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Published on April 1, 2008

The following are the results of a global survey conducted by Synovate to discover how consumers around the world define financial success, their attitudes to cash and what actions they take to get more of it.

Synovate is the global market research arm of communications specialist Aegis Group.

Money talks. But what language does it speak?

It's fair to say that billionaires Warren Buffet, Bill Gates or Mexico's Carlos Slim Helu have different definitions of financial success. But do those of us with a little less cold hard cash all think the same? Synovate asked respondents to rank a series of definitions of financial success and found some surprises.

It's no revelation that there are some basic differences between consumers in developed and emerging markets and in general the study showed attitudes you would anticipate from the more established consumers versus consumers on the rise. The markets most focused on providing the very basics of food and shelter for their families were India, Bulgaria, South Africa and Indonesia. But what was surprising was that two of the developed markets surveyed - Germany and Italy - were equally focused on the basics. Their definitions of success revolved around food and shelter, too.

The managing director of Synovate Germany, Harald Hasselmann, said this was linked to German values.

"Average Germans rate issues like responsibility, financial independence and career aspirations high on their radar system. So while at first it looks surprising that people in a such a developed economy seem to rate the basics as their top priority, it actually makes total sense that they are sharply focused on providing for the family."

Claire Braverman, Synovate's senior vice president of Financial Services in the United States, said the results recalled the reality that there are a lot of consumers out there in all markets who are struggling.

"For many people, it's still a daily grind to get food on the table and a roof over their head. We can also see that there's not a major focus on the long term in many markets. There were only two markets where a fully funded self-retirement rated a top-three mention as a measure of financial success: Russia, where it was number one, and the UK, where it was number three.

"Financial services organisations have the continuing challenge to get long-term thinking on the table in homes around the world," she said.

Clearly, attitudes to money are just as dependent on culture as they are on what people actually have. Money may be universal, but how people feel about it is most certainly not.

The Nation