Anxiety — about finances, job security, health issues, etc. — has a large impact on people’s shopping behavior. To measure anxiety, JWT Intelligence has devised an anxiety index that it uses to gauge people’s sentiments around the world: U.S.,  U.K., Canada, Australia, Brazil, Russia, Spain, Japan, India, China, France, and UAE.

Visit this Web site to determine the anxiety index for any of the countries listed above: http://anxietyindex.com/anxietyindex/.

As JWT notes: “When consumers are anxious — whether about their health or safety or their finances — they tend to exert more control over areas of their lives that are within their control, whether that means using more coupons at the supermarket or assuming greater management of their health care. Often, control applies to brand and product choices. This means brands must understand their consumers’ anxieties and address them proactively.”