Tag: Amit Adarkar

All access pass Ipsos unlocks Total Access for a fuller view of Indian consumers

MUMBAI: If data is the new oil, Ipsos just laid the pipeline. Global research and advisory giant Ipsos has launched Total Access in India, a sweeping new initiative that promises to crack the complexity of India’s consumer landscape with a one-roof data collection model that is as vast as it is versatile. With India’s diversity often leaving marketers data-drunk but insight-parched, Total Access combines five key modes mobile, online, hybrid, multi-mode and offline to serve a wider, deeper, and more inclusive view of the Indian consumer. And it’s going live immediately.

“Total Access addresses client concerns around consumer representation,” said Ipsos India CEO Amit Adarkar. “It’s about transformational scale, with responses from across socio-economic classes, towns big and small, languages, literacy levels, and even internet access. And yes, every response is human verified.”

Clients will now have access to a whopping 3.5 million-strong panel base, India’s largest, according to Ipsos. From mobile-first surveys and multilingual outreach to DIY capabilities, AI-based transcription, moderation and dashboard-based reporting, Total Access is basically research-as-a-service, turbocharged.

“Earlier, clients would need to juggle multiple vendors to access diverse demographic data across formats. Now, all modes are integrated providing a more holistic and representative picture,” added Ipsos India chief client officer Geeta Lobo.

In short, Ipsos is no longer just gathering data, it’s bringing the whole country into the room, whether you’re in a boardroom in Mumbai or a village in Manipur. With Total Access, the days of skewed sampling and fragmented insights may finally be numbered.

June 6, 2025
Consumer sentiment shows recovery and improves with a minor uptick: LSEG-Ipsos PCSI September 2024

Mumbai: Consumer sentiment among urban Indians has improved and has shown recovery in September 2024 with a minor uptick of plus 0.4 percentage points. Further, the consumer sentiment is up for jobs, economy, investments and personal finances, according to the September wave of the LSEG-Ipsos primary consumer sentiment index (PCSI) India report.

The LSEG-Ipsos PCSI maps consumer sentiment on four sub-indices and the sentiment for the PCSI employment onfidence (“Jobs”) sub-index, has seen an uptick of plus 1.1 percentage points, the PCSI urrent personal financial conditions sub index (current conditions) is up plus 0.3 percentage points; the PCSI investment climate (“Investment”) sub-index is up plus 0.1 percentage points; and the PCSI Economic Expectations (“expectations”) sub-index is up plus 0.5 percentage points.

Also, India has ranked second on national index score across 29 markets.

Ipsos India CEO Amit Adarkar has high hopes on H2, after a tough H1: “Consumer sentiment has shown recovery after being downbeat last month. Apart from the overall upswing in consumer confidence this month, the sentiment has shown recovery for daily household spends, savings, economic growth and jobs. H1 saw major cutback by companies due to tough macro conditions and the global economic slowdown, global inflationary conditions and job cuts. With a good monsoon this year and the festival season reaching its pinnacle with navratri, dhanteras and diwali coming up, consumer sentiment should see a major boost next month. Sentiment around jobs improved last month, and this month too consumers are bullish about the job market and hiring. India is also recovering from the havoc unleashed by extreme weather conditions, in terms of flooding and landslides through July and August.”

Consumer sentiment in 29 countries

Among the 29 countries, Singapore (62.5) now holds the highest national index score. Singapore, along with India (62.0) and Indonesia (61.5) are the only countries with a national index score of 60 or higher.

Eleven other countries now show a National Index above the 50-point mark: the Netherlands (57.4), Mexico (55.9), the U.S. (55.0), Great Britain (54.1), Sweden (54.0), Germany (53.7), Thailand (52.1), Brazil (51.3), Malaysia (51.2), South Africa (50.5), and Australia (50.2).

In contrast, just four countries show a National Index below the 40-point mark: South Korea (39.7), Japan (39.4), Hungary (36.4), and Türkiye (30.8).

“Notably, India has stayed among the top three markets with high national index score and stayed resilient despite several global crises popping up one after the other. Being a growth oriented emerging market and its economy resting greatly on domestic consumption, we have been able to offset the extreme impact. Though global economic slowdown has further weakened the rupee against the dollar,” stated Adarkar.

