iPod Generation Report a4 v.1

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ANEWREALITY:

GOVERNMENTAND THEIPOD

GENERATIONSarah Castell and Oliver Sweet, Ipsos MORI

Andrew Haldenby and Lucy Parsons, Reform


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WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF

T

HEIP

OD

T

HE GENER

ATI

ONBETWEEN 18-34,WHO WEVE

DESCRIBED ASINSECURE,

PRESSURISED, OVER-TAXED

AND DEBT-RIDDEN.


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CONTENTS:Introduction ............................................................................................................. PAGE 03

Summary ................................................................................................................. PAGE 07

PlaylistforPolicy-makersthe myths and the reality of communicating with IPODs

1. Whatever People Say I am, Thats What Im Not: A diverse group ...........PAGE 12

2. Speed of Sound: Busy, time-pressured consumers ..................................PAGE 16

3. I Can: Personally confident and empowered, but lacking the

resources to critique government effectively ...............................................PAGE 18

4. Gold Digger: Sophisticated consumers who see the

limitations of consumerism ..........................................................................PAGE 26

5. Standing in the Way of Control: Extending choice is not the

solution to all social problems .......................................................................PAGE 28

6. Digital Love: Technology helps IPODs navigate complex information ......PAGE 30

The implicationsfor government .......................................................................... PAGE 34


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INTRODUCTION


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INTRODUCTION

Who are the IPODs?

We lcome to the world of the IPODthe generation between 18 and 34 years o ld , who Re form has described as

Insecure , Pressurised , Over-taxed and Debt-ridden . Re forms work in 2006 and 2007 identified thatthe ba lance of

taxation and public spend ing has tilted aga ins t young peop le , so tha tthey now face a n unfa ir burden, without be ing

ableto expec

tmany o

fthe bene

fits; and

this a

ta

time when

the ir economic pro

file is a lready d i

fficul

t.They are a lso

faced with increas ing leve ls of debtfrom higher education , much stronger labour market competition ,lower growth in

earnings and acute d iff iculties in gett ing onto the proper ty ladder.

In British culture as a who le ,IPODs, or Generation Y, have rec e ived something of a bad press. They have be en

labe lled as apa thetic and uninterested in politics, b inge-drink ing consumers with a shor t-term mindset. Butthe tru th

is more comp lex . Despite the ir debts, IPODs show the ha llmarks of a generation which has grown up during a time

of economic p lenty; they are non-ideolog ica l,la issez-fa ire ,live and letlive , and tolerant of d iff erence . They are very

con fident people , demand ing a lotfrom emp loyers and corporations. They have a gen erous,inclus ive sp irit and are

sophisticated , crea tive consumers, with a lotto off er soc iety.

A t present, however, IPODs fee l d isconnected from the public rea lm. They tend to vote in sma ller numbers than othe r

groups, express more cynic ism about government and politics overa ll , and focus on the persona l sphere rather than the

politica l. Worrying ly for politic ians ,they do tend notto connectthe ups and downs of the ir da ily lives with the ma cro-

economic sph ere or with dec isions made in loca l government or in the House of Commons. So,they tend notto look to

politics to provide a cred ible answer to soc ietys ills.

Perhaps you are an IPOD yourself. Or perha ps you know some , emp loy some , or live with some. Th is spec ia l report

describes the att itudes and va lues of IPODs, ex p la ining what makes this generation tick , how they are d iff erentin

attitude from the ir e lders, and the par ticular re lationships and services they expec tfrom government.

Why are IPODsimportant?

Itis now cruc ia lly importantfor governmentto engage better with young ad ults. G ive n the hardening economic climate ,some of the more re laxed att itudes of the IPODs may be a lready shifting and chang ing; they are at risk of becoming

even more d isaff ected from the administra tion . A lso , IPODs are va luable to soc ie ty perhaps more so than government

re a lises, and p erhaps more so thatthey rea lise themselve s. They may not have the ma jority of so c ietys wea lth ( far

from it) b utin the modern economy, sk ills and dynamism matter jus t as much. Ta lented young peop le are an essentia l

resource a nd a key driver of economic growth in the future , so government must communicate and de liver services in a

way which he lps IPODs to succee d .

A lso,though this generation is d iff erentfrom its e lders in assumptions and a tt itudes, many of the princ iples of

communicating with IPO Ds a lso hold tru e for succ essful communication with older groups. Plus , IPOD attitudes to

technology and c ommunications represent a sea change in the culture overa ll successive generations of voters

are like ly to be more like IPODs than like older generations. Learning how to communicate with IPO Ds now will stand

governmentin good stead for the future , un lock ing a be tter re lationship be tween government and the whole futuree lectora te.

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Th is repor t suggests some ways that politics can connec t up with IPO Ds. It draws on the latest research into young

peop le s attitudes in genera l and into successful consumer re lationships,includ ing brand ing . Wh ile IPO Ds do

wa nt a new re lationship with government, d iff erentfrom the status quo,the good news is that we can learn from the

re lationships which are a lready working in other areas of the ir live s.

Government has a lready set ou t on a journey towards transformation, and there is much thatis good aboutthe current

agenda . Bu t we think some fur ther ideas are need ed , and we presentthose here. Th is repor t will be inva luable to

politic ians looking for a popular mandate from this group, and to policy-makers looking to meetthe needs of our young

adults.

Aboutthe research

The repor tis based on a de liberative workshop with 35 IPO Ds, carried outin London in May 20081. Our a im was to

understand what kind of government IPODs wantto see , and the re lationship they wantto have w ith government.

However,itis hard for the pub lic to ta lk about po litica l ph ilosophy in pr inc ip le; abstra ct concep ts need to be brought

to life. So to stimu late the d iscussion , we constru cted scenarios of life in four d iff erentimag inary,future Brita ins . We

showed: Liber tar ianism ,low tax, high persona l responsib ili ty; Soc ia l Democracy, higher tax, more comprehensivewe lfare system; Business-Focused soc iety, with litt le democratic freedom and strong state intervention to promote

economic growth; and Loca lism , ex treme devolution of power to the loca l area . We then invented some case stud ies,

imag inary peop le from d iff erent sec tions of so c iety, with diff erent attribu tes, resources an d a tt itudes. We d iscussed how

these charac ters migh tfare under each of the d iff erent scenarios of government. Th is he lped us link the abstra ction of

politica l philosophy with like ly rea l-life ou tcomes, and in this conversation ,the IPODs views emerged . We learned the ir

views on d iff erent modes and mechanisms of government, public invo lvement and empowerment, and the princ ip les

underlying those views .

In this repor t we setthese find ing s in the contex t of the hundreds of qua litative d iscussions with young ad ults that we

run every year through Ipsos MORIs Qua litative Hothouse. For examp le , you will find here comments and ideas drawn

from our rec en tinterna l work on youth and responsib ili ties; from our work for the Equa lities Review on persona l and

so c ia l capabili ties; from our work for a rang e of higher education ins titutions; from our rec ent pro jec tfor Accenture on

g loba l c itizenship; p lus some information from Ipsos MORIs wide range of quantitative surveys.

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SUMMARY


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5. Standing in the way of control

Gossip

MYTH: Consumer choice appea ls to IPO Ds, so choice in pub lic services must be the solution to most problems and

g ive them a fee ling of con trol.

REALITY: Though persona lisation of services is impor tant, and the choice agenda is we ll estab lished , IPODs want

governmentto behave like the best consumer brands, pre-empting the ir desire s, com ing up w ith e legant so lutions

for services, and nudg ing peop le towards good behaviours in a so ft paterna l way; persona lised ,ta ilored services

bu t with a reduc ed burden of responsib ili ty on the service user for researching and mak ing comp lex choices.

6. Digital Love

Daft Punk

MYTH: IPODs love technology, so government can signa l youth credentia ls by using technology as much as

possible.

REALITY: Th is generation understand and use technology, butitis such a norm ,for the m itis no longer exc iting jus t

for its own sake . Government must us e it creative ly.

We off er a too lkitto policy-makers grap p ling with the IPOD question . Governments action p lan fa lls under four

head ings: communication , competence,leadership and loca lism .

COMMUNICATION

Government needs to understand the potentia l of new communications techno logy to exc ite , surprise and de ligh t.

IPODs will getinvo lved with communications that sk ilfully use new technology to s imp lify information and to enter ta in

them; at besttechnology represents the chance to he lp peop le navigate comp lex information in an e legant, ex c iting ,

engaging way, and hence crea te greater empowerment and genuine choice .

COMPETENCE

Government must be competent. One e lement of young peop le s vision of governmen tis thatitis businesslike and

eff ective . They will respond to po litic ians who are pro fess ion a l and who can de liver succe ss and ,in par ticular, va lue for

money.

