Germans Rate Bottled Beverages Higher than Politicians

Do people have more faith in the quality of bottled water than in their politicians?

By far, according to new research carried out in Germany.

Media Psychology Affiliates recently conducted a wide-ranging study of German public opinion. The goal was to uncover “feeling trends” in an increasing climate of economic instability.

“One thing is clear. Overall confidence in the future has taken a tumble among the German public,” says media psychologist, Dr. James N. Herndon, president of Media Psychology Affiliates. “Considering that Germany remains, by a number of measures, the world’s strongest economy, such a downward trend in confidence is significant.”

Among the findings are those involving food.

“Food quality issues have a high priority among Germans,” explains Dr. Herndon, “even more so than in the USA. For certain food sectors, the level of trust remains extraordinary.”

“For instance, we’ve all heard that Germany is a ‘beer culture.’ Well, Germans’ trust in the quality of beer has never been higher. In fact, beer now ranks at the top of all food products in terms of perceptions of quality. And other bottled beverages, including water, are not far behind. Actually, as a class of food products, bottled beverages in general enjoy the best overall image among foods.”

In comparison, the current study revealed that trust in politicians has never been lower.

“Germans currently have an amazingly low regard for politicians, with less than 20% expressing genuine satisfaction with their ‘quality’. There is certainly a sense of cynicism that we haven’t seen before.”

“When citizens of a country have significantly more trust in a brewery or bakery than in their elected representatives, this is a plain crisis of confidence. But this trend is certainly not limited to Germany.”

“It is clear that the current economic and financial climate is far more volatile than the mainstream media would have us believe. Under certain conditions, many of the trends we uncovered could result in future social unrest. However, Germany is far better prepared than the US to weather such storms.”

Media Psychology Affiliates used Affective Encryption Analysis (AEA), a naturalistic research tool, for data gathering and analysis. AEA focuses on “feeling trends” and emotions, rather than traditional paper-and-pencil or telephone surveys. Data is gathered under “natural” conditions to improve the validity and reliability of results.

ABOUT MEDIA PSYCHOLOGY AFFILIATES
Media Psychology Affiliates is a media research/design and PR/crisis communications firm, with specialties in the worlds of entertainment and politics.

Thorsten Koenig – PR-Management
Thorsten Koenig Media Associates
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GERMANY

Tel: +49-(0)9221-8780081
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Mail: office@thorstenkoenig.com
Website: www.thorstenkoenig.com

This release was published on openPR.