This is an opinion piece by Lab42's VP of Research, Athos Maimarides.

I’ve been reading a lot lately.  Many of us have a lot of time on our hands after work and over the weekends.  With all restaurants, coffee shops, stores, gyms and even some parks closed--and under fear that I may get infected -- I have been isolating in the safety of my house, reading (mostly insatiably reading about how the COVID-19 crisis is impacting and disrupting our lives and its impact on economy - and it’s a mess!) It appears that in times of crisis, as humans, we go back to one of our most basic instincts – survival.  We raided the grocery stores and hoarded items that we may have never bought before, because why not? Add on top of our extreme shopping behavior, social distancing (and how that also threw a wrench in our day-to -day personal and business lives) and we have the perfect mix of utter consumer chaos.

Grocery items that had been declining in popularity and sales for years, are suddenly selling like hot cakes – like pre-packaged foods, frozen foods, milk.  We cannot get enough of them! Have we tossed out all our commitments to healthy eating, natural, organic, sustainable products, products good for the environment etc.? Or are we just putting those commitments on a temporary pause while we are going through the crisis?

There is no clear answer to this rhetorical question.  What we DO know right now is that we are experiencing behavioral fluctuations – that is not in dispute.  We, as consumers, have drastically changed our shopping habits, our spending habits, how we live, how we work—seemingly overnight! This is documented across numerous research studies and in actual sales numbers.  What we do not know, and here is where there is no consensus, is how lasting and sticky these changes will be.

I have read different opinions from different business leaders.  Some argue that this crisis has changed us forever, or at least the impact will be felt for a long time.  We may stop hoarding toilet paper and chicken, but we may continue disinfecting our houses constantly, eating at home more vs. going out, or streaming more vs. going to the movies, exercising at home vs. going to the gym.  And, while the claim “killing 99.9% of bacteria” may not have been the most critical driver of purchase for a household cleaner before the crisis, it is now; and it may be in the long term.

Other business leaders argue that things will go back to normal, sooner than we think. Once we feel more comfortable coming out of our houses, going to work and out to eat, we will go back to normal, buying, consuming and behaving very similarly to how we did before the crisis.

Do you want answers? Do some research

Regardless of the outcome, the best way for brands and companies to understand how quickly they are recovering (coming out of this crisis) is through data.  Do you know what your customers or users of your category are thinking right now, during the crisis and how they perceive your brand vs. the competition? Do you know how much those thoughts and perceptions will change vs after the crisis, and how?

Research can help.  Research does not have to be time consuming or expensive if done intelligently. 

Here are our thoughts on research during the COVID-19 crisis:

1) At this point, everybody agrees that we need to continue researching and measuring consumer sentiment as well as behaviors and attitudes towards brands and COVID-19.  In times of crisis we need data to make decisions, even if the decisions being made are to slow down or pause certain activities.   

2) If you already have a tracking study, continue it. You do not want to have a big data gap in your trendlines right now.  You need a clear picture of where you were and how the crisis is impacting you. When you start recuperating, having continuous trendlines will help you understand the trajectory of your brand before the crisis, during the crisis, and after the crisis.  This information will help you understand when consumers are starting to go back to normal and how quickly you can resume pre-crisis activities.

3) If you do not already have a tracking study consider a brand equity point-in-time wave right now and another once the crisis starts receding.  This double dip approach can help assess a brand’s equity and perceptions now, during the crisis and where it will be once things start going back to normal. If this crisis period lasts longer than a few months, you can do more dips to expand your points of comparison.

Keep in mind that data we collect now will not be perfect. It will be extreme because of the extreme consumer behaviors we are currently observing.  But this is reflective of what consumers are feeling and doing right now, where your brand is right now, how it is perceived and what your customers or category users think is important at this point in time. Knowing this will allow you to craft the right type of messaging during a time of isolation when the right communication with customers can foster long-term relationships.

This type of wave research can have multiple benefits:

Helps with short term plans: do you need to ramp up production or ad spending or do you need to slow down or adjust/redistribute your advertising dollars? What messages do you need to be communicating?

Helps with understanding trends:  Are the attributes considered important during the crisis still important once the crisis starts declining?  If so, do you need to adjust your messaging to highlight things about your brand you have not focused on before?

Helps with assessing how quickly you are going back up: is your recovery as aggressive as it should be? If you do not have pre-crisis levels to compare, it’s good to at least know where you were at your lowest point during the crisis and what a percent change really means.

Helps with preparing longer-term strategies: as consumers are engaging with many brands for the first time or are engaging with certain brands more frequently, they may be able to provide new insightful feedback about their benefits, drawbacks or even new and different ways they use these products.  All of this is invaluable information that can help the brand grow.

Regardless of how we will all behave, shop, live and work after this crisis, it is always better to know where you stand and have a solid plan for moving forward. 

Research can help you get there.