Designing a global survey to quantify and understand the Nomadic Mindset
- Edelman Intellectual Property (March 2017)
With the US Head of Planning, I had the rare opportunity to explore a zeitgeist level topic of interest and share it with the global Edelman network. We worked with Edelman Intelligence, the quantitative research company within the Edelman network, to field a cross-generational 15-minute survey in the US, UK and China, exploring the attitudes and behaviors associated with our hypothesis of the Nomadic Mindset.
We defined the nomadic mindset as an approach to life that places precedence on flexibility and freedom and leads to lifestyles characterized by non-traditional and non-linear paths that challenge prevailing norms of milestones, social norms, and status indicators. As we saw more evidence of this mindset in media, we knew it was an opportunity to bring a new perspective to how a global PR agency thinks about the consumers they aspire to reach. As such, I directly collaborated with a small research team to write, field, and analyze a large scale survey to validate the relevance and nuances of today’s ‘modern nomad.’
Our results provided evidence that indicated different mutations of the nomadic mindset, from those who are driven by career to those who prioritize physical mobility. We developed a deeper understanding of how those with a nomadic mindset perceived topics such as higher education, career success, relationships and personal priorities. Our findings debuted at the Cannes Creativity Festival, and were featured on the Edelman blog on the implications of nomadicly minded consumers for technology.
Nomadic types tended to be urban dwellers with non-traditional views of success. In the US, those with a nomadic mindset were 12% less likely to see high career rank as an important marker of success.
The value of higher education is in the crosshairs of modern nomad's shifting priorities. While nomads globally were slightly more likely to say earning a degree is important, they were also 11% more likely to believe formal education is not worth the investment.
Ad Age Editor Brain Braiker moderates Edelman's Cannes panel discussion on the Nomadic Mindset