LEADERSHIP

Government mustlead . Cho ice and persona lisation must be a centre p iece of public service re form policy, bu t

government musttake on a leadership ro le,like a c onsumer brand ,in identifying peop le s needs and shap ing services

to mee tthem. The reforming agenda of libera lising public services po tentia lly chang ing the role of governmentto

funder rather than funder and provider will he lp a lot here .

LOCALISM

Loca lism can app ea lto young peo p le s desire to express the ir ac tive interestin politica lissues, and a lso to ho ld

services e ff ective ly to account.

Lead ing politic ians in a ll par ties have a lready begun ta lking this language. Th e four themes are in factthe batt legroundof po st-B la irite politics. Those policy-makers who take on these lessons will find thatthe IPOD g eneration is rea dy and

willing to suppor tthe ir effor ts.

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PLAYLISTFORPOLICYMAKERSTHEMYTHSAND THEREALITYOF COMMUNICATINGWITHIPODS


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Po licy-makers often tre at 18-34 year olds as a homogenous group; this is the firs t my th about IPODs. In contra st, there

are atleastthree importantlife stages within this age bracket, and a range of attitud ina l groups, a ll with d iff erent needs

from government and d iff erent re lationships with government.

Differences across age groups

Fewer under 35s vote than other age groups.

37

49

61

65

71

75

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65+

% Turnout

Source: MORI surveys for the Observer/Sunday Mirror, Financial T imes, Sun, and Evening Standard

Turnout 2005

Age

In our IPO D workshop,the younger, pre-family group were marked ly less interested in politics than those 25-35.

Not everyone has time to make decisions about politics

(IPO D workshop, younger, stud ying)

Ipsos MORIs work for the Committee on Standards in Public Life2 underlines this; 44% of the adult population overa ll

sa id they had a great dea l or quite a lot of interestin public aff a irs , butjus t on e in four (26%) of 18-24 year olds

agreed . Governmentfaces a par ticular cha llenge to re-engage these youngest IPODs.

Those who were working , ra ther than study ing ,in our workshop, were the angriest and active ly fe lt d isenfranchised .

I cant see myself ever voting, I dont trust any of them

(IPO D workshop, younger, working)

These young workers had an ink ling thatthey would like to see a world where they pay less tax and where enterprise is

encouraged.

If it was lower tax, people might take home more of what they earn and they might work harder

(IPO D workshop, younger, working)

You shouldnt underestimate a world where the GDP is booming, theres more income and its beneficial to all(IPO D workshop, younger, working) .

Young workers in genera l are a lso the most annoyed , on a cultura lleve l, by negative med ia stereotypes of young

peop le as troublesome, anti-soc ia l b inge drinkers.

1.WHATEVERPEOPLESAYIAM,THATSWHATIMNOT: A DIVERSE GROUP

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Everyone gets tarred with the same stick, if youre under 25 I dont even drink at all, but I was in a pub and

someone broke a glass on me, the ambulance came because the glass went in my eye, but they were saying oh

youre drunk and I was like, I dont drink, how can I be drunk? They assume youre going to make trouble

(E d inburgh , 25 year olds, Equa lities Review project)

Government cou ld demonstra te so lidar ity with this group by show ing it understands thatthey are not a llirresponsible;

and by crea ting a narra tive which ta lks aboutfac ili tating young workers to achieve .

The 18-24 year olds in our workshop w ho were s till stud ying were re lying ,to some extent, on parenta llargesse . Theywere a more happy-go-lucky group,less worried about negative images of young peop le. Though they recognised the

tru th in the description of young peop le as insecure, pressurised , over-taxed , and debt-ridden (in factthe older they

are,the more they agree), cruc ia lly they d idntlike to think of themselves as d isempowered or downtrodden. In our

broader work we see that students are the mostidea listic group among the IPODs.

ModeratorYour generation has been described as IPODs insecure,

pressurised, overtaxed, debt ridden. Is that a fair reflection?

FayeJ God thatis depressing ....bu t ye s

CharlotteH I would say so, po tentia lly anyway

C athe rineF I wouldnt be that pessimistic

Lisa O B lame extreme capata lism!

Rache lA No ithink we re pre tty secure,

Emili eB We ll .. . yeah itis a little

N icho lasD Pressurised , ye s. Debt ridden,thanks to Labour, ye s

Rache lA Possib ly debt ridden

Lisa O I dontthink we are secure

ZoeRDefinite ly! as one of the generation looking to be a firs t-time buyer soon its no t

looking good , and Ive gotless deb tthan these g uys as I star ted uni 6 yrs ago!

Fatpam Notinsecure, but pressurised yes, and quite poor....

Transcript of online groupfor Bristol University about studentlife

The students harbour some hope tha t so c iety can be transformed by the power of common thought. They are aware

thatthe ir persona l ac tivity could impac t on nation a l and internation a l concerns. They have a hankering for a b ig politica l

story on the re lationship between loc a l, nation a l and g loba l agendas, bu t do not as ye t share a voca bulary around this.

I think I have way more awareness, its quite vague in general, but I think I have way more awareness. I mean,

like, I was the one who put the Fairtrade bananas in the trolley

(18-24,

univers

ity educa

ted

,Respons

ib

ili ties pro

jec

t)


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Its important to care and have social responsibility. I like this world [high tax welfare state] because it keeps

society alive. Treat people as you want to be treated. Have respect for others by helping them

(IPO D workshop, younger, stud ying)

Government needs to engage the ir imag ina tions in the b ig p icture , wh ile acknowledg ing tha ttuition fees a nd pressure

to ge t on the proper ty ladder mean thatfor most,looking after yourse lf is still the number one concern.

Personal responsibility is the most important responsibility. If you dont take care of yourself youre gonna let

yourself slide down paying the bills is most important

(18-24, un iversity educated , Responsib ili ties project)

As IPODs b ecome older, pressures and responsib ili ties kick in. Those over 25 are more r isk averse and concerne d

aboutfinance the mostinsecure, pressurised , and debt-ridde n group. However, a ll groups of IPODs rema in fa irly

stoica l and accepting of the pressures they face.

Ive lived at home for ages, and I dont really like it, but at the end of the day its my responsibility, I should

have started saving when I started full-time work at 17. I didnt, I went out and had a good time!

(25-34, no t un iversity educated , Responsib ili ties projec t)

O lder IPO Ds be come more interested in politics, espec ia lly at a loca lleve l. Ipsos MORIs work with the D itch ley

Foundation 3 reveals that moving up a lifestage , and forming a family, promotes more interestin governance a nd politics,

cer ta inly loca lly. Twenty years ago, peop le star ted famili es at (on average) the age of 22; now they wa it un tilthey are 30,

g iving rise to a longer adolescence. Th is may be why younger IPODs are d isengaged from the politica l process, and

why the over 25s beg in to express slightly more interestin loca l politics they have more invested in the ir loca l areas.

I moved away, and then went back to my area, and that second time I felt more connected to it

(IPO D workshop, older)

I live on a busy road and everyone got together at the local football club to put, like, these humps in the road,

so that was an example of whats happened locally in my area, my community coming together. But I think that

was possibly due to the council, you got a letter and it said youre welcome to attend, so thats the only thingweve done


The older IPOD women in our workshop who had ch ildren were the mostloca lly concerned , and the strongest

advocates of more power devolve d to loca l areas.

For the older IPO Ds,idea lism had g iven way to a pragma tic ap proach to government, and the older IPODs were very

much focused on how to create polic ies that re a lly work to bene fit people in practice. They be lieve that many polic ies in

recent years have been good in theory, bu t have notled to great results.

The Government is focused on making money, whereas theres more to life than money, and we need to factor

this in(IPO D workshop, older)

Competition is all very well but where no competition can really exist the state should control, like railways


We want to tax the high earners, but were split on this perhaps more tax brackets would work better and be

fairer?


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IPODs have different approachesto community

A tt itudes to community a lso diff erentiate the youngest IPODs from older generations. The 18-25s see themselves as

members of a large number of d iff erent, overlapp ing communities, wh ich can be vir tua l and concep tua l as much as

geographica lly based .

I see myself in loads of different communities, like at uni Im in the uni community, Im personally in the Jewish

community at home, and I see that more like a stronger community than like my street perhaps, even though

theyre further apart than people in my street


O lder IPO Ds tend to focus on more geo graphica lly linked communities, bu tthey know thatre a l as we ll as vir tua l

communities ca n rely on technology to communicate, such as websites which link togethe r the residents of a stre et.

Online contactin a user-friend ly space is jus t as fulfilling as face-to-face meetings and a llows IPO Ds to par tic ipate in

severa l of the ir communities atthe same time (which is impor tantto them).

