The past couple of months have seen such rapid change, presenting marketers with constant challenges. We’ve been monitoring the impact of Coronavirus on consumer behaviour and media consumption since the start of the UK outbreak. Now, in week seven of lockdown, behaviours are starting to stabilise and both advertisers and the public are beginning to look beyond the restrictions.  

On the 4th June, our head of strategy and planning, Tim Lawrence, will host a webinar that dives into what might come next. ‘Five Consumer Trends Post-lockdown' will introduce the trends that are likely to continue, including small luxuries and the changing language of communications. We’ll discuss how habits are formed and the likelihood of behaviours changing.

Let’s recap the impact of COVID-19 to date, homing in on three behavioural phases…

There was little reaction in the UK to COVID-19 until 7th March, when searches for Coronavirus began to increase. By 12th, all sport was cancelled, and people started to either prepare or panic.

Opinion shifted quickly; from 9th to 20th March, the proportion of people who felt concerned about COVID-19 jumped from 37% to 54%, and by 20th, 32% had already purchased extra food supplies (Source: Global Web Index COVID Tracker Wave 1, Toluna-Harris Interactive COVID Barometer Wave 1).

Consumers’ attention moved towards basic needs to protect and cocoon themselves. Between Monday 16th and Thursday 19th March (four days before official lockdown), 88% of UK households visited a grocery store, prioritising pantry and frozen products. Soup sales were up 206% YoY, frozen meat was up 139% and toilet paper +138% (Source: Kantar, IRI Point of Sale data). People were stockpiling, and searches for ‘can I freeze’ hit an all-time peak on the 19th March.

Media behaviour shifted to news and information, with 32% watching significantly more news coverage and 24% spending more time on messaging platforms (Source: Global Web Index Survey 16-20 March).

Although most people anticipated lockdown, the sudden restriction of movement caused a shock to demand, and an economic uncertainty that lasted from around 23rd March until the beginning of April before stabilising.

A Marketing Week survey found that 69% of brands saw a drop in interest, up from 39% three weeks prior, and 44% of larger firms were having supply chain issues. By the end of March, consumer confidence had dropped drastically, falling to –34 – the biggest fall since records began in January 1974.

Level of concern jumped again from 54% to 68%, and the proportion of people worried about the health of their family rose by 14% in just one week (Source: Global Web Index COVID Tracker Wave 2)

52% were concerned about their job as searches for Universal Credit hit an all-time high. (Source: Global Web Index COVID Tracker Wave 2, JL Partners for ITV).

According to Marketing Week, as of 31st March, nearly nine in ten (86%) marketers were delaying or reviewing their campaigns – up from 55% on 16th March – leaving just 14% of activations continuing as planned.

Potentially the biggest initial impact of lockdown life was on media consumption. In the first week, households watched more broadcast TV than in any week for the past two years, excluding Christmas. And 51% were using more streaming services, as Netflix suffered outages across Europe, Disney+ launched and All 4 viewing increased by 37% (Source: Global Web Index COVID Tracker Wave 2)

Use of digital devices also rose, with 53% using their smartphone more, 39% spending more time on messaging platforms, 38% on social media and 26% playing more video games. (Source: Global Web Index COVID Tracker Wave 2)