One year into the pandemic, almost half of consumers (48%) believe post-vaccine life will be better than before the pandemic, EY Index finds.
Even more, consumers are more worried than four months ago about their health, their families families and their futures.
The share of people who think they will live in fear of the COVID-19 pandemic for at least another year has risen from 37% (October 2020) to 40% (February 2021).
Respondents in India and Brazil have consistently been the most concerned overall (more than 90% of consumers) throughout the pandemic, while people across other countries are now more worried about their family’s health than they were four months ago (up 4% in the US and 5% in Japan).
Respondents in China and Germany said they are increasingly worried about their finances (4% increase) and freedom to enjoy life (more than 10% increase), since October 2020.
In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic may have accelerated changes that were already underway (36%): moving out of cities, shopping online more and prioritizing health, affordability and sustainability.
Sentiment about the COVID-19 vaccine
Most (91%) global respondents do intend to take the vaccine, but 25% said they have ”reservations” and 9% don’t intend to take it at all.
The latter goes up to 15% in the US and 19% in France but down to 3% in China, 5% in Brazil and 6% in the UK.
Top reasons influencing global sentiment include being worried about potential side-effects (29%) and not trusting its safety (19%).
Feelings about the vaccine are also polarized between high- and low-income consumers, which correlates with institutional trust.
Thus, only 43% of low-income respondents plan to get the vaccine as soon as it is available to them (compared to 54% of high-income respondents).
This may relate to 37% of low-income respondents having little or no trust in government compared to 28% of high-income respondents.
Despite concerns, a majority of respondents (56%) would be more likely to shop with retailers that require employees to take the vaccine, while 48% of respondents think that those who refuse to take the vaccine are acting selfishly.
