Covid-19 is reshaping daily habits for the better, says new study

DIY, digital content consumption, home cooking here to stay. Health and safety key

A new study by media agency Lodestar UM, part of the IPG network, points to some lasting trends that have emerged due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This includes the culture of do-it-yourself (DIY), digital content consumption, home cooking and the importance of staying in touch.

The study, findings of which have been shared with Business Standard, also speaks of how concerns around health and safety have grown over the last few months and will last well after the pandemic has left us.

Basically, Lodestar UM tracked social media conversations and what people were searching between March and July to put together the broad themes that emerged during the first phase of the pandemic. This framework has been used to identify what consumers are doing now.

"The cultural shifts that emerged in the first 180 days of the pandemic can be clubbed into four areas. This includes resist, recreate, retrograde and reglocalise," Aditi Mishra, chief strategy officer, Lodestar UM India, said.

"Of these, recreate is one theme that we see continuing into the second phase of the pandemic, that is, now," she says.

Under recreate, Mishra says that chatter around social media has revolved around adapting to new normals such as zoom calls, group hangouts and e-learning.

Conversations have also revolved around digital payments and the challenges of dealing with it, apart from adjusting to work and life at home.

A recent Mckinsey report shows that consumers across age-groups have adopted digital habits quite vigorously including those in their 60s and 70s (baby boomers) and Gen X (40s/50s).

Almost 55 per cent of those in their 60s and 70s, said Mckinsey, were online during the pandemic, while 59 per cent of those in their  40s and 50s were online for various needs from shopping to searching, emailing, chatting, learning and entertaining themselves. The study was conducted over the last few months by talking to people across age-groups in different cities.

Millennials, noted Mckinsey, were the ones who were most online at 60 per cent.

Mishra says that the Covid-19 pandemic has also brought out the resourcefulness of people including the use of household items to create a phone stand for online interactions to innovative disinfectant sprays, PPE suits and social distancing tools.

Conversations now, of course, revolve around how fast the vaccine will get into the market, its efficacy and impact on life in general. 

Learnings for brands 

Mishra says that brands across the board from consumer goods to auto and fashion such as McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Myntra and Volkswagen picked up the cues during the pandemic, launching ads that promoted health, hygiene, safety and social distancing. 

Some others such as Amul latched on to trends promoting in-home food consumption, apart from playing on nostalgia, a theme that came out strongly during the lockdown.

Though consumers are now travelling more after the Unlock phase began, many are doing so carefully with safety and social distancing measures in place.

Mishra says that staycations and workcations have gained steam, with the trend likely to last for some time.

"There are also a few other attributes that came up in our study. This includes the culture of doing good, staying positive and being thankful. People channelised these internal attributes, helping them tide over a difficult phase. These should help them tide over the next phase too," she said.