Some Consumers Are Ready for COVID-19 Risky Behavior

Jacobs Media has released some of the key findings from its second national audience survey of core radio listeners, focusing on reactions to the Covid-19 pandemic. The study, fielded in mid-May, examined a variety of behaviors, including the activities with the most interest – as well as the highest perceived risk.

The findings provide a road map for businesses, community leaders, as well as media executives, their sales teams, and their advertisers about the activities ready to take off, as well as those that may require more time, preparation, and education.

“None of us has lived through a disruption like Covid-19 before,” Jacobs Media President Fred Jacobs remarks. “Now as we prepare to re-open, not all activities are created equal. While consumers are interested in going to a restaurant or a concert, they are also very concerned about the risks involved.”

Jacobs Media’s VP/GM Paul Jacobs notes, “In light of these findings, many customer-facing businesses will need to retrench and refocus. Savvy media marketers and salespeople can use this data to work strategically with clients representing many verticals.”

The chart below represents the top seven activities that generate the most interest, along with their corresponding levels of risk.

Download “COVID-19 Study: Activities According to Interest and Risk”

This second Covid-19 study was conducted May 12-14, 2020. The web survey was comprised of 16,004 respondents – listeners of 98 commercial radio stations representing a variety of formats in the United States and Canada. The survey is primarily made up of radio station database members. It is unweighted, and does not represent all commercial radio listeners or the general populations of the United States and Canada.