September 21, 2024
Consumer sentiment up for jobs: LSEG-Ipsos PCSI August 2024

Mumbai: The August 2024 wave of the LSEG-Ipsos primary consumer sentiment index shows confidence around jobs has improved and India was placed second in the pecking order on the national index score across the 29 markets covered in the survey.

However, overall the sentiment was seen to be down -2.9 per cent points.

The LSEG-Ipsos PCSI maps consumer sentiment on four sub-indices and sentiment around the PCSI employment confidence (‘Jobs’) sub-index, has seen an uptick of +0.9 per cent points, the PCSI current personal financial conditions sub index (current conditions) was down -6.5 per cent points; the PCSI investment climate (‘Investment’) sub-index has lowered -6.5 perc ent points; and the PCSI economic expectations (‘Expectations’) sub-Index was down 2.0 per cent points.

Ipsos India CEO Amit Adarkar elucidating on the findings said: “The sentiment around jobs has improved with some sectors hiring in H2 and also with the government announcing new initiatives for job creation in the budget. Some consumers are feeling the pinch of high cost of living in terms of strain on personal finances for day-to-day running of households and lack of disposable incomes for savings and buying of big ticket items and discretionary spends. The sentiment is also down around the economy. Global factors continue to bog down our economy also with the rupee weakening against the dollar at Rs. 84/$, with the wars in Ukraine and Gaza continuing.”

Consumer sentiment in 29 countries

Among the 29 countries, India has now moved to the 2nd spot, preceded by Indonesia (63.6) which now holds the highest national index score. Indonesia and India (61.6) are the only countries with a national index score of 60 or higher.

Eleven other countries now show a national index above the 50-point mark: Sweden (57.3), the Netherlands (55.6), the U.S. (55.3), Malaysia (54.2), Great Britain (53.8), Brazil (53.1), Singapore (52.5), Mexico (52.0), Spain (50.2), Canada (50.1) and South Africa (50.1).
In contrast, just three countries show a National Index below the 40-point mark: Japan (38.0), Hungary (36.8), and Türkiye (36.4).

“India continues to be one of the most resilient markets despite all the global turbulence and tough macro conditions. We have good monsoons and that should bring down food inflation,” added Adarkar.

August 31, 2024
Polarised views among Indians on Paris Olympic Games 2024: Ipsos Global Attitudes

Mumbai: The Ipsos Global Advisor Survey in 33 countries on the Paris Olympic Games 2024, displays polarised views among Indians for those interested (53 per cent) in watching the games versus those uninterested in watching the game (47 per cent). Though the interest in the Paris games was significantly high among most Asian countries, particularly in China (86 per cent), Thailand (77 per cent), Indonesia (75 per cent) and Philippines (71 per cent).

The global sporting event is being held from 26 July to 11 August 2024.

Favourite games

Among all games, global citizens (28 per cent) and urban Indians (28 per cent) are most interested in watching football/ soccer. Other games Indians have evinced interest in, included, badminton (18 per cent), volleyball (14 per cent), tennis (14 per cent), cycling (13 per cent), boxing (11 per cent), basketball (11 per cent), among others. While global citizens were keen to watch athletics (26 per cent), gymnastics (24 per cent), aquatics (18 per cent), volleyball (17 per cent) etc. A whole array of sporting events causing frenzy among sports enthusiasts.

Elucidating on the findings of the survey, Ipsos India CEO Amit Adarkar said, “While the Olympic Games in Paris is a global sporting event, India has not bagged many medals in the past, just a trickle, except in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics which was held 3 years ago in 2021 (one year delay due to Covid19), when India bagged seven medals – one gold, two silver and four bronze medals – the highest ever medal tally. The stickiness is not as profound as it is for cricket. But the good news is that India is sending a large contingent of 171 athletes to Paris, with 72 athletes making their Olympics debut and there is a huge hope around them to potentially get a haul of medallions.”

