Ethical and sustainable shopping sees boost in conversation

Using our Consumer Research tool, we wanted to investigate how the pandemic had affected consumer appetite for sustainable/ethical goods and shopping local.

In the last 31 days there were 261k people taking to social media to discuss local, ethical, and sustainable online shopping.

Discussion around this kind of shopping has jumped up since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak. When we compare the last 31 days to Dec 2019, the conversation has grown by 362%.

In particular, English-language mentions of sustainable products (items which don’t deplete the Earth of natural resources) on social media were up 217% from December, with 18k mentions in the last month.

Mentions of purchases made for personal ethical reasons were also up from December, by 132%. Conversations were focused on fashion (1.8k mentions), as well as cosmetics like soap (1.5k mentions).

Shopping locally had the highest increase in mention volumes – since December, mentions increased by 440%.

Looking at mentions of local businesses, support for local grocery stores has been an important topic for consumers, with 16k mentions on social.

But for shoppers who have decided to support these kinds of businesses or products, there’s a moral dilemma about delivery. We found 19k mentions that were concerned about workers delivering non-essential items during the crisis.

For these consumers, buying ethically now also means thinking about ethical delivery. It’s not enough to just order locally or from an independent, ethical, or sustainable business – it’s also vital the product be essential enough for the delivery chain to support it without putting people in danger.

Genuine community through virtual communication

Over the Passover and Easter period, social media users have been posting about the new ways that they’ve celebrated virtually with friends and family.

Once again, video call services are coming to the rescue.

Thousands took to them to help them celebrate this year. For Passover, there were 30k English-language mentions of video calls, and for Easter there were 36k mentions of people getting together virtually.

Even places of worship joined in on the virtual celebrations, and we found a total of 104k mentions of streamed services. While they might not have been there to enjoy them, people loved participating in traditional ceremonies and services virtually.

One great example of people coming together over the weekend was when Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli streamed his Music For Hope concert live from Milan Cathedral.

The video, a symbolic gesture for a world in turmoil, has so far racked up 33m views, while its 310k social engagements show that people are sharing the event far and wide.

This pandemic is a difficult time for all of us, especially in a time traditionally reserved for family, friends, and community. But the pandemic has given us new ways to connect with family and friends we might not even have spoken to over this holiday. Once people are online, they’re unlikely to go back – the world could come out of the pandemic even more connected than before.

Pets in a pandemic

Covid-19 is taking its toll on everyone, so it’s important to pick out some of the good things in life. For many, their pets and love of animals are offering some joy amid the gloom.

We found a significant uptick in photos of cats and dogs being posted to social media since the lockdown started. Here’s how that looks over time.

There has been an average of 77k cat and dog pictures posted every day since March 1. That compares to an average of 55k a day in the second half of 2019 – a 40% increase.

With so many more people spending more time at home, and therefore spending more time with their pets, this isn’t a huge surprise. People aren’t getting bored of posting their pets either.

Mention volume has stabilized after an initial jump (and a second for National Puppy Day), and the trend hasn’t fallen out of fashion like other topics we’ve studied. A month in, and we’re still posting way more pictures of our pets than normal.

It’s not just individuals getting involved. Brand accounts have been posting pet pictures, too. It looks like there are a lot of social media managers out there who have finally found an excuse to show off their animals on the company account.

Looking at the emotional side of these posts, we can see why they’ve continued to go strong. When looking at cat and dog mentions that were automatically assigned an emotion by our Consumer Research platform, 73% were joyful.

For those feeling alone or disconnected under lockdown, pets are playing their part in keeping spirits up.

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Brandwatch Response Team