However,for loca l councils,for examp le , build ing online spaces may be a high r isk stra tegy: if an interac tion with

government does not go we ll ,itis see n as more off-p utt ing , and damag ing to government

s reputation ,if it happenson line ,than if it happens through convention a l channe ls. Th is is because the online world is seen as modern and

youthful so if the government ge ts it wrong here , IPODs may take this as a s ign of the government no t be ing rea lly

in touch with them. Despite this,itis still a my th tha t on line worlds are inherently more interesting to IPO Ds tha n

off line interac tions. Ac tua lly, a high leve l of sk ill is needed to bu ild worlds where the technolog y fac ili tates a genuine

community space; technology is mere ly a med ium for re a l communities to interac t. IPODs are looking for evidence that

government re a lly understands the online world and can come up with unexpec ted ,interesting inter faces for c itizens to

engage with o ther c itizens, and with government. We ta lk aboutthis in more de ta illater in the repor t.

London IPODs are different

Londoner IPODs have a unique story. When asked whatthe y like about London, IPODs ta lk about d iversity,

heterogene ity, a huge range of d iff erent pocke ts of cultures tha tthey can d ip into effor tless ly, p lus the fast pace of life

that IPODs fee l com for table with.

Its really multicultural so its great fun. Thats what makes London an interesting place. You can just go to an

area and get great Turkish kebabs, and then another one to have fantastic Chinese food


IPODs fee lthatitis positive for d iff erent geographica l areas to have a d istinc t nature , and thatthis a llows d iversity to

prosper, and peop le to live the ir own lives withoutinter ference from government.

If you get to a point where youre detrimenting [sic] the rest of the community, then the Government has a right

to step in, but for as long as youre not in any other peoples way then I think yourefi

ne(25-34, no t un iversity educated , Responsib ili ties projec t)

Th is is very re levantfor politic ians exp la ining a loca list agenda; there is like ly to be suppor t,from the young ,for polic ies

that a llow more autonomy at a loca lleve l, and lead to loca l areas becoming more d istinc tive and character ful. IPODs

are a lso like ly to suppor t polic ies which come up w ith imag inative ways to suppor t new loca l communities.

Overall ,those designing services will need to be aware of the d iff erent attitud ina l segments within IPO Ds. The older,

more pragm atic ,loca lly-focused groups bring one se t of assumptions and standards to services; younger,idea listic

students br ing a d iff erent set; and young workers ano ther set aga in. Before even beg inn ing the cus tomer journey as

service users, d iff erent ag e groups of IPODs star tfrom d iff erent p laces, with d iff erent needs from government.


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The med ia often character ise young peop le as lazy or apa the tic often teenagers are grouped toge ther with younger

IPODs as generic youth, seen as only interested in rea lity TV, sex and b inge drink ing .

In rea lity things are d iff erent. Perhaps the most de fining character istic of this generation is tha tthey are very busy,

simu ltaneously working ,learning , cementing friendships, asser ting the ir identity through choice of enter ta inment, and

amusing themse lve s,litera lly a ll atthe same time. D iff erentidentities are asser ted simu ltaneously. They active ly reve lin

the ir busy, pressurised ,fastlifestyle, and thanks to mob ile persona ltechnology,there is never a momentle ft un fill ed .

The fullimp lications of this are hard for o lder generations to assimilate comp lete ly. However itis very importanttha tadministra tions getto gr ips with the cultura l assumptions thatthis lifestyle generates,in order to understand the contex t

in wh ich government communications will be processed .

Moderator: [after 45 minutes of focused, online discussion] Apart from talking to me in this online chat, how

many windows have you got open on your PC?

StudentA: 7

StudentB: 5 or 6

StudentC: 9

StudentD: 4 but Im only using 2 of them

(JISC online group d iscussions, on technology at un iversity, among 19 year old students)

IPODs live at higher spee d than previous generations d id ,throughpu tting a lot of information a llthe time. Wh etherthey are ac tua lly busier than previous generations is no tthe most re levant point. Time pressure is the domina nttheme

for IPO Ds, a lways running through the ir d iscussions aboutthe ir live s. Th e issue is that IPODs be lieve they only have

a very sma ll window ava ilable to engage with government. Th is means thatto engage with young a dults, government

must acknowledge the ir perception of themselves as very busy, prov ide ways to make life easier, and demonstra te that

government respec ts the c itizens time. The Varney review for HM Treasury on transforming public services high lighted

the need to reduc e unnecessary stages of con tac t between service user and prov ider, bu tthe app lication of these

pr inc ip les has not ye tfiltered down to the frontline4.

The sense thattime is a va luable , scarce commod ity is underlined for IPO Ds, because they have grown up in an age

of sophisticated c onsumer brand ing . Young peop le today know thatthey pay for productswith money, bu t atthe same

time they know the brandsbehind the products are jos tling for share of mind ; a share of the consumers attention .

Ind ividua ls know tha tthe ir a ttention is in itse lf a commod ity, and so IPODs use the ir attention to reward and punishbrands. When brands communicate we ll , IPODs watch the ir adver tising , click onto the ir websites, and ta lk about

communications with friends. Vira l marke ting ,the co-creation of brands be tween consumers and producers, and

stre etteams of brand advocates (consumers who work to bu ild the brand loca lly) are a llincreas ing ly par t of the IPOD

wor ld . So , consumers are very aware thatthe ir leve l of interestin a brand , and the ir emotion a l aff ili ation to it, can be

measured , and thatthis makes a rea l d iff erence to sa les.

Th is cultura l assumption is then carried over to the public sphere. The IPODs we spoke to told us thatthey protec t

the ir time very carefully. It may look to others thatthey are jus t apathe tic and uninterested in po litics, bu tin rea lity they

are carefully me ting out a finite amount of attention . Th is attention is d ivided between communications from anyone

government, adver tisers,the ir own communities and they only g ive attention to sub jects where they expec t an

immediate re turn on the ir emotion a linvestment.

2.SPEED OFSOUND: IPODSAREBUSY,TIME-PRESSURED CONSUMERS

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There are impor tantimp lications for government. F irs t, policy-makers mustthink about communicating policy as much

as they do aboutthe content of the policy itse lf. IPODs are c ommunications exper ts and will judge government policy

on the qua lity of the communication ,jus t as the y judge product qu a lity by the qua lity of the brand adver tising . Th e

med ium rea lly is the message when it comes to engag ing IPODs.

I did try doing the research about these people [the candidates in the local election], because they dont give

a lot about what theyre going to do for us, you know what I mean? And I did look on the internet, I couldntfind

nothing, and they didnt put anything through the post, so I couldnt be arsed to go and vote. Its just a bunch of

names to me, theres people in Harrow saying vote for this person, vote this, and I dont know who they are


Second ,this generation dema nd much more en ter ta ining communication from politics, autom atica lly comparing the

pub lic sphere with the conventions of the world of adver tising . They are keen to engage with dramatic stories and

respec t emo tion a l, engaging ,interac tive communications. As they find in the ir re lationships with consumer brands,they

wa ntto be surprised and de lighted by government communications. The IPODs we spoke to suggested showing the

inner workings of po litica l systems through a more imaginative use of popular med ia channe ls,includ ing docudramas

and rea lity shows. They re ferenced the American drama The Wire, wh ich shows an ultimate ly ba lanced view o f a soc ia l

problem, by dramatising a story from d iff erent ang les.

They need various formats, e-mail, meetings, hard copies, TV programmes. Different people have different

lifestyles. Why not Facebook it!


IPODs a lso referenced American e lec tions, which they see as stories of persona lity. They saw no reason why a

personal approach in communications should conflic t with the aud iences serious assessment of po licy. For them,

assessing the ind ividu a l responsible for the policy is an integra l par t of assess ing the policy. They do not see vivid ,

re levant personal stories as the dumbed down or less inte llec tua l side of politica l reporting . Instead these stories are

seen as a vita l par t of the information which should be ava ilable to the public to inform good de c ision-making .

Education a llearning styles are a lso chang ing in the culture as a whole. Th is may a ff ectthe way tha t IPODs judge

government communications and the services that government designs . In a rece nt survey for JISC , we d iscovered that

in higher education , submitting work on line , or in the form of wikis or collaborative resources, us ing podcasts, on line

d iscussions and other new forms of sharing information , are increas ing ly used as par t of learning and teaching in theacadem ic sphere5. Th is generation of young adults emerge from university very comfor table with the conventions of

visu a l and collaborative med ia . For them,information presented in a d iscursive ,interac tive way signa ls thatthe body

behind the information is up to date with modern ways of learning and communicating . Th is is cruc ia lfor government,

because IPODs w ill judg e how eff ec tive and sk ilfulthe administra tion is by how e ff ective ly it uses new conventions of

communication . Aga in, gett ing this r ightis no t aboutdumb ing downthe message: quite the reverse; for IPO Ds, an

old- fash ioned style of communication will be seen as inappropriate ,less nuanc ed and u ltimate ly less inte lli gent.

Its the way they communicate If they only understood what changes we want, I dont think theyre on the

same level. They start off on the same level, then lose it as they get higher up


Overall , IPODs fee lthat when government ge ts the communications style right, public trustin governmentis like ly toincrease.