Positive sentiment for the global sporting event, all pervasive

Interestingly, Indians were seen to have a positive sentiment for the Olympics rating it high across a bunch of parameters: for instance, three in four Indians (75 per cent), held the view that the Paris Olympics is a good opportunity for the world to come together; 76 per cent Indians said the Olympics will bring the country together; 75 per cent Indians said seeing their Olympics team made them proud of their country; though 75 per cent urban Indians also felt that there was too much display of nationalism during the Olympics; 76 per cent Indians were of the view that govt funding should support our athletes are the Olympics; further there was a strong support among Indians for global events like the Olympics to be held despite the climate impact of travel and construction, with 76 per cent Indians endorsing this view. 74 per cent Indians also believed that Paris Olympics should go ahead regardless of the world’s economy and conflicts, for example wars in Ukraine and the Middle East; and 76 per cent of the urban Indians polled build a strong case for Olympics, believing Olympics inspire tomorrow’s generation to participate in sports.

“The global sporting event of Olympics unifies the world, reaffirming the spirit of nationalism, especially just watching one’s contingent gives goose bumps. And let’s not forget, one gets to watch the best of breed players vying for the much-coveted medals. Now that we are closer to the event, with the event kicking off this week, more number of sports enthusiasts are likely to watch the event, with all the amplified hype built up at the local level,” added Adarkar.

Check out the entire survey here:

July 24, 2024
Bigger expectation from govt in creating jobs and boosting economy: Ipsos global advisor attitudes

Mumbai: The Ipsos global survey titled, attitudes to crime & law enforcement shows, urban Indians want govt to prioritise creating jobs and boosting the economy (49 per cent) over stopping or reducing crime (32 per cent) and protecting local citizens’ health and environment (27 per cent).

Global citizens too had similar views of expecting their govt to focus on creating jobs and boosting the economy (50 per cent), over stopping or reducing crime (24 per cent) and protecting local citizens’ health and environment (27 per cent). Though in case of Chile (59 per cent) and Peru (55 per cent) more number of citizens expected their govt to prioritise stopping and reducing crime over everything else. Singapore (80 per cent) and Indonesia (77 per cent) had a vast majority of citizens exhorting their govt to prioritize creating jobs and boosting the economy over stopping and reducing crime or protecting citizens’ health or environment.

Further, the survey captured the perceptions of citizens on crime.

Views were divided on the state of crime and violence in the neighbourhood in the past 12 months: For urban Indians, 26 per cent said crime had increased, 37 per cent said it was the same, while 19 per cent said it had reduced. Chile (63 per cent) and Peru (62 per cent) had highest number of citizens claiming crime and violence had seen an uptick.

Citizens were asked to provide their views on a host of law and order issues around their neighbourhood in the past 12 months and across the list of crimes, that were seen to fester and the Indian citizens who replied in the affirmative for issues were – vandalism (26 per cent) (though India was placed lowest on this issue across all 31 markets); illicit drug consumption (28 per cent); burglaries (35 per cent); drug trafficking (27 per cent); violence against adult women (25 per cent); violence against adult men (26 per cent); gangs (25 per cent); violence against children and adolescents (27 per cent); and prostitution/ people prostituting themselves (23 per cent).

“For a market like India with large inequalities and the glaring divide between the haves and have nots, it is inevitable that crime is a harsh reality one lives with; and it takes more than a robust law and order system, vigilance and crackdown by the law enforcers. Onus also rests with the citizens in terms of being aware and cautious of potential dangers. Interestingly, jobs and the economy is taking precedence for citizens over law and orderin their expectation from the government,” stated Ipsos India CEO Amit Adarkar.

Confidence in law enforcement

A good law enforcement ecosystem is reassuring to citizens providing them both physical and mental peace. We assessed citizens on how confident they felt about law enforcement in their neighbourhood capturing views on different aspects. And interestingly more number of citizens were happy with the services rendered by law enforcers, in fairness, capability and effectiveness. For instance, 76 per cent Indian citizens said the law enforcers like the police in their neighbourhood was providing the same level of respect to all citizens; 76 per cent Indians were satisfied with the capability of the law enforcers in finding and arresting the correct criminal after a crime; 77 per cent citizens were satisfied with the ability of the law enforcers in stopping violent crimes from happening (India topped the global list on this attribute and the ability of our law enforcers); and 77 per cent citizens were satisfied with law enforcers’ ability of stopping non-violent crimes like burglaries, thefts from happening.

