Global attitudes to cash

Understanding peoples' attitude to money becomes more important in times like these where money and markets are getting uncertain.

Global market researcher Synovate, in a research it had conducted to discover how consumers around the world define financial success, their attitudes to cash and what actions they take to get more of it, have found out that not all people would agree with the statement that they would be happier if they had more money. About 2/3 of Argentinians and Russians, for instance, disagreed with it as per the research study.

On the other hand, the same research had shown that Britons are more inclined to rely on luck. But with regard to Italians and Indians, majority of them agreed to the statement that “the time it takes to become financially successful is not worth the time it takes away from other more important things”.

Clearly, attitudes to money are just as dependent on culture as they are on what people actually have. Money may be universal, but how people feel about it is most certainly not.

The world's billionaires may have a different definition of financial success as compared to most of us. So much so that people living in developed countries may have contrasting view with people in emerging markets.

The research had shown that the number one definition of financial success to people in developed countries is by having no debt. This was especially the case in the United States and the United Kingdom, but also very evident in Australia, Netherlands and Canada. But people in emerging markets are far more likely to attribute financial success to good luck, and are also more likely to think about money and how to get it. About 72% of Indians believe that financial success is due to good luck, and 83% percent of Indonesians are found to be the most obsessed to money, followed by 76% of Malaysians.

Overall, nearly half of all respondents globally say they buy lottery tickets or join raffle contests in an effort to boost their financial success.

The research study was conducted by Synovate in January and February 2008 using online, telephone and face-to-face methodologies. The market research firm spoke with over 12,500 adult consumers in 16 markets across the globe, which include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

*Source: Synovate In:Fact