Wave 19: Yearning for a sense of normalcy, vaccines, and more

Wave 19 of our ongoing research, which examines how COVID-19 is affecting consumer behaviors, media consumption, and more, took place W/C February 24, with 1,067 participants.

Some key insights from the research:

• A year into COVID, many Americans yearn for a sense of normalcy and are most looking forward to not having COVID restrictions, including wearing a mask and returning to their daily life pre-COVID. Half of US consumers surveyed believe that life will “go back to normal” this year, and more so when the vaccine is widely available. 
• Americans have been feeling increasingly hopeful and less negative since the fall. Despite the recent swing towards optimism, a year later Americans are still feeling elevated levels of stress and anxiety related to COVID. But generally, they’re feeling more positive than negative about the different aspects of their life, especially their one at home, unlike their social life which skews negative (especially for younger Americans).
• With ongoing vaccine distribution happening, more Americans are feeling that a sense of normalcy will be returning. And this return is impacting how they’re thinking of budgeting, especially as it relates to increasing spend for travelling, experiences and dining out.
• Finally, about 1/5 of consumers surveyed do not plan to receive the COVID vaccine, skewing populations most impacted by COVID - low income and Black Americans as well as women and those residing in the South.

You can also see more takeaways in MediaPost from our ongoing study, which the publication cited as "...the greatest longitudinal piece of research conducted by a media agency about the effects of an existential threat on the sentiment of American consumers."

Excerpt: That said, the most recent wave of Mindshare's study also asked various segments whether they think "life will go back to normal this year," and found that overall, 55% of Americans expect life to normalize, with Millennials and Gen Xers most likely to feel that way (see below).

How advertisers and media buyers can utilize these insights may be relative to various categories, but the most recent wave also shows significant percentages of Americans feel media has helped them get through the pandemic -- especially TV, streaming services and social media (see bottom), although family and friends ranked the highest.

Read the full MediaPost article.

Get more details in our latest infographic.