November 2008
Men: Beauty or brawn, or both?

What makes a good-looking man? Is he clean-shaven, confident, and sexy? (Sounds like a good start!) Where is he more likely to come from? Are men using beauty-enhancing products or leaving their looks to nature? And do men and women see eye-to-eye on male beauty? Synovate took a long, lingering look at male beauty in 12 markets across the world, speaking with nearly 10,000 people about beautiful blokes and what makes them that way. In our analysis, we discovered cultural differences as well as some surprises (do two-thirds of French men really believe they are not sexy?).

August 2008
Social networking myths and facts

Online social networking. It's huge. More than 132 million people visited Facebook in June of this year and 117.5 million landed on MySpace¹. And that's merely two of the English-language social networking sites, albeit the most popular ones. With Asia now the world's most connected continent and other emerging markets coming online fast, the mind can barely wrap around just how many people out there are connected with others in myriad languages courtesy of cyberspace. Marketers are constantly urged to get their brands on these sites... and fast.

July 2008
Is 'green' the new black?

Assuming you're not a green activist, you could be forgiven for being a little - dare we say it - bored of climate change. That's not very PC, but over the past twelve months our over-heating earth has consistently hit front pages across the globe, a multitude of green products and marketing campaigns have debuted and governments have been elected or ejected on the back of their green credentials. Yawn, right? Wrong. Not only are people worried about the state of the planet, they are acting on their concern in big numbers.

June 2008
Global survey: What would you do to be beautiful?

Beautiful things give us great pleasure. Art, music, landscapes... it goes without saying. But where do we stand on beautiful people? It's a tougher proposition because, frankly, we're not all 'Brangelina' or Aishwarya Rai. Of course many of us would say people are beautiful within. Synovate tackled a range of beauty issues in a global survey... how do people define beauty? Where do people from different cultures see themselves on the beauty scale? And would they want to do anything to change their looks? Over 7,000 people in nine markets across the world spilled their beauty secrets and here's what they told us...

May 2008
Global healthcare survey looks at patient power

From doctors' waiting rooms to 'Dr Google', homeopathy to homemade remedies, healthcare has many different guises around the world. With economic and cultural factors shaping healthcare attitudes and behaviour, this sector can be seen as a microcosm of society. Synovate surveyed 9,642 people across Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, India, Malaysia, Netherlands, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey and the United States about all things healthcare. Here's what we found...

February 2008
Revealing consumers' jeans joys and denim blues...

Originally, jeans were sturdy, practical items made to withstand hard work and wear and tear. These days they are near-ubiquitous global fashion items, found in most wardrobes of the world and capable of inspiring anything from a quiet love of comfortable 'old favourites' all the way through to long searches for the perfect pair and tear-your-hair-out trips to the fitting room.

January 2008
Fast food addiction, obesity and other weighty issues

From obesity to home gyms, from fast food addiction to herbal supplements, Synovate today released data that shows that across the world people have conflicting attitudes and behaviours when it comes to managing their weight.

September 2007
Smokers and non-smokers agree: Bans are okay in public places

As smoking bans continue to make headlines in Germany, Australia and the UK, findings from international market research firm Synovate's latest survey show that 80% of respondents in 15 countries across the globe are in favour of such bans, primarily because of the positive influence these are perceived to have upon public health.

August 2007
Brands taking Asia by storm

Asia. Almost four billion of the world's people call it home. Its affluent and middle class consumer base is growing faster than any other across the globe. And brands, both local and global, are fighting for their place among its markets.

July 2007
Designer clothes, expensive jewellery, high-tech toys... Latin American elites are big spenders

Covering millions of affluent adults, top management and business decision makers across the world, the Synovate PAX survey regularly tracks media consumption, ownership and purchase intentions of upscale consumers in Asia, Australia, The Middle East and now, Latin America. "Affluent consumers and business executives in Latin America are world citizens," said Ignacio Galceran, CEO of Synovate in Latin America. "They travel the world for both business and pleasure. They have similar purchasing power to elites in developed markets and want the best products and services that global marketers can offer."

January 2007
Desperately seeking love online

Twenty nine percent of the French and 21 percent of Filipinos have used the internet to find love, but over one third of people who aren't online daters believe only "desperate people" use the internet to look for love, according to a recent global study by market research firm Synovate.

October 2006
Coffee culture: a global phenomenon?

Consumers the world over are highly in favour of coffee giants and the vast array of choices they offer, reveals global market research agency Synovate. In a study that sought to illuminate coffee culture around the globe, Synovate spoke to 5,806 respondents in the US, UK, France, Brazil, Hong Kong, Singapore, Serbia, Morocco and Australia. Overall, 76 percent of respondents agreed that 'large multinational coffee chains are good because they expand choices for consumers'.

March 2006
He's Just Into You - Wrinkles and All

MTV booty-shaking minx or Catherine Deneuve? In a recent Synovate survey of seniors aged 55 or older, there is no contest - nearly 40 per cent of men in 12 key markets said older women were just as attractive as their younger counterparts. And in a day and age when Hollywood roles for older actresses are in rapid decline and Botox use starts in the teenage years, this is refreshing news.

September 2005
Puppy love across the world

ONCE thought of as something reserved for the likes of Paris Hilton and her chihuahua Tinkerbell, health insurance for pets is increasingly being seen as a serious investment. A recent Synovate survey conducted in nine markets shows that 51% of UK pet owners currently own or would consider buying pet health insurance. Their sentiments are echoed by the Philippines (28%) and the US (22%), who come in second and third respectively.

July 2005
Is the leisurely drive on the road to extinction?

FOURTEEN per cent of drivers in India claim they have been physically assaulted or were at the receiving end of a weapon wielded by other drivers in the past 12 months, according to a new survey by Synovate.

February 2005
Popping the cork on drinking habits

How widely do alcohol drinkers' habits vary across the world? To get a better understanding of tipplers' preferences, we polled more than 2,000 people in China, Korea, Poland and the United Kingdom — all nations in which people are known to like a drink. The results are sure to be particularly interesting to those in the F&B, entertainment and hospitality sectors.

October 2004
Food frights

Recently, Interstate Bakeries Corp, the biggest wholesale baker in the US, filed for bankruptcy protection. And what pushed the 77-year-old company over the edge? Management cited a drop in sales, partly due to the growing popularity of low-carbohydrate diets.

June 2004
Skin lightening products in Asia - a bright future?

Visit any beach in Europe or the US and you'll find it full of light-skinned people doing their best to become darker. Meanwhile, as a recent Synovate AsiaBUS survey confirms, there is a strong desire among women in Asia to have lighter skin.

May 2004
The skinny on packaging size preferences

The United States is a big country with a big landmass — and a reputation for bigness in almost all things. The Philippines on the other hand, is a mid-sized nation comprised of 7,000 or so islands — and is a place that appears to have more affinity with the small. Both of these national tendencies are reflected in packaging sizes.

March 2004
Affluent Asians - What you'll find on their wishlists

The Synovate PAX survey regularly tracks media, prosperity and influence in major markets across the Asia Pacific region. The survey probes the ownership and purchase intentions of affluent people in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore, Taipei, Seoul, India, Australia, Japan and soon, the Middle East.