Decoding consumers' mindset amid COVID-19: Nielsen Report

• Neilsen’s latest report takes us inside the minds of Indian consumers.
• It reveals how different demographics are prepared if the lockdown extends beyond July and how they are currently dealing with the pandemic-induced lockdown.

Nielsen India’s latest report gives us an insight into the consumer’s brains and how they are dealing with the current situation. The research was conducted online between April 17 to April 28 in 12 cities and included 1900 respondents.

It highlighted how people above the age of 35 are feeling more optimistic than millennials as they have a reference point where the normal was on-hold during the emergency period and riots that broke out in Mumbai and Gujarat. They are viewing the current phase as temporary and millennials are finding themselves feeling more anxious as people around them are losing their jobs, they are re-evaluating their future plans.


However, consumers are healing now and moving towards a new normal:


The report further predicts that if COVID-19 lasts for more than 6 months, Techno Maladies Growing Disorder will emerge from the hyper-integration of technology into our lives. Roti, Kapda and Technology will become an absolute essential for survival.


Sixty per cent of the respondents in the study claimed to have decreased income as compared to pre COVID-19 thus managing liquidity at the cost of investment. Proportion of regular expenses have increased among lower (earning less than INR 50k per month) and mid income (50-100k) households, however they are maintaining their savings proportion intact..


After a three per cent decline in Mar ‘20 (versus Mar ‘19), FMCG industry clocked a 34% decline in April -Traditional Trade channels led this sharp drop, while Modern Trade continued to grow in April 2020.The sharp degrowth of traditional trade channels can be attributed to area/ shop closures - on an average, a traditional retail shop was closed for 12 days in April due to various restrictions and constraint - this number was significantly higher for outlets other than Chemists (4 days) and Grocers (8 days).