New study shows consumers’ declining confidence in government

…and mounting Brexit fears post-Election

The7stars, the UK’s largest independent media agency, has published new research highlighting how consumer confidence in the government has declined significantly following the 2017 General Election.

The latest quarterly release of data from the QT consumer tracking survey found that confidence in the government fell to 19 per cent in August compared with a figure of 32 per cent in the previous pre-General Election survey conducted in May.

In addition, confidence in the UK’s political system as a whole suffered a similar drop, declining from 26 per cent to 15 per cent as election fatigue and mounting concern over Brexit sets in.

This drop is underscored more sharply among young adults (18-24), where confidence in the government sank from 18 per cent to a lowly 7 per cent, marking a reverse in the increased political engagement in the lead up to the General Election among this demographic, galvanised by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the opposition’s effective digital media campaign.

The survey from the7stars also gave evidence of young voters’ ongoing concern about Brexit. The number reporting worries about the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union stood at 55 per cent in August, up by 7 per cent since February. This compares markedly with 29 per cent of the over 45s reporting concerns.

It also highlighted a more general sense of Brexit fatigue among the UK population, with the proportion of respondents saying they are bored of the subject growing from 8 per cent to 12 per cent. It also hints at growing ‘Bremorse’ or ‘regrexit’, with the proportion of Brits saying they are “excited” about the split more than halving from 13 per cent to 6 per cent.

Despite this evidence of dwindling confidence in British political life, a surprising 60 per cent of Millennial and Generation Z respondents (18-34 year olds) reported being happier than a year ago. This contrasted with a paltry 29 per cent of those 35 and over.

Frances Revel, the7stars, said: “This latest survey reflects the upheaval of a difficult last quarter as the hopeful air with which Brits anticipated the General Election has dissolved, confidence in the government has plummeted, and the realities of Brexit start to emerge. More than ever it is clear that we are living in complex times for advertisers, where a simplistic or overly rigid view of consumer confidence, attitudes and beliefs will not serve brands well.”