Category: Greyhound

Here’s a common conundrum: say you have a product that you’re trying to sell — a milk chocolate bar, for instance — and you want to sell it at a price that will make it an attractive option to the general public. How would you go about determining that price? In 1976, Dutch economist Peter Van Westendorp unveiled his Price Sensitivity Meter (PSM) to do just that, and in the following decades, it has become a common tool in the market researcher’s arsenal for determining consumer price preferences.

The 2023 wildfire season in Canada was the worst in recorded history, with all provinces and territories affected and the wildfire smoke drifting as far as Western Europe, garnering widespread attention from both national and international media outlets. Last year’s wildfire season in Canada resulted in more than double the area burned this year compared to the last 40 years. Between May and August, authorities had to issue multiple evacuation orders due to wildfires across the country. Heat waves were also a challenge in 2023, feeding wildfires and posing risks to vulnerable groups. After Canada grappled with such an intense wildfire and heat wave season, we conducted a national study among 1,000 Canadians in October 2023 to track their opinions about these extreme weather events, our level of preparedness, and the future impact of these events on local communities.

In the first part of our two-part series on big tech and AI, we found that while Canadians recognize the positive economic and employment contributions of big tech companies, their trust in big tech companies remains precarious. As we conclude our series on big tech and AI, our attention turns to how Canadians engage with AI tools. This final part presents 6 top findings about AI, its uses, and its future!

In a short period of time, AI has already become a driver for emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) as well as generative AI. This led to tools such as ChatGPT, which broke the record of the fastest-growing user base in 2022 and currently has around 180 million users. As artificial intelligence tools increasingly permeate our daily and professional lives, with businesses incorporating AI into their operations, Data Sciences surveyed Canadians about their feelings towards big tech’s growing influence and the changes that come with it. In the inaugural part of our two-part series on big tech and AI, we present 5 top findings about public sentiment towards major tech companies. 

As we may start to feel the impact of climate change at home, we investigated public sentiment in Canada towards climate change and flagship policies discussed during COP28, to understand how Canadians position themselves towards these global negotiations. Data shown in this memo was collected among a representative sample of 1,000 Canadians surveyed online in October 2023, before the start of COP28.

Canada is in the midst of a housing affordability crisis. Renters and owners alike have seen their housing costs rise consistently, leading many to question how we got here, and what we can do to make housing more affordable. We conducted an online, nationally representative survey among 1,000 Canadians in March 2023 to gauge how Canadians feel about the housing affordability crisis, and which policies they think are most effective at addressing it.

The new guidelines made headlines in Canada and abroad, generating a public debate about what this meant for people’s relationships with drinking, social habits and perceptions of risk associated with it. In light of these new guidelines, DS conducted an online survey among Canadians in March to understand their perceptions of these new rules and their intent to follow them in the future. Will Canadians really limit themselves to two weekly alcohol drinks?

Recently, public safety issues have gained considerable attention among policymakers and everyday Canadians. For instance, random stranger attacks in Vancouver became a focal point of the city’s 2022 municipal election campaign, while debates over gun control continue at the federal level. With this in mind, we believe it is important to understand how everyday Canadians perceive issues like violent crime, random attacks, and vandalism in their communities, as well as why these issues arise and who bears responsibility for solving them. These perceptions can influence individual behaviour and institutional decision-making, and can significantly impact trust in and satisfaction with government and law enforcement.

The Greyhound project is a DS-led, always-running research polling project across Canada that allows to regularly ask Canadians about a variety of current events, understudied issues, and other research curiosities. Greyhound is our space to innovate, contribute to public opinion research in Canada, and share our findings with a wider public.