At the moment we dont feel like a team, they dont treat us like a team. All the MPs are in their villas smoking

cigars

(IPO D workshop, younger)


20/44

3.I CAN: PERSONALLY CONFIDENTANDEMPOWERED,BUTLACKING THERESOURCESTO

CRITIQUE GOVERNMENTEFFECTIVELY

IPODs are notfocused on ideology and thus have the reputation of be ing uninterested in politics. And there is less

invo lvementin po litics from the younger age groups of IPODs. To some extentthis is no t a my th; itis tru e thatthe IPODs

we spoke to d id no tfee lthatthey could influence public life in any meaningful way. Butitis wrong to be lieve that IPODs

simp ly do not wantto putthe work into investigating and critic ising pub lic life. In rea lity, IPODs are very empowered in

other areas of the ir live s, bu tte ll us thatthey lack the resources the managemen tinformationto g ive an informed

op inion on administra tive succe ss or fa ilure.

Government needs to create the cond itions for IPO Ds to fee l empowermentin the public sphere.

Extended adolescence meansIPODs are politically passive

IPODs are rather passive when it comes to ta lking aboutthe drivers of change in soc ie ty as a whole. They d iscuss

politics with a cer ta in he lp lessness as though they are not sure quite how to take on the mantle of exerc ising

democratic power.

There are clever people who spend their time thinking about policy, but if you pass it to average people who

havent been educated on the area [like us] it could be a bit hit and miss(IPO D workshop, younger)

Th is could re late to the longer adolescence we d iscussed earlier. If young IPO Ds are living at home, borrow ing money

to pay tuition fees, and only jus t star ting to pay income tax,they may fee lthey have notfully entered mans estate, and

there fore do not expectto engage in the nation a l politica l deba te .

However, when showing our d iff erent wor lds (e.g .liber tar ian vs high we lfare) we expe cted to hear some deb ate on

pr inc ip les, even though we knew tha tthe tra d ition a lleft and right d istinc tions mean less to c itizens today than in

previous generations. It emerged,though,thatthe IPODs found it hard to make dec isions aboutthe princ ip les which

should underlie taxation and we lfare polic ies. There is litt le collec tivistideolog ica l vocabulary, and cer ta inly none of the

crusad ing sp irit of 68 presentin the ir d iscussion , as expressed by some of the ir parents,the Ba by Boomers, atthe ir

age .

The IPO Ds we spoke to are most com for tab le when ta lking aboutthe persona l sphere and the cap ita list wor ld . Perhaps

this generation have not needed to look to politics? Having grown up during a time of economic p lenty,they have not

batt led for jobs and resources, and do not seek m acro-economic or po litica l so lutions to the problems they face . True ,

they are taking on propor tion a lly more of the tax burden than other soc ia l groups, bu tthey do not, ye t, consider this

to be unjus t. They do nottend to look to b ig politics ne ither the philosophies of the le ft nor the rightto so lve the ir

problems .

The average IPOD knows thatitis importantto engage with politics but has litt le conception of how this should be done.

The tragedy is well walk out of here and not talk about these things again


18


21/44

19

Butthey are personally savvy

Though financiallyinsecure, IPODs are persona lly much more confident and asser tive than the ir e lders. They demand

more out of emp loymenttha n the ir parents do, scrutinise companies green credentia ls, and as we sha ll see , are

harsh ly cr itica l of hypocrisy in b ig business and government. The group of IPODs in our workshop expresse d this

confidence

,wh ich could be harnesse d by governmen

t; IPODs ne ed

the channe ls

to scru

tinise governmen

tand

to

fee l

thatthey can question it and make demands which will be heard .

In the ir persona llive s, IPODs who are emp loyed or study ing are go-ge tt ing and fee l empowered . When they look for

work,for ins tance,they are looking to bu ild up a persona lised , modular career which suits them, ra ther than ad jus t

themselve s to an emp loyers demands. Four in ten Generation Y workers (those ag ed under 29),intend to work for as

many organisations as possible in order to deve lop the ir care er (38%), compared to on ly a quar ter of Generation X

(those ag ed 30-42). Graduates atinter view consider thatthey are inter viewing a company to see if it measures up to

the ir s tandards , as much as a compa ny is inter viewing them. For examp le , so c ia l and c orporate responsib ili ty is a much

b igger dea lfor Generation Y than for older peop le, with a lmost ha lf (46%) saying they prefer to work for an emp loyer

with a strong track-record in this area (compared to 38% among G eneration X)6.

Well were independent ... were a consumerist generation, so why shouldnt our job be tailored to us exactly

like everything else?

Online group d iscussion for Bristol University about studentlife

There is a rea l oppor tun ity here. Government cou ld find ways to channe lthe ind ividu a listic, natura l con fidence and

inquisitiveness of this generation , wh ich they d isp lay when choosing careers for themselves and when choosing

products and services from companies.

Confused by the death ofideology

The move of a llthe ma jor par ties towards the centre ground has confused this generation . They fee lthatthe B la ir

government promised a lot

a modern and advanced soc ie ty,fa ir and jus t we lfare system, and oppor tun ities for a ll bu tthe groups we spoke to are not sure how to make dec isions in the post-B la ir era; how to ba lance contra d ictory

pr inc ip les, such as the be lief in a strong we lfare system, with the need to encourage risk iness and business innovation .

Ho w,for ins tance , should work be e ncouraged , wh ile the p oor are protected?

Sometimes people dont want to help themselves The people who are really poor, some people work and

they work so hard but theyre still really poor and cant get out of the rut - but then theres other people who let

all these opportunities go by

(25 year olds , Equalities Review projec t)

There are similar amb iguities around the best ways to reduc e crime; should ind ividua l responsib ili ty be upwe igh ted , or

downplayed?

With this society [high welfare society] would it be all about paedophiles going to community centres and

playing table tennis, rather than being sent to prison? That wouldnt be good



22/44

20

The IPO Ds critic ised policy which would remove the safety net of high we lfare and putthe onus on ind ividu a ls to

ach ieve (as we d iscussed in re lation to the liber tar ian world) , because they are keen to make sure thatthe most

d isadvantaged in soc ie ty continu e to benefit.

I think the state carries people along, people want to be safe, if you look after people they will be more

productive. This world [libertarian] wouldnt look after people(IPO D workshop, younger)

However,the IPODs were not so famili ar with any counter-arguments to a highly-funded we lfare state. The d iscourse of

entrepreneuria lism was entire ly miss ing from our workshop d iscussion . The group demonstra te no voca bulary to he lp

them ta lk about any benefits of entrepreneuria l, we a lth-crea ting behaviour. There was a latentfee ling tha tthey would

we lcome a narra tive of how hardy, risk-taking ind ividu a ls could br ing rewards to the whole of so c iety, as long as this did

no t d isenfranchise the underprivileged .

Theres a reason why Denmark is not one of the worlds leaders I think caring and sharing is worth it, but

you have to think about how much you want to give and what that does


I dont mind paying for the NHS and schools and all that good stuff, but I dont want to be paying for people so

sit on the arses and watch TV whilst I go and sweat it out in my job. Its not right


The economic prosperity of the last 15 years may be one reason why the harsher language of competition and the

marke tp lace is no t atthe forefron t of the ir m inds.

We didnt really seem to have much when we were younger, but now theres so much more, like foods cheaper

and even the alcohol, its cheap all the time, and everybodys got more disposable money than they used to

(30 year old par tic ipant, Equalities Review projec t)

Though the housing marke tis dropp ing , and consumer deb tis high, with threats to Br itish productivity from China and

Ind ia , IPODs have not ye t become significantly concerned aboutthe ir economic future .

No I think theyre distant [concerns], youre aware like, probably wont be able to buy a house, probably wont

have a pension, never mind, Ill deal with that in a few years. Theres no point worrying about it


There is a need for a politica l narrative which prepares IPO Ds for the future and shakes them from the ir comp lacency,

bu t without creating fear and concern.

and betrayed by Blair?

If the government hadnt invaded Iraq, we might have more money it could have gone in the NHS oreducation. People said no to this [the war]


Tony Blair was wicked. I loved Tony Blair. His only mistake was going to Iraq


Overwhelming ly,for IPO Ds,the Iraq war is the most sign ificant politica l event of the ir live s. For the older IPO Ds

(25-35),the governments go ing to war aga ins t c itizens pub licly expressed wishes was simp ly a profound be trayalin

itse lf, wha tever the rights and wrongs of the reasons for the conflic t. Th is goes some way to exp la ining the ir po litica l

d iscontent and d isaff ection . Some of the younger a lso fee lthis way, bu tfor others c iting the war is a convenient excuse

for not gett ing invo lve d in politica l areas of life wh ich simp ly dontfee l re levant (I canttrustthe government/Labour /

politic ians , so I wont getinvo lve d

).


