OPINION RESEARCH
Regulatory Pressure Gauge
Know when the pressure is rising and where it is coming from
An annual proprietary study of over +3,000 Canadians the helps industries understand the real relative pressure facing them, identifying the resulting pressure on government to intervene, and ability to track over time.
Compare your situation to norms and other sectors, track how public pressure is evolving, who it is that is applying the pressure, the impact your public relations or campaigns are having, and finally, understanding how findings can guide an effective approach at relieving the pressure.
With over 70+ industries indexed, we can help you identify whether politicians or policy-makers are feeling relatively more pressure to take action relating to your business. Pressure is a key driver of policy agendas.
What can you learn from the Regulatory Pressure Gauge?
Be aware of your industry’s pressure context within government
Know what people or politicians to talk to before the pressure is too heavy
Focus your energy in the right places and towards the right audiences at the right time
Understand how you stack up against others in your sector or competitors
Test messages, policies or other initiatives to relieve pressure
Track the impact of your public relations or campaigns over time
Present data-backed pressure points and information to your members
What Earnscliffe’s Regulatory Pressure Gauge shows
Each of the bars below represents the pressure within an industry. Hover over each to view where it stands compared to the others.
The average pressure is a score of 100. The industry with the highest pressure currently is Artificial Intelligence with a score of 331; while the industry with the lowest is Wine Producers with a score of 12.
People are gravitating towards alternative approaches – electing politicians that seem like a break from the past, endorsing solutions that had previously been unpopular or unlikely, and above all, demanding things noticeably change.
There is more public expression of will than ever before, and the ability to find like-minded people, identify others to interact with and share experiences is in the palm of anyone’s hand and as a result bringing more pressure to bear. Platforms are making it easier to stoke and effectively activate this. The effectiveness of social media algorithms exploiting natural human responses has taught politicians, the media, advocates, and influencer that “rage-bait” is far more prevalent than optimism online.
There has been a long steady erosion in trust. Institutions, news, politicians, corporate leaders, scientists, experts are no longer the exclusive source of information, and this erosion is increasingly intermingling with both dissatisfaction and anger. Industries need to spend time understanding these pressure points, and knowing how to address them, and tracking their impact.
Pilot study
In Canada, our pilot program assessed the pressure facing the Government of Canada across 15 federally regulated industries, including establishing norms, and explored its connection to specific corporate brands. We found varying situations, with some industries having a focal brand attracting most pressure, while others lacked a clear link to any specific corporate entity.
Among 15 sectors, grocery was the one for which the government was under the most intense pressure to intervene, measured at twice the average level of pressure the government faces on a day-to-day to take some sort of action relating to any sector.
On September 14, 2023, the Prime Minister addressed the public pressure by announcing a range of measures that will be introduced that will significantly impact the grocery sector.
These measures included a call for major grocery store chains to stabilize grocery prices in the near term, immediately convening leaders of major grocery chains to a meeting in Ottawa, immediate steps to enhance competition across Canada with a focus on the grocery sector and proposed legislative amendments to the Competition Act.
Why Earnscliffe?
We are Canada’s leaders in public affairs, public relations, opinion research, digital and design. This is no small claim, but it’s one we own every day. For more than 30 years, we have been helping our clients achieve their strategic goals. We’re ready to help you move forward.
