Global Executives Study
The Global Executives Study is our way of making sure we’re building for the habits, preferences and behaviors of business leaders—informing ourselves and our brand partners.
It’s the new who, how, and what of the global business leader.
We surveyed nearly 1,500 executives from over 131 countries and 30 industries
58%
C-Suite42%
Senior management
70%
Male30%
Female
51
Median age
Most represented industries:
17%
Consulting13%
Finance12%
Tech9%
Media
And achieved results by designing research to be user-first
54%
Completion rate61%
Responses on mobile devices13:31
Average completion time
To better understand two things:
Snapshot
How executives digest and engage with media.Momentum
Who they are, what they expect, and how they’re making decisions.Discovery and Depth
How media fits into executives’ lives and the new ways to enlighten them.
Mobile news consumption continues to accelerate globally
The use of mobile devices to consume news has continued to increase globally, from 41% when we first conducted the survey to 59% in 2018 (+18%). The jump has been especially high in EMEA (30%) and LATAM (34%).
The ubiquity of mobile devices has made the c-suite more discerning users
They expect a seamless mobile experience
79%
of executives agree that it’s important that a brand’s mobile site work as well as its desktop version.They’re unlikely to return to a website if there’s a bad ad experience
91%
of executives are unlikely to return to a website if they find the ad experience to be obtrusive—and they consider ads that delay the loading of a site to be the most disruptive.And context becomes more important for brand perception
Brand perception is dependent on design and context—and brands with bad experiences have negative results
79% of executives recognize their perception of a brand is influenced by the content and design of the website in which it lives.
They expect more from the content they consume and are looking for brands to lean into their authority
Execs remain most interested in industry trends and analysis. But, over the last year, interest in information about product features and experience has increased 23% while interest in insights from industry leaders or experts has declined 12%.
Insight
A majority of execs (78%) are willing to read brand content yet less than half consider the last piece of brand content they read to have been interesting, informative and valuable (42%).
They value brand authority and expertise—but there’s an interesting nuance
35 and younger,
executives are more likely to value value insights from the company’s leadership or industry experts—as well as access to exclusive data.36 and older,
executives are more interested in information about product features and the product experience.They’re most likely to be attracted to dynamic visual content
Data visualizations, photography, and charts are the formats and features most likely to draw them to content— followed by interactive features and videos.
Insight
When it comes to content consumption, they're driven equally by discovery (dynamic visual formats that attract) and depth (rich, relevant content).
There’s a golden hour for reading the news and consuming content
Executives continue to be most likely to consume news first thing in the morning, but they are increasingly consuming news throughout the day.
Email newsletters are eating other content for breakfast
Email newsletters are increasingly the go-to for executives in the morning. We’ve seen an 8% increase since we began conducting the GES: from 42% in 2014 to 50% today.
Mobile used to be dominated by apps, but we’re seeing the rise of the mobile web
There has been a significant increase in overall news consumption and a slight shift in the second most commonly referenced source of news.
There are windows when executives want more news and information - and they expect different media for these time slots.
Upon waking up:
50%
Read an email newsletter
On the morning commute:
37%
Listen to the radio21%
Listen to podcasts
Arriving at the office:
35%
Read news websites
In the middle of the day:
25%
Use news apps29%
Read an email newsletter
On the evening commute:
- Audio spikes again
17%
Check social media
At night:
38%
Watch TV37%
Check social media
The C-plus is the new A-team
The c-suite is growing and becoming more diverse
In fact, 13 new chief-level titles were introduced in the 2018 GES—and the c-suite now represents 14% more executive respondents.
Changing dynamics are leading to more women and broader representation across the c-suite
Each year, women make up a larger percentage of the c-suite and the Quartz GES respondent base.
This rings true for Latin America, EMEA, and North America.
Insight
The 2018 GES included more female CEOs than ever before: 18%. That’s 6x higher than the percentage of women occupying CEO positions in Fortune Global 500 companies.
These dynamics are also leading to changes in information and content-sharing habits
85% of executives are likely to share a good piece of content when they come across it, but it varies by role.
While dynamic visual formats attract them to content, discovery and depth and drives sharing. Both are essential.
