Partnering with OpinionWay, the premium spirits distributor surveyed close to 11,500 people from 11 countries – including South Africa – on 5 continents. Findings revealed that now more than ever, conviviality or friendliness is on the decline around the world. These results prompted Pernod Ricard, dubbed the “Creators of Conviviality”, to launch its new global corporate campaign, Be A Convivialist.
South Africans agreed with the overall sentiment of the survey, as 71% of the 1,008 surveyed South African participants felt that conviviality was waning in the country. When asked what conviviality meant to them, 90% of South Africans felt that it was about moments of happiness. In staying true to South African culture, 81% felt conviviality was about sharing a meal or drink, this was further reinforced by the 62% who said sharing a meal at home was their top activity for social gathering compared to the world average of 51%.
More interesting is the link between social media, the internet, and people opting to stay at home more. The result is that social interaction has also taken a dip. Sixty-two percent of South Africans feel that their relationships with their friends are becoming more superficial because of social media and only 54% of them have met half of their Facebook friends in real life. With digitalisation on the rise, South Africans feel that it is a threat to their friendships; 72% of South Africans felt that they meet up with their friends less and 85% of them admit to having stayed at home to stream a movie instead of going out.
On a global scale, these were some of the key takeouts from the information collected in countries such as France, Mexico, Germany, Australia, India, Brazil and the UK:
• 91% of those surveyed believe conviviality to be a source of well-being.
• 61% of them believe the world is less friendly than 5 years ago.
• Most pessimistic are the French at 82%, followed by Germans at 73%.
• 67% of millennials (18-34 years) regret meeting their friends less and less, due to social networks.
• Today’s champions of conviviality are Mexicans, followed in the Top 5 by Spain, Brazil, China and India.