“Among citizens, there is fear of breaking the law and its implications. Likewise, the police, lawyers are respected by those on the right side of the law but dreaded by those who flout law. They are embodied with power to prosecute, jail and fine the offenders. That itself is highly reassuring for citizens and a deterrent,” added Adarkar.

The survey delved deeper to unravel the primary causes of crime and corruption. And the causes that came to light were alarming, at the same time addressable. Citizens felt the causes for crime and corruption were multitude, like, poverty and unemployment (50 per cent), drug and alcohol abuse (38 per cent), lack of education (34 per cent), corrupt political environment (31 per cent), ineffective law enforcement (20 per cent) and breakdown of traditional values (20 per cent).

“These factors are responsible for high crime rates; so apart from lifting the poor from their misery, the other factors cited that are fueling crime and corruption in our society should be addressed like unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, breakdown of traditional values,” stated Adarkar.

The survey also captured views on what is right and whether breaking the law under some circumstances was acceptable.

At least six in ten urban Indians (60 per cent) held the view that citizens should always obey the law even when it interfered with their interest; 40 per cent on the contrary held the view that sometimes one must ignore the law to do the right thing.

These are the findings of a 31-country Ipsos global advisor survey titled Attitudes on Crime and law enforcement survey that tracks how people around the world see crime playing out in their communities, what they want governments to do, and how much trust they have in law enforcement, among other trends etc.

July 13, 2024
Consumer sentiment dips in June, yet India holds onto highest national index score: LSEG-Ipsos PCSI June 2024

Mumbai: Consumer sentiment has weakened and dipped -2.6 percentage points in June 2024, though notably India continues to lead with the highest national index score across all 29 markets polled, according to the LSEG-Ipsos primary consumer sentiment index (PCSI) June 2024 wave.

The LSEG-Ipsos survey also maps consumer sentiment across four sub-indices and all of them have seen a drop this month: the PCSI employment confidence (“Jobs”) sub- index, is down -4.6 percentage points; the PCSI current personal financial conditions (“Current Conditions”) sub-index is down -0.7 percentage points; the PCSI investment climate (“Investment”) sub-index too is down -0.6 percentage points; and the PCSI Economic expectations (“Expectations”) sub-index is down -6.4 percentage points.

Elaborating on the findings of the survey, Ipsos India CEO Amit Adarkar said, “Confidence around personal and household expenses is still stable and same goes for investments in savings and big-ticket purchases. It is the confidence around the economy and jobs that has seen a significant drop. Some of the impact is due to macro conditions, with the global economic slowdown and job cuts and further, with the new government in the saddle and the union budget yet to be announced, the overall approach is cautionary and tardy. It has also been a hot summer with the farm sector impacted due to drought in some. Monsoons could bring back some cheer and a growth-oriented budget announcement in July 2024.”

“Even The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) warned mid June that the exceptionally hot summer and low reservoir levels could stress the summer crops of vegetables and fruits, potentially disrupting efforts to control inflation. And while overall inflation has eased, food prices remain volatile and elevated, complicating the inflation battle,” added Adarkar.

How global markets stack up

The global consumer confidence index is the average of all surveyed countries’ overall or “National” indices. This month’s installment is based on a monthly survey of more than 21,000 adults under the age of 75 from 29 countries conducted on Ipsos’ Global Advisor online platform. This survey was fielded between 24 May and 7 June 2024.

Consumer sentiment in 29 countries

Among the 29 countries, India (65.2) continues to hold the highest national index score. India and Indonesia (63.2) are the only countries with a national index score of 60 or higher.

Ten other countries now show a National Index above the 50-point mark: Singapore (58.1), Mexico (57.2), the Netherlands (55.2), Thailand (55.2), Sweden (54.7), Great Britain (53.9), the U.S. (53.8), Malaysia (52.9), Brazil (52.3), and Australia (50.5).

In contrast, just five countries show a National Index below the 40-point mark: South Korea (39.5), Japan (37.7), Hungary (37.0), Peru (36.7), and Türkiye (29.1).

