As the summer rolls on and the typical back-to-school season is disrupted by skyrocketing COVID-19 case numbers, consumers are pulling back from even basic shopping trips to grocery stores and pharmacies, as they return to high levels of concern and anxiety around engaging with society and businesses. According to just-released data from consumer intelligence firm Resonate, the leading provider of AI-driven consumer data and analytics, consumers who indicated a month ago that they were ready to begin resuming certain everyday activities are now wholly reversing their decisions. Resonate’s ongoing COVID-19 and emerging issues research and analysis represent the only industry data set that captures the shifting sentiments of these audiences in real-time.

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“If you’re using data from February, April or even July to drive your important business and marketing decisions, you’re doomed to fail,” said Bryan Gernert, Chief Executive Officer of Resonate. “If there’s one word that will define the businesses that find success and stability in 2020, it’s agile — agile in how and when you reopen stores, in the types of loyalty offers you present, in modifying experiences to align to consumer sentiment to drive sales. Agile marketing requires you to be data-driven, and you can’t be data-driven if your data is old. Our unique A.I.-powered platform puts our clients’ finger on the pulse of the consumer. No other data and intelligence firm has insights this relevant.”

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With more than 1,017 attributes drawn from the sixth wave of Resonate’s wide-reaching COVID-19 and emerging issues trend research, highlights include the following:

• The percentage of people worried about the health-related consequences of COVID-19 has increased notably since early June, with 57% now saying they are worried about the health impact of COVID-19 to a large extent.
• 68% of consumers are concerned about the economy to a large extent.
• People who believe the U.S. economy will not return to normal until 2021 or later hit an all-time high in early July at 72.4%.
• 75% of consumers believe life will take seven months or longer to return to normal.
• Grocery stores and pharmacies may start to feel a pinch, as 40.2% of consumers report that they will decrease their in-store visits.
• Even when restrictions are lifted, 32% say they would never attend a crowded activity with thousands of people, such as a concert or sporting event. 38% would never go to a theme park, 31% would never get on an airplane or train, and 54% would never ride mass transit.
• The number of travelers who have pushed their leisure travel into 2021 increased by +30% since early June. Now, 65% don’t believe leisure travel will return to normal until 2021.
• 62% of people expect to spend the holidays with immediate family only.
• If President Trump wins the election in November, 24.7% of people say they will strongly doubt the accuracy of that outcome, versus 10.5% who say they would strongly doubt the outcome if Joe Biden wins.
• Nearly 90% doubt the trustworthiness of Facebook news and information, 60% believe that the political ads on Facebook are not trustworthy, and 73.4% think Facebook should be responsible for identifying and suppressing false news and information.

“In this sixth wave of Resonate’s comprehensive study, we captured U.S. consumer sentiment in late July, as consumers have been tossed about by a dramatic roller coaster of events from pandemics, the fight for racial equality and ensuing political implications,” Gernert continued. “Companies must have the most accurate data to fuel their reopening plans if they want to keep pace with shifting consumer attitudes. To thrive in this environment, businesses need to capture revenue and save costs wherever possible, and that’s where micro-segmentation fueled by hyper-relevant data comes into play.”

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