People working in the advertising industry have higher climate anxiety than the general public, according to a new survey.
According to the IPA, there’s a disconnect between the general public and the ad industry on climate change.
Over half of the respondents from IPA agencies (53%) said they were anxious about climate change. 37% said they felt demoralised about climate change.
That compares to 37% of the general public who felt anxious and 14% feeling demoralised.
Only a minority of agency employees aid they felt they had an influence over environmental strategy.
IPA found that 53% of young people would consider working in the advertising industry, according to the data, in comparison with 38% of the general public.
1 in 4 young adults have a positive view of the ad industry’s impact on climate change while almost half of ad agency employees have a negative view
Twenty-six per cent of young adults believe the ad industry has a positive impact on climate change and 17% of the same audience believe it has a negative impact. This is in comparison with 21% and 18% respectively for the general population. Perceptions among the ad agency respondents are, however, more negative with only 12% believing the ad industry has a positive impact on climate change and a considerable 48% believing it has a negative impact on climate change.
“By surveying the level of feeling about the climate crisis, we are seeking to provide insight and stimulus for key decision makers and agency leaders to formulate the right strategies and approaches to navigate the needs of current and future talent, clients, stakeholders and the planet,” explained Pauline Robson Chair of the IPA Media Climate Action Group and Managing Partner, Head of Sustainability, EssenceMediacom.
“Looking at these results, and on a positive note, it is great to see that a healthy percentage of young people would consider working in our industry and crucially that, contrary to our hypothesis that the ad industry may be off-putting to them in terms of its perceived impact on the planet, it appears this isn’t the case.
“On a more cautious note, however, what we are seeing instead is that those working in our industry are far more anxious about climate change and the ad industry’s impact on it, and so it’s important that our businesses take heed of this and that we explore how we can help support and empower them best – both in the work we produce and in the conversations and feelings around it.
“In short, what we’re seeing is that advertising’s impact on climate change is not necessarily a deterrent to recruitment into our industry but could well become a retention issue, if we don’t address these findings fully.”
When asked if their own agency/company was doing enough to combat climate change, 49% agreed that it was. However, 70% felt the industry as a whole was doing too little.
A quarter of the agency employees who responded don’t yet feel comfortable voicing concerns to colleagues about a client’s impact on the environment
While 55% of ad industry employees would feel comfortable voicing their concerns to colleagues about the clients they work with and their impact on climate change, 25% said they wouldn’t.
The IPA Media Climate Action Group will be working with Ipsos to develop these findings with a full report to be published later in the year.
This research was carried out by Ipsos on behalf of the IPA. In total, the survey received responses from 545 IPA advertising agency employees, 1067 adults (general public) aged 16-75 in the UK, plus an additional 475 young adults aged 16-24-years-old.