June 29, 2024
Consumer sentiment up in May 2024: LSEG-Ipsos primary consumer sentiment index

Mumbai: The LSEG-Ipsos primary consumer sentiment index (PCSI) for India in May 2024 shows improvement in the overall sentiment, with the upside of +0.8 per cent points. Also, the survey shows that India continues to hold onto the highest national index score (67.8 per cent points) across all the 29 countries covered in the monthly survey.

Consumer sentiment is measured across four sub-indices and the sentiment showed a mix bag of performance in May 2024 – the PCSI employment confidence (“Jobs”) sub-index, was seen to move up 1.9 per cent points; the PCSI current personal financial conditions (“Current Conditions”) sub-index however was down 0.6 per cent points; the PCSI investment climate (“Investment”) sub-index too was down 0.1 per cent points; and the PCSI economic expectations (“Expectations”) sub-index was up 1.7 per cent points.

“India is the most buoyant market across all markets covered in the survey with a National Index score of 67.8 per cent points and we also see an upturn in consumer sentiment in May which augurs well for growth and attracting more FDI – as we see the sentiment for the economy and jobs is seeing a major boost. The Indian economy and been showing a lot of resilience and is largely defined by domestic consumption and though it has been on the radar of global companies for pumping in most investments, as India is a highly growth oriented market. Though with the General Elections in India some of the decisions maybe delayed, like in the case of Tesla, Elon Musk recently postponed his visit to India to the time once the Lok Sabha elections are done and dusted. Also with the new financial kicking in, hiring is back on grid and the job market is looking up. Though the sentiment around personal finances and for investments and savings continues to be somewhat depressed, which could impact consumption around discretionary spends and put a strain on daily spends of households,” said Ipsos India CEO Amit Adarkar.

How does India stack up across 29 countries?

Among the 29 countries, India (67.8) continues to hold the highest National Index score. India, Indonesia (63.2), and Mexico (61.0) are the only countries with a National Index score of 60 or higher.

Nine other countries now show a national index above the 50-point mark: Singapore (58.0), Thailand (55.8), the U.S. (54.3), Sweden (54.1), Great Britain (52.8), the Netherlands (51.9), Brazil (51.7), Poland (50.3), and Australia (50.3).

In contrast, just four countries show a National Index below the 40-point mark: South Korea (39.7), Chile (39.6), Japan (37.9), and Türkiye (33.8).

Compared to 12 months ago, seven countries show a significant drop in consumer sentiment. Twelve countries show significant increases, most of all in Argentina (+11.0), Poland (+9.4), and India (+9.1).

May 22, 2024
Ipsos acquires Crownit

Mumbai: Ipsos, one of the world’s leading market research companies, announces the acquisition of Crownit. This company provides a mobile and online panel and data collection platform, giving access to India’s largest community of consumers across 40 cities.

Crownit’s mobile-first strategy empowers Ipsos to digitize a large part of its offline research capabilities, leveraging India’s increasing mobile penetration to reach a broader spectrum of socioeconomic groups. This approach enhances digital sample representativeness, resulting in faster, high-quality data collection and improved efficiency.

Ipsos CEO Ben Page commented: “This acquisition marks a significant step in expanding Ipsos India’s data collection capabilities, by shifting from traditional offline methods to a more agile and efficient online approach, and by improving data quality and security. It supports our growth in India, enabling us to reach a wider audience and to gather more robust insights for our clients.”

Crownit CEO Sameer Grover added: “Joining the Ipsos family is an important milestone for our company. We are excited to leverage our mobile-first platform and expertise to enhance Ipsos’ data collection capabilities and support their vision of the future of market research in India. We are excited to serve our clients with combined strengths of Ipsos and Crownit.”

“Speaking on the acquisition of Crownit, a leading online market research and mobile-first platform, Ipsos India CEO Amit Adarkar said, “Crownit’s mobile-first capability and panel ecosystem will significantly up Ipsos’ ability to offer a high quality and representative online/ mobile access. Despite its size and maturity, Indian market research industry has not been able to drive online / mobile data collection so far. Ipsos’ acquisition of Crownit will be a game changing development for the industry. We will be able to offer our clients increased agility, as well as cutting edge innovations in data collection methodologies. This would indeed be transformational.”

