Covid-19 Study Shows Rise in Concerns of Personal Health and Job Security

While American’s concern about the impact of the coronavirus continues to accelerate with personal health and job security at the top of their minds, the majority of consumers are also looking for ways to support their local community’s and in particular their neighbourhood restaurants. These are among the results of week-three of an ongoing weekly tracking study of 200 Americans across the country conducted by the Sterling-Rice Group (SRG).

“During this time in which the restaurant industry has seen huge declines in dine-in volume, it is encouraging that more than half of our respondents said they are maintaining or increasing their takeout and delivery spend,” explained Cindy Judge, CEO of SRG. “They are doing  this for all the ‘usual’ reasons  such as convenience, taste, or something they crave. Our data says they are also doing it in support of their local restaurants. We believe the  emotional bond  between restaurants and their consumers may be strengthening as we weather the Covid-19 crisis.”

The third week of findings also reveal a double digit increase in the number of Americans who are extremely concerned about Covid-19 with 45% saying they are extremely concerned compared with only 14% three weeks ago. Nearly 40% of Americans report that stress or lack of control is the dominant emotion they are experiencing now. While the health of loved ones and the impact of the economy top of the list of worries, week three showed a 12% point increase in concerns about one’s own personal health. 

The study also demonstrates that grocery shopping behaviour continues to show big shifts. SRG notes that shoppers are flocking to the centre of the store, becoming less price sensitive and increasingly buying online. Some 60% of consumers say they are purchasing more shelf-stable or frozen foods, a figure that has tripled from the first wave. The number of consumers shopping online has also tripled from the first week to 27% in week three. And 37% are playing less attention to price, a 5-times increase in the last two weeks.

The SRG Consumer Attitude and Behavior survey is being fielded on successive Wednesday mornings in March beginning March 11 among 200 Americans across the country. The sample is nationally representative of the US population – balanced to age, gender, ethnicity, income and region.