23/44

21

IPODs dont have the managementinformationto have aninformed view on governmentsuccess orfailure

A key concern in our workshop (and across other qua litative inter views we conduct) is that IPODs do not know where

the tax take is spent and find it hard to know wha t constitutes success in dep loy ing public money both on a loca l and

nation a lleve l.

In the contex t of (they be lieve) repe ated shocking head lines about wa ste ,they critic ise the governmentfor a lack of

clar ity and transparency. They do not know where to look for information and fee lthatitis like ly to be ha rd work figuring

ou t how money is spent.

Whats the point in paying tax if you cant see where its going?


I think if you can physically see whats happening you will be more happy about knowing what your tax goes

on. If you can physically see what your money goes on, that resentment is going to go away, isnt it? I mean

maybe it is already things that I see every day but it is not really pointed out to me. Then I wouldnt think about,

is it going to that rich guy?(IPO D workshop, older)

Itll all be somewhere on a website, but youd have to trawl through and search for it


IPODs see po litic ians as comparab le to the CEOs of companies, responsible for communicating the results of polic ies

pro fess ion a lly and transparently; and a lso responsible for communicating succe ss where it occurs. They see politic ians

as career profess ion a ls; this underlying expectation means tha tfor IPO Ds, a po litic ian is no t doing his job we ll un less he

is communicating the managemen tinformation of governmen t clear ly and regular ly, so tha tthe public can eff ective ly

ho ld him accountable. Th is is a b ig oppor tun ity for governmentto engage be tter with IPO Ds. They ca llfor pragmatic,

ra ther than ideolog ica l, so lutions to this for IPO Ds,it doesnt matter which system is in p lace ,itjus t needs to work.

Po litic ians are a lso judged aga ins t ce lebr ities, with the ir persona l charisma and med ia profile very importantin the ir

overa ll cred ib ili ty. Th is provides another cha llenge for government,to create a consistently positive and eff ic ient

impression .

In terms of the government, the image is important. Gordon Brown has changed since becoming PM. If you are

making an effort to present an image that is positive it might have more of an effect


There are barriers to overcome, of course ,to convince the public that governments, and espec ia lly politica l par ties, are

transparently presenting the ir inner workings. In an Ipsos MORI survey for the Young Found ation 7,the genera l public

re jected by 2:1 the statementtha tpolitica l par ties are open and transparent (52% to 22%), and 41% thoughttha t

politica l par ties in Br ita in are a hindrance to democracy. IPODs c urrently do notfee lthat governmentis geared up

to communicate e ff ective ly, simp ly and transparently, so this will be a cha llenge . But, they are like ly to respond we llto

policy-makers who appe ar atleastto address the cha llenge , espec ia lly on a loca lleve l.

At elections they say things but they dont explain them and keep them up to date, like why arent youth

centres happening?


Ive wrote to councillors about stuff, and then you just get numerous letters back. Ill complain about the state

of the roads outside my house, and theyll reply back saying, oh yeah, but you know its not our responsibility,

or thats because theres roadworks going on and that will getfixed, and it doesnt getfixed so I write back,

and they say yeah, its still going, and eventually you just get sick of writing letters, because they respond

back all the time with another one, just fogging the blame



24/44

Government could broker a newrelationship with the media

To a greater degree than other members of the public , young adults be liev e thatthe med ia has a b igger impact on

everyday life than any democra tic public body, and a resound ingly b igger impac tthan loca l governmen t authorities.

Which have the most impact on peoples everyday lives?

Q From this list, which two or three of the following do you believe have most impact on

peoples everyday lives?

IPODs suggesttha tthe med ia could be encouraged to work in more positive ,less adversaria l ways with government.

They fee lthatthe med ia is so influe ntia lin shap ing op inions,it cou ld be use d more e ff ec tive ly by government as a too l

of democracy. We have a lready seen that IPODs va lue enter ta ining , visu a lly literate communications. Telev ision ,the

press, and the internet can he lp peop le to understand comp lex ideas, enter ta in them, ho ld the ir attention on impor tant

nation a lissues,inform democratic choices and increase engagement.

Censorship, and governmentinfluence in the med ia , br ing the ir own prob lems , and are notthe solution . IPODs cer ta inly

wa ntto preserve the med ia s independence and its role in scrutinising power and ho ld ing the governmentto account.

However,they are ca lling for a cred ible ba lance to the sceptica ltone of most coverag e of politica lissues; they

wa nt something positive , wh ich should be as interesting to engage with as current TV programmes, websites and

newspapers. IPODs point ou ttha tif they are to be more invo lved with politica llife ,they need to know who to be lieve in

order to make good dec isions.

The media are always claiming things I dont really know if services like hospitals are good or bad


Every time they do things and then take things back, like the 10p tax rate, they look weak because the media

puts a spin on it


Theres a lack of sense of getting behind the government, there are things you need to be critical of, but

constructive


Across Ipsos MORIs corporate reputation work,itis p la inly ev identthatfamili ar ity breeds favourabili ty, no t con temp t;

the more famili ar consumers are with a company,the more high ly they rate it. IPODs are ask ing to be told more about

government ac tivities, so tha tthey can have a chance to bu ild a better bond

Adults 18-24year olds

Gap

Med ia % 54 63 +9

Loca l counc ils % 48 36 -12

Bus iness % 37 42 +5

We stmins ter Parli ament % 26 12 -14

Prime Minister % 24 28 +4

Europe an Union % 20 12 -8

C ivil Service % 20 17 -3

C ab inet % 7 5 -2

Source: MO RI/Hansard Soc ie ty

Base: 1,490 British adults aged 18+ , November 2006

22


25/44

23

Information is more meaningful on a locallevel

IPODs are in favour of devolving more power to the loca l area , espec ia lly the older women who have children and are

most connec ted to the ir communities. On a loca lleve l, government has a rea l chance of becoming more meaning fulto

IPODs, and reconnecting with this r ather d isaff ected generation .

The local model is the best one of all. When the people can see what the money is being spent and that their

area is changing they will also get off their backsides and do something about it. Then everyone will be much

more motivated to keep it clean and nice it is quite nice to know that you are changing your world


IPODs find it easy to understand issues like loc a l budget-se tting , and they can se e how value performance ind icators

can be se t and me tloca lly, wh ile nation a l measures of po licy success still fee l ra ther impene tra ble.

I just never know if things are actually a success or not, you neverfind out if the Government has achieved

what it says its going to


One of the worlds we showed in the workshop was a very loca l wor ld ideas from this were we lcomed , such as the

chance to e lec tloc a lsheriff s or czars with responsib ili ty for targe ts. Th is par tly re flec ted the IPODs more me d ia-

literate and persona lity-driven approach to politics: they wantto know the persona lities in charge , and the importance

of this for them cannot be underestimated . Knowing who is accountable for an area of loca l service de livery

immediate ly creates a grea ter sense of engagementfor IPO Ds.

You need someone you know, then you can go to them and say we need to do this, we need to do that


However,they a lso we lcome the creation of more rec iproca l, non-hierarchica l and transparent authority r e lationships

(a s they are see ing in the med ia and in the 21st century acad emic and business contex ts). Th is generation would

we lcome the chance to get more invo lved and would apprec iate the soc ia l bene fits that might accrue.

If we all voted, it would be a real community. There should definitely be more of this a say locally


However,there are some problems perce ived with this world the variab ili ty of service provision between areas would

cause problems if a ll services were run loca lly. Butthe IPODs still suggested that some services or budg ets could be

loca lly a llocated , even if nation a l minimum standards are impor tantfor others.

Ke y to the success of the loca l agenda is thatinvo lvement must be communicated in an imag inative way. O therwise,

invo lvement will become a chore and loc a ls will no t wa ntto ge tinvo lve d . The IPO Ds in the workshop sugg ested infus ing

the whole loca l area with regular ly updated evidence of how we ll services were doing thermometer-style feedback

loops on pub lic spend ing on stre e t cleaning ,tex t message services, and other unexpe c ted , and even fun , ways of

encounter ing loca l authority services during the residents day.

You could put the councils budget up on a bus stop and everyone would look at it while waiting for the bus


You could even use scratchcards to vote, everyone looks at them every day


Within London,in par ticular, IPODs can imag ine governmenttaking a more ac tive par tin the vibrant stre e tscene, and

with Web 2.0 services emerg ing ,this will become even easier.

IPODs a lso be lieve thatitis importantto enable communities to do things for themselves; in a way, a llow ing proper ties

of new democratic systems to emerge from the systems themse lve s.


26/44

Its a democracy and theres no one outside controlling the community, its just whatever they want, then they

are all, everyones, out for their own and whatever they collectively want to do


However,loc a l agendas must be setin the contex t of a larger nation a l narrative otherwise IPODs fee la ll at sea, and

are a fra id thatthey wouldnt know whatthe ir country stands for.

