Top business leaders remain heavy media consumers: Ipsos study

HONG KONG - Global business leaders remain heavy consumers of media, spending an average of 33 minutes with a media brand when consuming content, according to results from Ipsos' Global Business Influencers 2016 Survey (GBI).

In a month, the business elite surveyed read or accessed 4.7 different international brands from multiple platforms.

Digital was the most preferred platform for 97.6 percent of the business elite, with 96.4 per cent consuming news through laptop. Total mobile consumption stood at 90.6 percent, while print retained its appeal among business leaders at 92.3 percent and television stood at 89.2 percent.

The survey, which replaces the Ipsos Business Elite Asia survey, was based on 9,016 interviews from 16 markets in Asia, Europe and the US. The majority of interview subjects belonged to the C-suite, with average household income at US$453,620. Of the business leaders surveyed, 71 percent were male and 29 percent female.

Among the media brands, CNN held the greatest multiplatform reach among the business elite, while Financial Times was the most influential international publication. 

In a statement released, Financial Times said 80 percent its readers in the US are classified as C-Suite, while 32 percent of the readers in Asia are considered high-net-worth individuals.

“The GBI survey shows that the FT remains the most effective international media publication for reaching high income earners and senior business influencers in Europe," said Enzo Diliberto, global insight director at FT. "The results underpin the strength of the FT’s brand presence in Europe and the profile of its readers in the US and Asia.”

Source: GBI 2016. Total brand reach across platforms.

James Torr, senior director at Ipsos Connect, said "There continues to be a need from advertisers, agencies and media owners to be able to understand, reach and communicate with senior business executives."

"The GBI survey fits perfectly into the media and advertising world we now exist in and provides a rich insight into the lives of this group who wield so much influence and power in global business," he added

Other key highlights from the survey:

• 73 percent of business leaders from Europe think that consequences from Brexit will affect their business; while 64 percent from Asia and 58 percent from US were of the same opinion.
• 26 percent of the business leaders will not invest in property next year, but 18 percent of them intend to purchase premium cars worth more than US$80,000 next year.
• The affluent had a penchant for luxury travel—60 percent flew first or business class on business trips, with an average of nine return air trips taken in a year, while 58 percent of them stayed in four or five-star hotels when travelling for business
• Football was the most popular sports (48 percent), while travel and technology were rated the two most interests at 68 percent and 54 percent respectively.