Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic Brand Keys, Suzy and TheCustomer have been tracking 18 consumer activities in an effort to gauge lifestyle changes.
As of last week, activities like shopping online, social distancing, and texting went up as might have been expected. But 60 days into the pandemic activities have leveled out. Except in two areas: watching movies has decreased and making personal phone calls have increased.
“Twelve weeks of enforced couch-potatoing watching movies can become mind-numbing,” noted Robert Passikoff, founder and president of Brand Keys, the New York-based brand loyalty and customer engagement research consultancy (www.brandkeys.com). Which explains why, as a sheltering-in activity, is significantly down. It isn’t, as it’s been reported, that there aren’t enough movies available, the truth is that there are too many. Watching movies constantly has become both tiring and tedious, a too-much-of-a-good-thing syndrome kicks in.” 
Robert Passikoff and I discussed the findings of the 4th wave of our tracker and offer some guidance for brands looking to optimize their messaging accordingly. You can see the highlights of that conversation here:
Coronavirus Lifestyle Changes – Wave 4 from TheCustomer on Vimeo.
Mike Giambattista, publisher of TheCustomer, and Robert Passikoff, Founder & CEO of BrandKeys, discuss the findings from the latest Coronavirus Lifestyle Changes Tracker.
As to the significant increase in making personal calls, “It’s the natural reaction to the need for contact and connection,” said Mike Giambattista, publisher of TheCustomer, (www.TheCustomer.net) a weekly newsletter covering intelligence from the customer insight universe. “ Humans are born wired for connection – it’s in our DNA, as strong a need as food, water and warmth and a hell of a lot stronger than the need to watch movies. Yes, you can zoom and Skype, but you have to plan for it. The sense of immediacy is lost when you have to sign in and wait. Phone calls may seem so last-century, but they are unquestionably instantaneous.”
Methodology
The survey and analysis were conducted the week of April 20, 2020. This week’s Wave Two findings are based on 1,000 total responses from a U.S. panel population, ages 17-73 with a 50/50 gender split. The survey is being conducted on a weekly basis.
About Brand Keys
Brand Keys specializes in customer loyalty and engagement research, providing brand equity metrics that accurately predict future, in-market consumer behavior that correlates with sales and profitability. www.brandkeys.com
About Suzy
Suzy helps you make better, faster, more data-driven decisions. Their platform combines advanced research tools with the highest quality audience to deliver trusted insights in minutes. www.suzy.com
See previous installments of Coronavirus Lifestyle Survey here and here.
Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash.
[…] How big? Listen to discussion between Mike Giambattista, publisher of TheCustomer and Robert Passikoff, founder and president of Brand Keys about recent consumer shifts here. […]