It would be very difficult to co-ordinate the areas, they will go their own way. If there was a natural disaster they

would not work together. It would not be cohesive


24


27/44

25

I JUST NEVERKNOWIFTHINGS

AR

E ACTU

ALLY

ASU

C CESS

OR

NOT,YOU NEVERFIND OUTIFTHE

GOVERNMENT HAS ACHIEVED WHAT

ITSAYSITS G O ING TO

IPOD WORKSHOP, OLDER


28/44

4.GOLD DIGGER: SOPHISTICATED CONSUMERS,WHO SEETHELIMITATIONS OF CONSUMERISM

Shareholders or consumers?

IPODs setthe ir re lationship with governmentin the contex t of the ir re lationships with pr iva te companies. In the priva te

sector, cus tomers pay money and rec e ive goods and services, knowing that when they do so they are bene fiting the

shareholders of the c orporation , who make the profits. IPODs know that pr iva te finance initiatives are intended to br ing

some of the customer focus, qua lity of service and responsiveness of the priva te sec tor into the public rea lm; and they

are aware of the New Labour projectto br ing the priva te and pub lic sectors togethe r in this way.

However, IPODs today suggestthat br inging priva te companies, and marke t cho ices,into public services, ha s turnedou tto be more comp lex than they had atfirs tthought.

They asser tthatthe rea l winner in a c onsumer relationship is no t ac tua lly the c onsumer - butthe c orporate shareholder.

Instead of assuming tha t because they are service users,the consumers,they are the ones who benefit, ins tead the y

search around looking for the shareholdersthey fee ltha tthe priva te companies running services are the ones rea lly

bene fiting from the re lationship.

Business is out to make a profit so they might take risks, tread on peoples toes. And what about arts and

culture? A factory makes more money than a park so they might not take things other than money into account


Were not the shareholders of the business we are only the customers so theyre making money out of us, notmaking money for us


We tried it, it didnt work, you had the hospitals not being cleaned properly and them skimping to make a

profit


Th is generation demand a d iff erent kind of encounter with government, where the good par ts of the consumer

re lationship ex ist, bu t are bolstered by cred ib le regulation and an open,transparent way of doing business.

Th is par tly re lates to IPO Dslack of trustin corporatere lationships. They are more critica l of, and sceptica l about,

the c orporate world ,than older generations and do not autom atica lly be lieve tha t a consumerre lationship is the

best expression of a re lationship. For examp le , Generation Y workers are s lightly more critica l of the ir emp loyers than

Generation X and more like ly to have been put off of working for a spe c ific emp loyer by negative public ity they have

heard or rea d (29% G eneration Y agree vs 21% of Generation X)8. They a lso show a tendency to turn the ir backs

on g lob a l corpora tions as emp loyers overa ll , be ing a litt le more like ly to wantto work for a sma ll ,loca l organisation

than a larger, g loba l one (28% G eneration Y vs 22% G enera tion X). The declining appea l of g loba l organisations is

a longer-term trend an even higher 36% of the next generation up,those ag ed 43-53, would ra ther work for g loba l

organisations than sma llloca l ones.

26


29/44

27

Stilllove brands

Never the less , government can learn from the persona l re lationships IPODs have with brands,if no tthe c orporations

who own the brands. IPODs ta lk aboutthe leve l of service provided by grea t bu sinesses in g low ing terms. Brands like

Virg in, eBay, John Lewis, Google or Sa insbury s are fast, responsive ,flex ible , and communicate engag ing ly.

IPODs notice when governmentis try ing to adopt a more responsive mode l,for examp le sett ing up internet services

(NHS online, or systems for paying road tax online) . Bu tthey dont ra te the responsiveness of e ither centra l or loca l

government as highly as they rate the responsiveness of pr iva te companies.

Fur thermore, cap ita listtransac tions off er a clear way to understand va lue for money. We have a lready d iscussed IPODs

frustra tion at no t knowing how taxes are spent. When they compare the information they get on va lue for money a s a

service user with the information they have on va lue for money as a priva te consumer,the government comes out bad ly.

When I buy something, I get a receipt setting out what I got for my money. Where is my receipt for my taxes?


Aga in,they do notfee linformed enough to ho ld the governmentto account; bu tthey fee lthey need this information to

be ab le to suppor t any taxation policy,

Given the choice of course you would want lower taxes but you get what you pay for.


In Ipsos MORIs recent work with Accenture on g loba l c itizenship, we conduc ted workshops in e ight g lob a l c ities

investigating the re lationship c itizens wantto have w ith government. One key demand was for accountab ili ty and clar ity

in government ac tivities. One way to ensure thatthis accountab ili ty is communicated to the public is by g iving the public

clear mechanisms of recourse, should they fee lthat promises have not been kept9.

The IPO Ds in our workshop po inted outthat when it works best, a consum er relationship g ives you the ab ili ty to

comp la in, and if the comp la intis no t re c tified , you can take your custom away. Butthey dont be lieve thatthis leve l of

recourse currently ex ists within the ir re lationship with government; there is no thing they can do to show when they are

angry.

If you genuinely look at the sheet and you think, my God I dont want to vote for you, you or you. I wouldactually feel bad doing it. Its not apathy, its I dont like any of you, and Im not going to stick a cross down


In Australia you have to vote, but you can cross a box and abstain. We should be able to do this


So, deve lop ing new mechanisms of feedback , or better communicating those which exist, may be fer tile policy ground

to exp lore for those wish ing to mee tthe IPODs nee ds by drawing on the best par ts of the c onsumer relationship.


30/44

5.STANDING INTHEWAY OF CONTROL:EXTENDING CHOICEISNOTTHESOLUTIONTO ALL

SOCIALPROBLEMS

IPODs are often considered to be rea llovers and advocates of cho ice, especia lly in the consumer sphere. Th is is tru e

bu tit would be wrong to assume that ch oice is unambiguously we lcomed in a ll areas of life. Rathe r, IPODs are star ting

to rea lise that cho ice is a double-edge d sword. It br ings with it a lot of responsib ili ty; to investigate and make the r igh t

ch oice , and to live with the consequences of a bad choice. There are ind ications thatthe discourse of so ft paternalism

(government pushing c itizens to make good choices, and limiting the overa ll range) would appea lto IPO Ds.

Overall , cho ice is va lued . Itis still seen as the sign and symbol of the democratic liber ties IPO Ds enjoy as c itizens and

as consumers.

You cant make private education illegal, people need to have the choice


I love choice, its the way you end up with the better thing


However, cho ice is on ly meaning ful where the chooser has a genuine ly informed choice. IPODs have s everal concerns

aboutthe ir current capabili ty to choose we ll . In the c onsumer world ,they are star ting to question the acce lerated pace

of consumer life and suggestthat more limited choices mightlead to greater hap p iness.

There used to be just Snickers or Mars, and now theres so many you dont know what to eat!


This political guy was on the telly last night saying actually depression in the country might be good for us as

it brings people together, and sometimes we are more happier. Like the women in the Sixties, they were all in it

together. We have got all this stuff, but were not really happier


Much of the information c itizens need to make e ff ec tive choices,in hea lthcare , education , and even more in some

newer areas like par tic ipatory budgeting ,is comp lex , d iff icultto access and to understand , and time-consum ing to

research . IPODs mention thatthey do not a lways have time to make the right cho ice, and are par ticular ly concerned

about some new mechanisms of governmen t (for ins tance the idea of devolving more power to loca l voters) if this

would me an more work for them, and a b igger burden of responsib ili ty and worry.

IPODs are very famili ar with the language of ch oice from the c onsumer sphere , bu tin prac tice take the rhe toric theyhear with a p inch of sa lt. Though the language of ch oice and persona l autonomy surrounds them in adver tising (Just

do it,Do it your way,Where do you wantto go today?, and so on),they know thatthese rhetorica lflourishes hide

prac tica llimits to the ir choices. Though itis easy to see consumer soc ie ty as a ll about ch oice , IPODs point ou tthat

consumer choice is par tly illusory. Brands do not, ac tua lly, off er unlimited choice, bu tins tead a range o f care fully-

ta ilored solutions based on the consumer nee ds the marketers have identified .

When think ing about ch oice, IPODs compare the pub lic sec tor with the world of consumer brands. They would like the

governmentto surprise and de lightthem by pre-empting the ir desires and mee ting the ir needs with a smallerrange of

personalised solutions jus t as consumer brands do.

In line with currentthink ing on behavioura l economics, and theories of happ iness, IPODs be lieve limiting choice in

pub lic services to a few good a lternative s is the most pragma tic way to getthe best results for everyone ,the fa ire stapproach, and should be the way forward for government10 .

