Speaking at ICE Asia Digital, Carter shared statistics from a recent national survey which saw thousands of Japanese participants questioned about the nation's IR plans.
Overall sentiment towards IRs has moved in a negative direction from 2019 to 2020 as a result of concerns over the economy. According to Carter’s research, the number of people thinking of the project in a less positive light increased from 45% last year to 75% in 2020.
Excitement towards the project has remained quite stable, although people are becoming more polarised. The enthusiastic participants tended to be younger males, while the detractors were more likely to be older females.
The importance attached to the project in public opinion has decreased, with the number of people classifying the plan as ‘not at all important’ increasing from 21% to 32% in the past year.
In light of his research, Carter has concluded that one of the most important factors in public opinion towards IRs is the project’s transparency.
He said: “With the crisis you have to bear in mind what is important to the people is changing. This means that IR is well placed to be part of the conversation on economic recovery.
“People want to communicate more about how the money raised through taxes will be used, so transparency is evidently a key issue. This is even more true in 2020 than it was in 2019.
“Transparency and genuine engagement will be a must to maintain trust moving forward.”