What draws them to brand content is different than what motivates them to share it
Executives are more likely to share articles (short- and long-form) than other formats—this is true across demographics, regions, and industries.
In fact, they’re twice as likely to share articles than charts, data or images—and three times more likely to share articles than video.
And sharing has moved from open platforms to peer relationships
Executives are still most likely to share content by email, but this likelihood has dropped—so has sharing publicly on LinkedIn or Twitter.
But they are 30% more likely to share via messaging apps and 10% more likely to share in person.
Who decides?
The changing dynamics influencing purchase decisions.
CEOs and COOs continue to hold the most power in decision-making
Decision-making and purchase power is concentrated in the c-suite across industries—primarily with CEOs and COOs—but 85% of organizations have at least 3 people involved in the process.
Business purchase decisions are actually driven by spheres of influence—not just individuals
Executives are powerful, but there’s a sphere of influence around them—the sources informing key decision makers who use search engines, rely on reviews, or ask people they know.
Behavior: Most common ways executives hear about products or services not previously purchased (%):
10%
Ads21%
Someone in my industry15%
Someone in my orginzation13%
Someone who reports to me4%
My boss25%
News articles12%
Social media
And their discovery starts with Search
The sphere of influence relies on Search to begin the research process, but final decisions are far more likely to emerge from people within the decision maker’s organization. They make decisions in different ways.
Channel: Most common source of information to launch business purchase journey (%):
70%
Search5%
Someone in my organization10%
Someone in my industry8%
Company website5%
Review website
Differentiating between competitors is the most critical part of the business purchase journey
This breakthrough becomes the pivotal point at which they turn from being influenced to influencing, also marking a shift in decision-making power.
So, differentiation is key.
There are three best ways to influence purchase decisions
Customer testimonials are a powerful way to support a decision in favor of a business purchase decision.
Customer reviews—from people execs know, or industry websites—are most influential against purchasing a product.
Product demos, case studies and white papers represent the greatest influence in favor of a purchase, balanced against their respectively low risks of influencing against a purchase decision.
On average, the opportunity for brand influence lies within a two-week range
From discovery to sign-off, the average business purchase lifecycle lasts under 3 months across industries—most commonly between 2-4 weeks. Finance takes slightly longer.
Insight
If the crucial part of the process typically takes 2-4 weeks, brands have a very small window to influence them—the sphere of influence.
Start early and target the sphere of influence—not just the final decision-maker.
As consumers, executives care more about quality and sustainability than self-expression
They are brand-loyal and willing to pay more for quality, but they don’t necessarily consider the brands they purchase to be a form of self-expression—in fact, most prefer to spend on high-quality experiences than possessions.
As people and professionals, they aspire to do good while doing well
Executives are excited about a hyper-connected future. And they’re looking for technology that helps them become more efficient and effective. But 78% value the positive impact their organizations make on the world as much as the money they make.
Key takeaways
1
Today’s execs look for brand authority. Deliver it and remember: they are influenced by context.2
Depth and sophistication of content is critical, but to enable discovery, never compromise dynamic visual formats.3
Target their sphere of influence early in the decision-making journey, not just the final decision maker during sign-off.
Thanks for reading. You can still take the GES 2018 survey here. For more information, please email us at insights@qz.com.
Methodology
The Quartz Global Executives Study was produced by the business intelligence team at Quartz. These data were sourced from a 57-question survey of 1,483 global executives administered between December 2017 and February 2018.
The respondent pool consisted of business leaders in 131 countries and over 30 industries. C-level executives were the most highly represented group by title (58%); others in the pool included Managing Partners, Managing Directors, VPs, Directors, General Managers, and Board Members. Industries represented include: Consulting (17%), Finance (13%), Technology (12%) and Media (11%). Distribution of respondents across age ranges was under 25 (1%), 25-34 (12%), 35-44 (21%), 45-54 (24%), 55-64 (26%), 65+ (16%).
The full dataset includes the findings presented here and more, segmented by demographics including gender, global region, industry, job title, function, and organization size amongst others. Respondents were sourced via the Quartz audience, Facebook and Pocket. Data are self-reported.
Please send questions to insights@qz.com.