C itizens around the g lobe a lso express caveats on choice. In Ipsos MORIs G loba l C ities workshops for Accenture ,

the public wantto see the app lication of cho ice made fa irer and more sophisticated by governments. Par tic ipants in

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29

these sessions warned that advantaged groups tend to have a better cap ab ili ty to exerc ise choice than d isadvantaged

groups, and so can annex an unfa irly large share of resources11 .

Natura lly,the comp lex ity of some choice systems (hea lth for ins tance) makes this an asp ira tion , ra ther than an easily-

ach ievable goa l. Itis hard to communicate comp lex options simp ly and cred ib ly. Bu t a government wh ich showed thatit

be lieved in this a im, and was making progress towards this, would be like ly to ga in suppor tfrom IPO Ds.

Fur thermore, IPODs are advocates of so ft paternalism12they would idea lly like the a lternative s they are g ive n to

push them into hab itstha t make them happ ier and hea lthier. They apprec iate tha tthis in some ways is a nanny stateapproach but argue thatthey simp ly have not gotthe time to make a llthe dec isions they need to make to have a good

life , and would like to authorise politic ians to actin the interests of the ir b etter se lve s.

They are looking to the governmentto d isp lay leadership here, and there are some po licy areas in par ticular where

IPODs would we lcome more soft paternalism polic ies,for ins tance in the area of susta inab ili ty.

IPODs know that when it comes to the environment, our dama g ing ind ividua lins tinc ts to consume are like ly to win

over our desire to actin the long-term bestinterests of our soc iety. They be lieve tha t corpora tions and the government

should work hand-in-hand here.

Things like recycling, youre more pushed to do it rather than anything. Tescos are saying get a point for a bag

that you re-use, so even though its an option youre enforced to do it inadvertently


For some ,itis leg itimate for governmentto exerc ise soft paterna lism in hea lthcare ,to save money and resources.

The Government are responsible for your well-being, so if you get really, really fat and you need healthcare, the

Government will pay for you on the NHS, so actually that is their problem


However,there are cha llenges invo lve d in deve lop ing soft paternal polic ies for IPO Ds. Wh at constitutes good and

desira b le soc ia l behaviour can of course be contested , depend ing on the policy area; and polic ies must be d iscussed

in the light of wh e ther the y infringe peop le s liber ty to live as they wantto. So,this is no t a quick win but will need a long-

term conversation with the e lectora te.

Fur thermore, IPODs a lways try to judge the agenda behind the policy, so communications must be carefully

considered . Young people br ing the skill s they have deve loped in the c onsumer world to the ana lys is of government

communications, and are used to interpreting adver tising on severa lleve ls; a lways consider ing a brands like ly agenda

when it promotes a produc t, as we ll as we ighing up the produc titse lf.

Th is means that, more than older groups,they are a live to any hint of hypocrisy in soc ia l marke ting or soft paterna l

polic ies, because they are used to scrutinising brands. They respond ba d ly to communications when they spotthe

language of a high-sounding princ ip le masking the desire to ga in more revenue.

They say theyre taxing cigarettes to stop people smoking, but then they go and promote gambling! If they can

make some money out of it, theyll go ahead, its not about our health


So on the one hand theyre changing the laws so bars can be open 24 hours, and on the other hand theyre

saying you shouldnt be drinking too much. Hmm.



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6.DIGITALLOVE: TECHNOLOGYHELPSIPODSNAVIGATE COMPLEXINFORMATION

Though they are tech-literate , and ins atiably p lugged in to communications and modern med ia , IPODs are notlovers of

technology for its own sake . In our work with JISC , students told us tha tteac hers who attemptto use technology, bu t do

it bad ly, are much less eff ec tive than tea chers who use low- tech teaching ap proaches successfully13 .

Technology and g overnment are uneasy bedfe llows for IPO Ds a t present. A t our workshop, we heard many anecdotes

about bad management of large-sca le technology systems (such as N HS IT, data security issues, and so on). IPODs

are a lso critica l of technolog ies used by large companies, wh ich are not a lways successful; ca ll centre operations have

a very bad press and webs ites are not a lways as respons ive as they should be. So ,itis hard for this generation to

imag ine how the government cou ld use technology more innovative ly.

IPODs are like ly to be critica l of new technology-based services. They musttangib ly improve communication , open

up new spaces for engagement, or de liver a be tter and faster (notjus t chea per) service to c itizens. When de livering

pub lic services, on line services used s imp ly because they are chea per are not appealing to IPODs (even though they

apprec iate the trade-off that services mightimprove e lsewhere if money is saved a tthe inter face with the public) .

I am an insurance broker and we charge more, but we get them to come into the office, it costs more, but you

get a personal service


However the good news is thatthere are many examp les of innovative uses of technology in the priva te sector thatthe

government can draw upon . Th ink ing to the future,technology in government has huge potentia lto engage IPODs.

A tits best,innovative technology creates new me taphors of ways to engage with information; for examp le ,the windows

system created a way of think ing about mu ltip le activities on a computer, and the concep t of the wiki and tag clou d

have created a ne w way of think ing aboutinformation hierarchies. Governmentinformation is a lready bene fiting from

technology,for ins tance the web-based company Patient Adv iser provides user-generated information on hosp ita ls

by using the same inter face mode l as TripAdvisor. Th is aggregates information simp ly and eff ective ly, making it easy

to access and genuine ly fac ili tating choice . TripAdvisor itse lf, of course ,like Amazon or eBay, uses the emergent

properties of information g iven by hundreds of users to shape its content, in a way which nobody could have done 20

years ago, bu t wh ich is now comfor tably within the public consc iousness.

In the future, technology will come to us, not we to it


Just as the persona l mp3 p layer gave a whole generation a new way of aggrega ting ,think ing about, and se lecting

par ts of the ir music collection ,there will be techno logy inter faces deve loped in the future which g ive c itizens new ways

of sift ing through information , making choices about services, and engag ing with government.

If deve loped eff ective ly,these will g ive the same mea sure of persona lisation to the c itize ns invo lvement with the public

re a lm, as the mp3 p layer g ive s the music lover the chance to persona lise his or her music collection . IPODs are a lready

famili ar with these me taphors in the world of le isure and enter ta inment, will recognise ins p ire d ideas for online services

and app laud them. The priority for those wish ing to engage with IPODs should be to research and deve lop these

mechanisms.

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For IPO Ds,there is another reason why technology can sit atthe hear t of a re inv igorated re lationship with government.

Many of the ir demands of government can be me t by an innovative use of technology. Online inter faces,for ins tance ,

can make comp lex ideas and financ ia linformation simp le; can crea te e ff ec tive , visu a lly literate , and enter ta ining

communications; and ca n encourage persona l connec tions with service de livery and ta ilored , so ft paterna l so lutions.

As a foo tno te to this, Ipsos MORIs work in D itchley in 2003 looked at e lec tronic voting machines in tra d ition a l

polling stations, voting by te lephone, voting by tex t message , voting by d ig ita l TV and internet voting . None of these

experiments, with the exception of a ll-posta l voting , consistently produced an increase in turnout when people d id no t

fundamenta lly wantto vote14 .

For IPO Ds,technology must suppor t a re lationship thatthey are a lready deve lop ing with government no ttry to act as

a substitute for a re lationship. IPODs in our workshop sugg es ted ideas like loca l governmenttex t messag ing , Instant

Messenger for your GP, and podcasts from loca l schools or un iversities as good star t po ints for supp lementing existing

re lationships.

In the future ,techno logy may have increased power to inform and empower the e lec torate. Google recently suggested

inventing a tru th pred ic tor for ana lys is of politica l speeches, bu ilt ou t of a rap id search through previous speeches

by the same politic ian, and aggregating the op inions of influe ntia l op inion leaders in the blogsphere to come up with

an ind icator o f how tru thfulthe politic ian is be ing , as announced atthe Conservative Par ty Conference in 200615 .

Th is idea , as a thought experiment, migh t be ar some investigation as a step on the road to presenting the comp lex

information which is created by the machinery of state ,in a simp le , clear, and interesting way so that IPODs c an re-

engage with government.

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THEIMPLICATIONSFORGOVERNMENT


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The results of the workshop ena ble us to o ff er a too lkitfor policy-makers grap p ling with the IPOD question . We would

put an action p lan to government under four hea d ings: communication , competence,leadership and loca lism .

Communications

Over the last decade,the Government has introduced a series of initiative s in an e ffor tto adaptits re lationship with the

pub lic. These have come in the form of reviews and action p lans under the remit of numerous dep ar tments as we ll as in

new ways of communicating . These deve lopments show a high leve l of preoccupation with the way government re lates

to the population and a recogn ition of the need for politic ians to rea lign themse lves within the Web 2 .0 world thatthe

pub lic, and young peop le in par ticular, now operate in.

Wh ile many new communications deve lopments (YouTube an d Twitter,for examp le) have been embrac ed by the politica l

wor ld , young peop le expect more than this. The workshop groups showed thatthey are wa iting for government and

politic ians to surprise them with more innovative and exc iting ways of gett ing information across to the m.

