Half of consumers changed or canceled Memorial Day holiday plans due to COVID-19
Insights | May 28, 2020
The ninth wave of the ongoing weekly study by AMC Global (an international custom market research firm specializing in launch strategies and brand tracking) and OpinionRoute (a leader in insights process management) was released today. As expected, this week’s research found that fewer activities were taking place during a COVID-19 holiday weekend than in the previous year. Top reported Memorial Day activities were centered around the home (staying in, grilling, and working in the garden), while in 2019 Americans participated in a wider variety of social activities.
New results will be released on Thursdays based on the study’s weekly polling of U.S.-based general population of primary purchasers age 21+.
Key findings for the week of May 25:
- Fifty percent of consumers changed (33%) or canceled (17%) Memorial Day Weekend plans due to COVID-19.
- Thirty-five percent of consumers said they stayed home in 2020, in comparison to just 12% in 2019. 29% grilled outdoors, compared to 44% in 2019.
- Some of the biggest decreases year-over-year were for hanging out with extended family/friends (down to 20% from 44% in 2019), hosting or attending a barbeque (down to 7% from 23% in 2019) and going to a restaurant (down to 5% from 21% in 2019).
- As expected, road trips are down at 4% in 2020 from 11% in 2019 and no consumers reported going to the movies or watching a parade in 2020.
A complete representation of the data can be found here showing changes in Memorial Day Weekend behaviors due to the pandemic. New results and findings will be released on June 4. The study findings are designed to help clients and industry leaders navigate quickly changing consumer behavior during the crisis.