This month’s selection of research, stats and survey results picked from the Press Release Wire cover climate change, crypto, the cost of quality dental work in the UK and what’s more popular on Instagram than Chelsea Pensioners – read on for the numbers…

Climate

Do higher temperatures make you want to head to the nearest beach, or go on a shopping spree? New research from Imperial College Business School has found another way that climate change is impacting the buying decisions of consumers – as little as a 1°C increase in average daily temperatures in the US has been linked to a reduction in company sales of around 2%. Reasons found – lower staff productivity, a lack of opportunity for businesses to relocate, and customers moving on to businesses operating from less temperamentally temperatured locations. Read more here.

Business leaders tend to be more supportive of environmental proposals if they have personal experiences of climate-related issues. A study from the Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus University (RSM) has found that support for action on climate change from shareholders can increase by as much as 38% if they’re located in areas that have been impacted. This is the case even when support for environmental projects will decrease their firm’s value – ‘Belief plays an important role in investor behaviour,’ says the study – read more here.

Apart from temperature and belief, transparency is something big businesses should be mindful of, too. A study by Landmark Information has found that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) priorities are more important now than they were just a year ago, with almost half (42%) of the corporates polled believing the main driver to be their responsibilities to inform shareholders or investors. Targets also appear to be a helpful push towards ESG-related action – 91% of law firms are experiencing increased demand from their corporate clients to advise them on the use of ESG metrics and scoring methods. Read more here.

Costs

Whether or not you fully understand cryptocurrencies, it might be time to get your head around it all – a recent study from KIS Finance has found that almost a third of young adults believe crypto to be a safe form of investment. By age, those who are younger are most likely to see crypto currency as a safe investment strategy – of those polled, 27.5% who see the currency as safe were 18 – 34 years old, while those 65 and over made up less than 1%. Invest some time in seeing how it all adds up; read more here.

If you live in the UK and you’re in need of dental work, you’re more likely to get a good deal in Liverpool, Wales or Northern Ireland, according to researchers at Dentaly. Most expensive place across the UK for dentistry service? London, followed by Bristol and Plymouth. Costs can stack up even for a basic check-up, depending on where you’re based – while the lowest average price for the service was £48 in Sheffield, in Cardiff it racks up to £180. Need a bit more doing? For dental crowns, you’ll be shelling out £350 in Birmingham-based surgeries, while choosing a dentist in Edinburgh could set you back as much as £1,100. More teeth-clenching-high prices can be found here.   

Picking the right insurance for your pet is an important endeavour, but especially difficult when your dog/cat/budgie can’t tell you what they’d find useful to have. Compare By Review surveyed 500 UK pet owners to find out what they look for when comparing providers and the results are heartening. Most important for picking a pet insurance provider are good reviews – a priority for 80% of pet owners. Less important is price, picked by just 27% as a determining factor. Happy and healthy pets = priceless. Read more here.

Creepy season at the Chelsea Flower Show

Halloween is over and the strains of Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You can be heard in the distance, but poinsettia isn’t getting kudos across social media just yet. In fact, pumpkins are one of the plants that won big at the Chelsea Flower Show 2021 when it comes to popularity on Instagram. Sitting Spiritually analysed thousands of photos uploaded from the event to social media and found that snaps of gourds were shared more than pics of Chelsea Pensioners. When it came to flowers, the most instagrammed were geraniums, dahlias and daisies. Read more here.  

We provide these as a jumping-off point for your own research and you should perform your own checks on any of these stories – a few tips in this post. If you’d like to source experts, further information or case studies for any of these topics or something else you’re working on, head to the (free) Journalist Enquiry Service to save hours of research and expand your network of sources.