Each week, CivicScience continuously tracks consumer spending and trends influencing consumer behavior. Here are three key insights marketers should know this week:
1. Anticipated holiday spending took a hit last week.
Despite the holiday season being right around the corner, planned spending on toys/hobbies/gifts is down five percentage points (19%) from this time last year (24%) and one percentage point from last week’s reading.
However, planned spending on travel is equivalent to levels from this time last year (17%), while grocery shopping spending remained at the high level seen last week (54%).
2. Price sensitivity reaches a high not seen since mid-summer.
The slowdown in holiday spending could be attributed to an increase in price sensitivity. Fifty-eight percent of Americans report they’ve become more price sensitive over the last year, which is the highest mark seen since mid-July.
3. More than 2-in-5 adults are concerned about Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
With news sources reporting the U.S. could be facing a potential ‘tripledemic,’ as pediatric respiratory viruses and flu cases are surging early this year (on top of COVID-19), CivicScience took a pulse on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) concerns. The most recent data show that 45% of U.S. adults are at least ‘somewhat concerned,’ just under a third are ‘not at all concerned,’ and about a quarter are unfamiliar with the respiratory virus.
With many consumers expressing virus concerns and the weather changing, it’s no surprise that weekly tracking also showed a slight uptick in concern over being in public spaces.
What else we’re seeing: Nearly 80% of Americans report concern over public displays of anti-Semitism, with differences shown by age and political affiliation. Get these details and more — CivicScience clients receive the full version of this weekly report on consumer behavior and trends. Let’s chat.
