Consumers Want To Hear That Advertisers Help Communities During Pandemic – Survey

Reeling from the coronavirus shutdown of a wide swath of business sectors across the country and the globe, the advertising industry stands to lose billions of dollars as advertisers big and small pull back on their marketing campaigns.

But advertising will play a key role in the recovery once the crisis abates, and a new survey from the Association of American Advertising Agencies makes the case that advertisers still have a vital role to play in buoying the economy and consumer confidence in the days ahead.

The survey of 1,000 consumers on March 18, 2020 “to understand how consumers feel about brand communication during the pandemic,” found that “More than half (56%) of respondents are pleased to hear about brands taking actions to help out communities, like making donations of goods and services.

Offering paid time off for employees who are unable to work due to closures is the most important step consumers think brands should take in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Millennials and Gen Z respondents ranked this action quite high, as these age groups are most likely to be affected by such layoffs.”

See the full survey here.

 

“When asked the types of products people intend to purchase in the next 30 days, food, household supplies, beauty/personal care, and medical/healthcare products are obviously high on the list. Options like entertainment, craft products, and streaming exercise classes ranked lower. It will be interesting to see how buying habits change the longer the pandemic lasts.”

The survey also found that the pandemic “is affecting many aspects of people’s lives. We asked in what ways the coronavirus is impacting daily routines. Mostly, people are staying home:

• 49% said they are not going out to eat (27% are ordering food delivery and/or takeout)
• 44% are not comfortable going outside for non-essential items
• 37% are buying items online, but not going in-store.
“15% of respondents said that the coronavirus is not impacting their daily routines. When looking at regional differences in survey respondents, the top states where people are not changing their routines are Hawaii, Wyoming, Montana, and Alaska.”

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