Crownit’s end-to-end ecosystem streamlines data collection processes, while advanced features will provide Ipsos with a competitive edge in the market research industry locally.

Finally, this acquisition complements Ipsos’ existing online panel, iSay, by increasing online reach and representation in India. It will provide clients with access to a more diverse and representative pool of respondents, ultimately leading to richer and more actionable market intelligence.

May 17, 2024
Ipsos hires Rajashree Ivaturi as Ipsos Strategy3 partner

Mumbai: Eyeing increased opportunities and demand for research-based consulting from clients, Ipsos, a global market research player, has roped in Rajashree Ivaturi, as partner, Ipsos Strategy3 in India. Ipsos Strategy3 is the management consulting arm of Ipsos.

Ivaturi moves from Quess Corp and has previously worked for over two decades with feedback consulting. Her work experience has spanned research-based consulting at feedback consulting to scaling vocational training programs in social enterprise at Quess Corp. She reports to Ipsos India CEO Amit Adarkar.

“Being a leading custom market research company, Ipsos has provided strategic counsel and competent advisory services to our roster of clients via Ipsos Strategy3; and with the increasing demand in a highly growth-oriented market like India, we have expanded the team at the top level with the hiring of Rajashree Ivaturi, whose experience straddling private and government clients will be a great asset to Ipsos Strategy3. Her remit is to leverage opportunities with the government across different ministries, government bodies, trade associations, apart from handling a wide roster of clients across consumer-packaged goods, healthcare, automotive, education etc. We are seeing a lot of clients demanding research-based consulting and Ivaturi brings with her a lot of rich experience that will upscale our client delivery, even for uncharted sectors,” said Ipsos India CEO Amit Adarkar.

She holds a PGDBM degree from IIPM and an AI ML Program for Leaders diploma from The University of Texas, Austin. And has been on the advisory of several not-for-profit organisations.

May 9, 2024
India remains optimistic in April 2024 amid global pessimism: Ipsos What Worries the World global monthly survey

Mumbai: About three in four urban Indians (73 per cent) believe India is moving in the right direction in April 2024. Though there has been a four per cent dip over the previous month. The good news is, India continues to rank among the top three most optimistic markets and largely driven by global south, with the markets in the pecking order including Singapore (77 per cent), Indonesia (75 per cent), India (73 per cent), Thailand (64 per cent) and Argentina (62 per cent). In sharp contrast, only 38 per cent of global citizens said their country is on right track, with the markets at the bottom of the heap led by Peru (13 per cent), Hungary (17 per cent), France (20 per cent) and South Africa (20 per cent).

Ipsos’ What Worries the World survey tracks public opinion on the most important social and political issues across 29 countries, covering 25,302 adults, apart from the direction of travel, of how confident citizens are about their country and its future.

What worries Indians?

The top issues worrying urban Indians included inflation (41 per cent), unemployment (37 per cent), education (25 per cent), crime and violence (23 per cent) and financial and political corruption (21 per cent). While most global citizens were worried about inflation (34 per cent), poverty and social inequality (30 per cent), crime and violence (30 per cent), unemployment (27 per cent) and financial and political corruption (26 per cent).

Interestingly, 19 per cent urban Indians claimed to be worried about taxes.

Elucidating on the findings of the Ipsos Global Advisor What Worries the World global monthly survey, Ipsos India CEO Amit Adarkar said, “There is stability in the country and the nation is being steered responsibly, by surmounting global and local challenges – whether showing resilience to global challenges arising out of war in Ukraine and Israel, or combating rising cost of living, fuel prices, law and order and corruption, government has taken concrete steps to address some of these issues. With the election season in India in April and May, there will be a status quo on decision making by the incumbent government to address some of the issues impacting the citizens. Though the issues notwithstanding, unlike high level of pessimism rampant across global markets and the frustration and angst seen, three fourths of Indians polled are positive about how we are doing as a country. Though redressal of these issues can further elevate the mood of the masses and improve the quality of living. Month on month, Ipsos captures this pertinent information about 29 markets (including India) from their citizens, which provides local governments views of citizens and their top concerns.”

April 30, 2024