Projected losses for the insights sector reach $18.7 billion

ESOMAR surveyed 2,889 professionals from 127 countries to understand the anticipated impact of the virus on the insights sector. Globally, insights professionals forecast a reduction in turnover for 2020 of up to 22% for all research related businesses and of 11% for research users or clients. This brings the estimated loss to $18.7 billion of its value in just one year. Looking at the predictions across the regions, the European insights sector anticipates contracting by 32%, with Italy being the most affected – almost halving in market size (-49%). The U.S. anticipates a reduction of 18% with the crisis slashing output by up to $ 3.7 billion in 2020. Also heavily affected would be the Middle East and Africa with anticipated reductions of 41%, APAC with 19% and LATAM with 9%. In Europe 47% of respondents agree that firms will have to decrease the number of full-time employees, followed by 46% in the U.S. and over 30% in APAC, LATAM and Middle East and Africa.

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Canadian food services sales drop by half 

With COVID-19 restrictions forcing restaurants to close to customers, Canadian food services sales dropped by half in March 2020, according to a study from IPSOS. The data shows a $3 billion decline for full-service restaurants and quick service restaurants, combined, from March 2019 compared to March 2020. It is expected that the month of April will show similar numbers. The survey found that 68% of Canadians say they will be nervous to leave their home, even when businesses reopen.

Sixty-two percent of Canadians believe that restaurants are doing everything they can to prevent the spread of COVID-19. And delivery channel orders grew by 36% in the second half of March compared to one year ago. This includes both third-party aggregators as well as traditional delivery-focused operators.

The research was conducted in March 2020.

Many prefer remote working arrangements 

Nearly half of employees now working from home want to stay remote, according to a U.S. employee survey from The Grossman Group. Seventy-eight percent of employees working from home agree that their company leadership has lived up to the values of their organization during this time. Ninety percent said their trust in their organization increased or stayed the same, and 80% agreed that their direct supervisor is communicating the information they need to do their jobs during the pandemic.

Overall, employees surveyed who are working from home reported high marks for their employers’ response to the pandemic.

The research was conducted from April 27 to May 1, 2020.

Americans look to financial institutions for guidance

According to Logica Research’s Future of Money Report, many Americans (75%) are looking to financial institutions for help during the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents reported that the ways financial institutions can help fall into three categories: impact to their wallets like payments, fees, interest (61%); service and advice (45%); and communication (21%).

Additionally, half of Americans (51%) report that their banking behavior has changed since the pandemic began. One quarter (25%) are using their mobile banking app more, and they are doing more transfers with their mobile app (21%) and more deposits (13%). While many Americans have been hit hard financially, some Americans (10%) are investing in the stock market more right now and are talking to a financial advisor or planner more (9%).

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Canadians open to participating in research

Logit Group and Research Narrative polled 1,231 Canadian adults for their COVID-19 Canadian Omnibus and found that two-thirds of Canadians find it appropriate to be asked to participate in research at this time. Respondents offered a variety of reasons for this, including “there’s no harm in asking” (18%), “it is a good opportunity for the public to share their opinions” (16%), and “research such as this is important” (15%). In addition, residents believe that research helps organizations know what’s going on (11%), and that they currently have more time than normal, plus it’s a good time to reach people (9%). Reasons offered are consistent across regions and demographics. One-third (37%) of Canadians identified an incentive as the reason for taking part in research, while another 26% said they wished to share an opinion, 15% said they wanted to help society or the government, and 12% said they wanted to learn new things.

The research was conducted from April 16-19, 2020.

Changing beauty, cosmetic habits 

Opinium Research surveyed 2,000 U.S. adults (ages 18+) to see if beauty and cosmetic habits have changed during the COVID-19 crisis. According to the survey, 25% of Americans are wearing less color cosmetics in lockdown, and of those using make up less often, over a third (35%) feel relieved they don’t have to wear it anymore, 39% are enjoying feeling like a more natural version of themselves, 28% miss wearing cosmetics and 21% say they don’t feel like themselves when not wearing them. Fifteen percent of Americans expect to continue wearing less makeup.

While cosmetic use has declined, skin and hair care products have seen an increase – 29% are using skin care products more and 25% are using hair care products more. Twenty percent report that they have begun following longer, more elaborate skin care routines.

The research was conducted from April 9-15, 2020. Read more

Domestic work during the pandemic 

A poll by Morning Consult for The New York Times finds that home schooling brought on by the coronavirus lockdowns is being disproportionately handled by women in the United States. But fathers don’t necessarily agree, with the study finding that nearly half of those with children under 12 reporting they are spending more time on it than their spouse. Three percent of women say their spouse is doing more, with 80% of mothers saying they spend more time on it.

Seventy percent of women say they are fully or mostly responsible for housework during lockdown, and 66% say so for child care – roughly the same shares as in typical times, according to The New York Times. About 20% of men say they are fully or mostly responsible for these tasks during lockdown.

The research was conducted in April 2020. The questions about housework and child care were only asked of people who said they lived with partners or children. Read more.

U.S. adults say lockdown has positive impact on environment

AMC Global and Opinion Route polled 300 U.S. adults from April 24-26, 2020, and found that 80% of respondents believe COVID-19 stay-at-home orders have had a positive impact on the environment. Additionally, 67% say they are now more aware of how their actions and the actions of others impact the environment. Consumers predict their behavior post COVID-19 to include an increase in activities that are perceived to be beneficial to the environment. Twenty-six percent say they are planning to increase their purchases from brands that are committed to being environmentally friendly and 23% say they will purchase more from brands using sustainable packaging. Prior to COVID-19, 65% of consumers were recycling; after the pandemic 8% (who were not recycling before) say they are going to increase their recycling efforts.

The research was conducted April 24-26, 2020. Read more

Web, video conferencing see tremendous growth 

The web and video conferencing software category has seen tremendous growth in 2020, according to research from TrustRadius. Its poll of over 2,000 business software users shows 67% of companies increasing their spending plan to invest in web conferencing software. At the global level, world-wide interested in web and video conferencing software increased drastically in March 2020, with countries like India seeing hot spots appearing in April.

Interest in the video conferencing technology category has grown by 120% from January to February and 1,080% from February to March. On average, prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, buyers spent between three and 6.5 minutes evaluating video conferencing tech. In 2020, average time increased to a high of nearly 14 minutes.

The research was conducted from April 2019 to April 2020. Read more

View Part 5 of Quirk's COVID-19: Survey Monitor series.