Coronavirus and our changing media consumption

It’s no surprise to most that COVID-19 is continuing to have an immense impact on normal life. The country has adjusted to working from home and navigating life with little freedom. Our consumption of media has also evolved but at lightning speed. We are reaching out to new sources of media as we attempt to fill in time, and we are increasing being kept informed, and we’re communicating more with family and friends.

Pandemic instantly changes Media habits

• 63% of people are watching more TV and 50% say they will stream more content online to stay occupied.
• 89% of people are turning to sources of news they trust. 1 in 2 people 35+ trust radio to deliver accurate new updates.
• 72% of consumers are turning to online web or apps to find timely news updates on the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 41% of Australians are not purchasing from the same brand as normal.

Over the Easter long weekend, online commerce experienced an increase in spend from non essential categories such as Apparel, Beauty and Sporting Goods, as people’s needs change whilst they continue to stay home. Searches for “Activewear” and “resistance bands” are seeing large spikes in the Apparel and Sporting goods categories.

More time at home means more time to spend on health and wellness with “cooking” related keyword video searches growing by an average of 40% year on year during this period of isolation. People are also searching for at home workouts, with video searches around “Ab Workout” and “Home workout” also increasing by 40%. It seems ADMATIC searches are more around “how to make choc chip cookies” but that’s a win in our eyes!