The world’s highest earners and business leaders continue to exert significant influence over consumer behaviour, with 80% of so-called “Global Influentials” saying they actively shape the purchasing decisions of others, according to Ipsos’ newly released 2025 Ipsos Global Influentials (IGI) survey.
The annual study, launched by the market research company this week, examines the attitudes, media habits, and brand preferences of people in the top 20% of household incomes as well as company leaders across 43 markets. Ipsos said the continuous year-round survey now includes more than 140,000 interviews globally.
The findings point to a group Ipsos describes as “early adopters driving market trends” — consumers whose behaviours influence purchasing patterns across multiple product and service categories.
Among respondents, 68% identified themselves as early adopters of new products, while 47% said they liked standing out from others. Ipsos also found that 80% of respondents influence buying decisions across 20 different product and service categories, with the figure rising to 87% in Latin American markets.
The survey was launched as Ipsos expands its audience intelligence offering for media owners, agencies, and brands seeking deeper insight into influential consumer groups.
Global consumers remain optimistic
Ipsos said the latest wave of IGI reveals a consumer group marked by optimism, international outlooks, and readiness to spend despite broader global economic uncertainty.
Almost eight in ten respondents said their family finances were as good as or better than the previous year, while optimism climbed to nearly 90% among company leaders surveyed. Ipsos contrasted those findings with trends in its Consumer Confidence Index, which it said showed varied confidence levels across countries and an overall less positive outlook globally.
The study also highlighted the group’s global outlook and appetite for risk. Fifty-eight percent of respondents described themselves as “global citizens,” while 47% identified as risk-takers. Ipsos said these characteristics were even more pronounced in Latin America.
The company expanded the IGI survey this year to include Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, bringing the total number of markets covered to 43. Ipsos said the expansion provides additional insight into influential consumers in the Latin American region.
The survey spans markets including the United States, China, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, Brazil, and Mexico, among others.
Ipsos said the research covers more than 1,500 product brands and 800 media brands, enabling analysis of cross-media consumption and audience behaviour.
Brands and agencies seek deeper audience intelligence
Ipsos said the IGI platform is designed to support media owners, agencies, and brands seeking audience intelligence and cross-market consumer analysis.
For media owners, Ipsos positioned the survey as a tool to demonstrate the premium value of their audiences to advertisers. Media agencies can use the data to build cross-media strategies aimed at reaching influential and high-income consumers across platforms.
Brands, meanwhile, can use the research to better understand the attitudes and behaviours of valuable consumers, anticipate market shifts, and support innovation efforts, Ipsos said.
The 2025 edition of the survey also introduces expanded recontact survey capabilities, enabling clients to integrate custom questions into the existing dataset for additional analysis.
New sector-specific barometers have also been added to provide deeper insights into financial outlooks, travel, sports, and emerging technologies including artificial intelligence.
Fieldwork for the survey is conducted continuously throughout the year across markets in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, Ipsos said.
