Globally, what has been the impact of COVID-19? For answers, we examine emerging worldwide consumer attitudes and behavior.
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McKinsey Research: Emerging Worldwide Consumer Attitudes and Behavior
Recently, McKinsey released results from a major study on the global effects of COVID-19 on consumers.
As of now, there is renewed caution as coronavirus cases soar in parts of the world. While uncertainty from COVID-19 persists globally, its impact falls differently across countries. Therefore, we see significant variance in how consumers respond to the crisis and adapt to the next normal. These themes hold true across the 45 countries we tracked.
Consumers in China, India, and Indonesia consistently report higher optimism than the rest of the world. At the same time, Europe and Japan remain less optimistic about economic conditions after COVID-19. Except for Italy, optimism declined throughout European countries, in line with the rise in confirmed cases since late July.
Across the globe, consumers respond to the crisis and its disruption in various ways. For example, many consumers use different shopping behaviors. With a high intent (65 percent or more) intending to incorporate these behaviors going forward. However, we find a less pronounced change in countries with a moderate degree of economic shock, such as Germany and Japan.
Given consumers’ price sensitivity, value remains the primary reason for them to try new brands and new places to shop. Aside from value, convenience and availability are most often cited as top drivers of consumers’ decisions about where to shop. On the other hand, e quality and purpose (desire to support local businesses, for example) are the more important considerations when choosing new brands.
Next, check out these two charts from the McKinsey report.
