Whether it’s tomorrow or six months from now, at some point local and state governments will begin to ease COVID-19-related restrictions and people will be free to resume their everyday lives. But will they? Independent marketing, advertising and public relations agency Mower has conducted a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults to learn what common activities they will feel comfortable returning to on Day One.
The results show that Americans are far more comfortable with the idea of going to their workplace right away (46%) than they are sending their kids back to school (21%). And while 28% would feel at ease taking a vacation by car, only 16% would fly on an airplane and a mere 12% would travel internationally.
Activities like dining out, visiting a museum or working out at a gym would have to wait for all but one in five adults, and even fewer would be comfortable going to a sporting event or theme park on Day One.
Resuming their normal routines is what consumers look forward to most (55%) once COVID-19 is a thing of the past. They do, however, also plan to maintain some of the habits they adopted during the crisis, in particular practicing better hygiene (42%), avoiding shaking hands (40%) and cleaning their homes more thoroughly (32%). One in four will continue supporting local restaurants with takeout and delivery and one in five see more virtual get-togethers with family and friends in their post-pandemic futures.
“When governments lift the COVID-19 restrictions our study suggests life is not going back to the way it used to be anytime soon,” said Erinn Newman, Mower’s senior vice president–insight. “Consumers are going to be cautious about what they do and businesses are going to need to adjust their standard practices to rebuild confidence. Brands need alignment between operations and marketing to create a comfort zone for consumers when they reopen.”
