Time is not only an important factor for subjective quality of life but also, which is very often overlooked as the consumption factor. The paper shows the results of an empirical study which includes: relative importance of leisure time for "personal happiness" subjective amount of leisure/stress, time versus money preference, activities for which more time would be wanted, activities done under stress (usually), activities where one would like to save time, activities where products could help to save time.
This study explores both how satisfied people are with the various aspects of their lives, and also how important each thing is in determining overall quality of life. Using a model drawn from customer satisfaction research, we have examined 125 different items that could possibly affect an individual's quality of life. AH of these items were aggregated into twelve different "domains" that influence a person's overall quality of life: National Affairs, Community, Money, Job, Leisure, Spouse or Romantic Partner, Friends, Family, Education, Religion, Personal Well Being, and Material Goods. In general Americans give only average marks to their overall quality of life. Yet 1 in 10 Americans - the "happiness elite" - are absolutely delighted with their lives. These happy people don't differ from other people merely by chance. Understanding how this group differs from everyone else can provide important insights into how to improve the lives of other people.
The history of the search for the quality of life, just like the history of civilization - although unfortunately the two histories rarely coincide - can be written from two different points of view. Looking at things on a grand scale, considering the major events, following the successions of great ideologies, or, on the contrary, using the microscope, focusing on the most inconspicuous phenomena, investigating thoroughly- the way the nouveaux historians do - particular occurrences which often allow a keener observation and a deeper understanding. In this spirit, I hope you will forgive me if I entertain you on a subject worse than inconspicuous: one of the subjects my aunts would not dare to touch even within the family. I do also hope that from Up There they wont see me speaking about it in public! As a matter of fact, one cannot mention toilet paper without immediately associating it with a physiological function and an organic product which are both considered unpleasant in our culture. In my language, to keep a child away from something, we say "Non toccare, e' cacca" (cacca means 'shit' in baby-talk, but the sense is: "Don't touch it, it's yucky!"). Later in life comes the real lesson: never talk about it to any one except to your doctor, and, even with him, only using scientific euphemisms.
This paper attempts to develop an analysis of Latin America based on the opinions gathered in a harmonized quantitative research survey conducted in nine Latin American / Caribbean countries. This was the first wave of a Tracking Study designed to accompany the changes which have begun to occur in the region. This first wave is going to show that the Latin American peoples' concerns are intense and varied in nature, the level of confidence entrusted to the public institutions in their countries very low. Each country's image is also discussed in detail, and as such, makes it clear that Latin Americans have a weak perception of their neighboring countries, their populations and the products they manufacture. In a more positive fashion, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, and Colombia in a more negative vein were the countries whose images stood out the most within Latin America. From such a standpoint, we moved on to observe the similarities and differences in the different Latin American regions in an attempt to get to know such differentiated consumers better and identify gaps and investment opportunities, as well as difficulties, at a time during which there has been greater economic integration between the countries.