2020 COVID-19 Research -may
Introduction
This brief presents results from the third of a three-part research series by the Cause & Social Influence initiative to track young Americans’ actions related to the 2020 COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. This study covers actions during the three weeks preceding May 15, 2020, or nine weeks after the White House officially declared the pandemic.
To date, we have seen this demographic show an expanding view of philanthropy, which continued during this third wave of research. Young Americans continue to believe in supporting local business during this pandemic. Always a demographic that has viewed their actions as of equal value to their monetary gifts, they have continued a trend of low charitable giving since this research began, believing that local business support is the most effective action they can take right now to help others.
The areas of most noticeable change from the two prior reports involve influencers and interacting with others. In its early stages, the pandemic was prompting young Americans to turn away from social influencers (celebrities and content creators) as information sources. Traditional media became their primary news sources, and local governments were the entities most influencing whether they took action to stop the spread of the virus. Now, however, young Americans have again turned to social influencers for information related to COVID-19. Concurrently, the trend continues of about a third of young Americans doing nothing to slow the spread of the virus.
This wave of research discovered that females are much more uncomfortable than males about certain activities: visiting a hospital (f=58%, m=50%), seeing a movie in a theater (f=64%, m=55%) and attending a cause-related special event in person (f=54%, m=44%). By June 15, though, both genders report anticipating less discomfort, with females still expecting to feel less comfortable than males.
Research Protocol
For this third phase of the research, a quantitative approach was taken with an online survey fielded from 3 PM to 7 PM EST on May 15, 2020, to collect data about the actions taken by young Americans (ages 18-30) related to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) during the preceding one to three weeks. The survey had 1,049 respondents from a nationally representative sample based on census-projected ethnic and demographic composition. With this response rate, the data presented has a 95% confidence interval and 3% margin of error.
In analyzing data and drawing conclusions about behavior during this pandemic, researchers acknowledge the restrictions suggested and imposed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), the White House, state and local governments and employers. During the period covered by this survey, while only essential services were open (with many limited to delivery and drive-through service), local, state and federal governments were considering various reopening plans. On May 14, The New York Times reported that, “Scattershot reopenings of retail stores, nail salons and restaurants around the country have not halted the flood of layoffs, with the government reporting Thursday that nearly 3 million people filed unemployment claims last week, bringing the two-month tally to more than 36 million.”
Key Findings
1. Supporting local business continues to be the number-one and most meaningful way young Americans helped others during the pandemic.
2. Young Americans are turning back to influencers for news on COVID-19.
3. Young Americans are not comfortable performing activities in public including volunteering and attending events for causes.
Conclusion
This is the third of four reports at 7, 30, 60 and 90 days into the officially declared U.S national emergency around COVID-19 (Coronavirus). Though parts of the country and economy are reopening, young Americans are still uncomfortable with resuming in-person activities in support of others. At the same time, a looming presidential election may begin to bring attention to issues not at the forefront currently. We will continue observing this demographic’s changing behaviors in real time to determine whether actions during this pandemic have a lasting effect on social issue involvement that makes causes and companies change the way they approach and engage young Americans in the future.