Information made interesting

A key strand of the Transformation a l Government agenda has been the ration a lisation of government websites, so that

governmentinformation is easier to find and use16 . Wh ile a fa ir summary would be that government websites do not

typ ica lly engage visitors in the way that IPODs would like , wh atis impressive and pos itive is that Government has been

aware of this and has continu a lly soughtto improve its on line presence.

A large number of sites have been closed down in favour of joined up cross-departmenta l sites and in April 2004

Dire ctgovwa s launched to be a s ing le website for provid ing public services information and online access17 .Dire ctgov

wa s the Cab inet O ff ice s third attempt at sett ing up a web por ta lfor the UK pub lic sector: the firs t, Opengov, was

bare ly more than a d ire ctory of depar tmenta l sites; its successor,UKOnline,tried to channe l people to e-services

through ind ividua l depar tme nta l websites18 . As a one-stop-shopfor online pub lic services information ,Dire ctgovwa s

seen as the next step forward and was founded on the idea of [joining] up information for the c itize n in a way thatthey

understand19 .

Dire ctgovwas estab lished in response to public deman ds; extens ive research had be en done showing thatpeop le

wa nt a sing le channe lto government20 . However,initia l visitor figures were d isappointing . In July 2007, a Nation a l Au d it

O ff ice (NAO) repor t showed that on ly 2% of internet users could name Dire ctgovunpromp ted . Jayne N ick a lls, Chief

Executive of Dire ctgov, has admitted tha tbrand awareness is an issue.21

A number of government reviews and research camp a igns have bee n launched in an a ttem ptto respond to

technolog ica l deve lopments in communications22 . A recent NAO repor tfound that progress had bee n made in

de livering information online sinc e its last reportfive years earlier. However,itfound that no t enough was be ing done

to ensure that government websites provided the rightinformation in the desire d format23 . Sir John Bourn , Head of the

NAO, sa id When I last repor ted on this sub jec tin 2002, I repor ted weaknesses in information across government on

the cost and usage of its websites. Todays repor t highlights tha tlitt le improvemen t has been made in these areas.

Departme nts need to focus on understand ing the cost-e ff ec tiveness of the ir websites and who uses them and why, so

thatthey can be tter meetthe needs of c itizens24 .

Never the less , D ire ctgov usag e has increased: from 2.8 million visits in Ju ly 2006,to 5.3 m illion in March 2007 to 7.5

million in March 200825 . Information can be accessed via internet, d ig ita lte lev ision and mob ile phone , showing the

Governments awareness of various modern forms of communication . However,the number of users still clear ly lags

behind various other online service providers such as the BB C (15 million viewers a month)26 , Google (10.7 million UK

users a month)27 and e Bay (13.2 million visitors a month)28 .

THEIMPLICATIONSFOR GOVERNMENT

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Interactive relationships

In 2007, Tony B la ir took a g iantleap into cyberspace by repor ted ly becoming the firs t wor ld leader to have h is own

YouTube chann e l29 . In his opening video message , B la ir s a id thatthe idea of Labour:vision wa s to enable peop le to hear

unmediated ,fresh ,firs t-hand wh atthe La bour Party was about30 . Th is was quick ly followed by a 10 Down ing Stre et

YouTube site g iving the public a chance to view podcasts and videos of the Prime Minister31 . A fter two months it wa s

ce lebrating its one million th viewing32 . The channe l has continued under Gordon Brown who introduced a ne w series

of Ask The PM Q&A sessions, enabling YouTub e us ers to submit questions to the Prime Minister and then vote on the

favourites for h im to answer.

Th is idea had a lready been practised by David Cameron WebCameronwas up an d running a ye ar or so beforeGordon Browns initiative and off ered the same oppor tun ity for the public to put questions to the Conservative Par ty

leader. N ick C legg similar ly ca lled on Gordon Brown and Dav id Cameron to follow his innovative lead in ho ld ing regular

town ha ll meetings around the country at wh ich anyone was able to come a long and ask the Libera l Democra tleader

any question they wanted33 . Th is was to g ive peop le the say they deserve.

These deve lopments clear ly demonstra te an awareness among politic ians of the need to communicate with the

population in new ways. Fur the r,the question and answer aspe cts touch on an e lement of interac tion . Th is has a lso

been apparentin new moves by the Prime Minister this year. In the spring ,it was repor ted that Gordon Brown had

become the firs t head of governmen tin Europe to launch his own Twitter website a new too lfor quick and frequent

communications34 . Most recently it was repor ted tha tthe Prime Minister had taken to te lephoning memb ers of the

pub lic who had written to him w ith questions or comp la ints35 .

Wh ile the latter was d ism issed by some ,the idea of such a d ire ct and fluid way of interac ting with c itizens could be

something that appea ls very much to IPO Ds. O ther positive examp les of interac tive communications are ap parent.

As an examp le ,in the London Borough of Lewisham peop le c an now report an environmenta l problem they spot by

taking a d ig ita l p icture on the ir mob ile phone and send ing itto the counc il . The inc identis inserted d ire ctly into the

counc ils database and an ema il or tex t message is sent back to confirm the action taken36 .

Competence

The research groups were a rem inder that younger peop le s d isillus ionment with politics does not stem from a

d isinterestin politica lissues. Far from it: as pragma tists,they want politic ians to be profess ion a l and to behave as such.

Professiona lism

In the pos t-ideolog ica l agethatthe IPOD generation has grown up in, people are highly mo tiva ted by compe tence.

Some of the highest profile po litica l stories of recent months have be en app arent examples of government

incompetence, such as the loss of HMRC data d iscs last autumn,the mistaken re lease of 1,000 fore ign prisoners in

2006 and loss of 130 stolen laptops by the Ministry of Defence (b lamed on the Facebook Generation of off ic ia ls who

apparently do not understand the culture of security)37 .

Dav id C ameron has a ttempted to fash ion hims e lf and his par ty as the competent a lternative to Labour. As he sa id in

his 2006 summer messag e to Par ty members Our responsib ili ty is to provide an exc iting , competent and cred ible

a lternative 38 . Pu blic op inion has been evenly sp lit as to competence a poll atthe end of last year put 43% of voters

behind C ameron and 42% beh ind Brown39

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Value for money

Va lue for money is a politica lly loaded issue. A great dea l of the Governments cap ita l wa s invested in a ma jor

expansion of pub lic spend ing follow ing 1999. A ll par ties are now seek ing to find the best ways to increase va lue for

money for a much-enlarged pub lic sec tor a task that IPODs strongly suppor t.

The Conservatives have putthe ir commitme ntto va lue into a new fisca l ru le to share the proceeds of growthbetween taxation and pub lic spend ing , or,in other words,to grow public spend ing but at a slower rate tha n the rate of

growth of the ec onomy.

The Government and Libera l Democrats have taken a d iff erent approach to seek e ff ic ienc ies from within the current

pub lic spend ing enve lope. For the Government, the ma in target has been perce ive d ineff ic iency in the c ivil service. Sir

Pe ter Gershons landmark review in 2004 a imed to ration a lise ba ck-off ice fun ctions and improve procurement, and to

save over 20 b illion as a result. The latest Comprehens ive Spend ing Review announce d a new initiative on e ff ic iency

that would ,for examp le , ach ieve 5 per cent annual re a l reductions in administra tion budgets across dep artments40 .

The workshop revea led that IPODs do notfee lthatthese effor ts are suff ic ient. The research groups themse lve s

prov ide d one a nswer: IPO Ds would apprec iate ev idence on the use of public resources, provided in a accessible and

invo lving way. New techno logy needs to be used creative ly here.

Leadership

Bo th the Government and the Opposition have been wrestling with the idea of consumer choice for the lastthree

Parliaments. The princ ip le of cho ice has become an acc ep ted centre p iece of public service re form policy,for a ll ma in

par ties41 . Bu tthere is a growing rea lisation that consumers have not engaged with choice in the way thatits suppor ters

had hoped they would .

C er ta inly choice has made a positive d iff erence to services wh erever it has been introduced ,in par ticular the Nation a l

Hea lth Service. And ind ividua l consumers have embrace d choice when it has been off ered to them42 . Bu tthere is a

sense that ch oice is more strongly va lued by policy wonksthan itis by peop le themse lve s.

Th is repor ts find ing that IPODs wantto be he lped with choice should he lp policy makers resolve this paradox.

C lear ly, IPODs prefer choice to no choice and information to no information . Bu tthey will no t be engaged by long menus

of ch oices of services on the ir own; nor by large databases of information on the options before the m. Instead ,they will

respond positive ly to a limited se t of ch oices that are ta ilored to the m.

Information

Th is means two new roles for government. The firs tis to think hard aboutthe presentation of information to consumers.

Pu b lish ing information is no t enough (and indeed the

Documents

iPod Generation Report a4 v.1