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Study: Social divide and racism are biggest concerns of global respondents amid COVID-19

Study: Social divide and racism are biggest concerns of global respondents amid COVID-19

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The biggest concern of people around the world is the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by racism, according to a recent study.

McCann Worldgroup Truth Central - McCann Worldgroup’s global intelligence unit - has just published the study "Truth About Culture and COVID-19 Phase 5”, also highlighting that 26% of global respondents believed that the social divide is a worse threat than COVID-19, while 35% of the respondents said the current COVID-19 pandemic has emphasised existing inequalities.

Asked whether they were satisfied with their respective government's performance in combatting the pandemic, 27% said their government had let them down. For example in the UK, agreement with this statement jumped from 19% to 37% in just a few weeks.

In China, although there has apparently been a lot of pride in the government’s response to the pandemic, 14% of Chinese respondents said the government had let them down, up from 7% in a previous study.

At the same time, recent data from other McCann Worldgroup research has shown that brands have an immense opportunity to fill the void, with 81% of people globally believing that brands have the power to make the world better.

“People are ready for what’s next, and now is not the time to fade into the background. As we’ve learned from McCann China’s study on ‘Building Brands in a Recession,’ there’s a strong appetite for brands to push through the noise and help fill the vacuum of global leadership," said Richard McCabe, regional strategy director of McCann Worldgroup for APAC.

The study has also delved into the scenarios after the pandemic. A total of 30% of respondents said that countries are reopening social activities too quickly (up to 51% in the UK, 39% in Mexico, and 35% in the US) but only 50% of them said they had chosen to follow the rules.

While the other half admitted they have been following the rules only to varying degrees due, in part, to dissatisfaction with their government’s response to the pandemic.


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