Three major challenges for consumers

Covid-19 has disrupted all of our lives, from eating, to shopping, to working. The past few weeks have been defined by challenges, and we wanted to find out how people are being affected.

We used Qriously to survey 8,559 adults through their tablets and smartphones, asking them about a range of challenges they might be facing during the pandemic.¹

Here’s what they told us.

On average, 43% of respondents said they were having trouble staying motivated, and it was the most common challenge people said they had.

With a combination of people staying indoors and amenities being closed, that’s hardly surprising. All of a sudden just meeting up for a coffee is out of reach, while many have had to abruptly stop their hobbies. There aren’t many safe spots for inner-city climbing when the bouldering gym closes down.

We’ve previously reported on depression in these bulletins, and people struggling to keep entertained or motivated links to this.

Unemployment is skyrocketing around the world as so many businesses cut expenses or close entirely. For those directly affected, paying bills becomes a big, stressful problem.

On average, 31% said paying bills was now a challenge – that’s a huge chunk of people – and the problem is particularly stark in Italy and the US. Both have been hit hard economically by Covid-19, with Italy reporting hundreds of thousands giving up their job searches, while 30m Americans are now without work.

Whether it’s watching movies online or working from home, a decent internet connection has become pretty much essential. Worryingly, on average 18% of respondents said poor internet was a challenge.

This means nearly a fifth of people are on the backfoot compared to others. They’ll struggle to work effectively, find it hard to search for a job online, and find entertainment a pain. And, if internet demand rises in their country, this will likely get worse.

There isn’t too much variation across countries, though Germany holds a small lead. This tells us that this issue is not unique to any one place. Governments and internet service providers around the world clearly have a job cut out for them.

Much needed guidance for personal finances

As is clear from the section above, the financial impact of the pandemic on individuals is severe. For many, this means it’s a time to save and get more secure. But we’ve found that many aren’t sure how to get started, and the number keeps rising.

Search interest in the US echoed a sense of urgency for building a nest egg quickly. Searches soared in mid-March (when the English-speaking world really began to feel the societal effects) and have remained high ever since.

Meanwhile, on social media, English-language mentions of people asking for tips and help on saving and asking about saving challenges increased by 24% when comparing March and April to January and February.

Our Consumer Research tool found 316k people asking for help with saving on social, 68k asking about starting an emergency savings account, and 66k asking how to start saving.

We also found 97k people worried about their homes, 84k worried about paying their bills, and 65k worrying about their debt.

So what solutions have people turned to to help them save in an emergency? Challenges are a big one.

The ‘No Spend Year’ challenge has proven particularly popular, with 26k people mentioning it. The challenge involves forgoing a certain item like clothes for an entire year.

Another 14k people mentioned the ‘Dollar a Day’ challenge, which sees users make $700 in savings over a year by cumulatively setting aside certain amounts on certain days. In the UK, the ‘Penny a Day’ challenge had 10k mentions.

For those on flexible contracts, on hourly pay reliant on tips, or with high student debt, it is hard to build a nest egg to take the financial stress away in the short term. While challenges are popular they aren’t a ‘quick fix’, which is what plenty of people are after right now. Guidance around saving, especially for savings which can be made here and now, is in high demand.

The first week of Ramadan goes virtual

April 23 marked the start of Ramadan for millions around the world, but traditional celebrations are extremely different this year.

English-language authors taking to social to talk about Ramadan in 2020 are up 303% compared to the first week of Ramadan in 2019.

Social distancing was a huge driver of this conversation, and 14k were talking about its effect on their plans or traditional celebrations.

But overall, the story is positive.

This year, celebrations and worship hit the web. With many wondering how to connect with their loved ones, 21k people discussed organizing virtual prayers and ceremonies online.

Food was also a hot topic for those discussing Ramadan. Fast begins at dawn and ends at sunset, and as soon as the sun is down it’s usually time for a family meal (iftar). But lockdown means many families can’t spend time together. Instead, we found 40.1k talking about using video software to bridge the gap between them.

And we found another 2.9k people were talking about giving back to their communities by organizing and delivering food parcels.

It’s encouraging to see even more people come together to celebrate what matters to them. Ramadan will not end until May 23, so it will be interesting to see how celebrations will evolve and change, especially as restrictions are eased and strengthened around the world.

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Brandwatch Response Team

¹ Note: All surveys are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error. On the basis of the historical record of the polls at recent general elections, there is a 9 in 10 chance that the true value of a survey result lies within 4 points of the estimates provided by this survey, and a 2 in 3 chance that they lie within 2 points.