CivicScience continually tracks current and anticipated consumer trends. Here are three key insights marketers should know this week. All insights are derived from the CivicScience Social | Political | Economic | Cultural (SPEC) Report, a weekly report available to clients covering the latest news and insights. Get in touch to learn more.
1. Nearly 3 in 10 Americans say they have had to forgo seeing a doctor in the past year due to costs.
Medical debt is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the U.S., and rising prices have caused many Americans to struggle paying off their medical bills. According to the latest CivicScience data, 12% of U.S. adults say they have had to miss or make a late payment on medical bills in the last 90 days, marking a two percentage point increase over September 2022.
A far larger percentage of Americans – 27% of the Gen Pop and about 30% of respondents under 55 years old or with an annual household income under $100,000 – report they could not go to a doctor in the past 12 months because they could not afford the cost (excluding those answering ‘I don’t know’). Gen Z adults and households making between $25K-$50K are more likely to have held off seeing a doctor due to the cost (34% and 31% respectively).
Take Our Poll: How often do you go to the doctor for routine check-ups and screenings?
2. The majority of Americans remain unwilling to consider a third-party candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
Americans continue to be divided on whether they would be willing to vote for a third-party candidate in the event of an electoral rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. November data show 45% of U.S. adults say they would be ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ willing to vote for a third-party over the current Democratic and Republican frontrunners.
While a majority of respondents who identify as either Republican or Democrat say they will not consider voting for a third-party, Republicans are six percentage points more likely than Democrats to be ‘very’ willing to vote third-party if the alternatives are President Biden and former President Trump. Independents are much more open to the idea – 35% are ‘very’ willing to vote for a third-party candidate, and another 22% are ‘somewhat’ willing to do so.
Want to see more in-depth consumer insights relating to the 2024 election? The CivicScience 2024 Election Mindset Tracker analyzes and predicts how developments in the 2024 presidential race will affect people, markets, and the economy. Click here to learn more.
3. More than 1 in 5 consumers say they’re at least ‘somewhat likely’ to partake in “Travel Tuesday” deal hunting this year.
You’ve heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but what about “Travel Tuesday”? The day geared towards snagging deals within the travel industry could draw quite a crowd this year. Twenty-one percent are at least ‘somewhat likely’ to shop for flights, hotels, or other travel deals on Travel Tuesday, with Gen Z expressing the highest interest. The potential is there to see an increased interest next year as well, as 34% of respondents say they have not heard of the travel sales event.
Join the Discussion: Do you think a major third-party candidate in the 2024 election would be more damaging for President Biden or for his eventual Republican challenger?
Want to see more of the in-depth consumer insights found in this report not covered here? Clients receive the SPEC Report in full, plus access to real-time insights, driven by our database of over 500K questions. Start here to see it in action.
