The report titled ‘Covid-19: A Game Changer For Media And Purchasing' aggregates how consumers’ attitudes, media consumption habits and actions have changed during the global pandemic In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, GroupM has released a research that aggregates important new insights from consumers in recent months that focuses on how their attitudes, media consumption habits and actions have changed during the global pandemic.  According to the report titled ‘Covid-19: A Game Changer For Media And Purchasing’, globally, in-home media, and particularly those that provide entertainment, have seen the largest increases in consumption. The circumstances surrounding Covid-19 and the resulting shifts in consumer values, attitudes and behaviour have driven a significant change in the patterns of media consumption across the globe. With people being confined to their homes, the big winners are the media channels that are consumed in the home, particularly those that provide entertainment:

Digital has become the lifeblood for everyone, everywhere, and the key to survival. Covid-19 has accelerated digital adoption among previously laggard audiences, thus helping to balance the global digital audience. Overall, all types of digital activity have witnessed significant increases versus 2019, and especially in terms of daily usage. On average, across all activities, we have seen a 39% increase in daily usage and an 18% increase in weekly usage, most notably among parents and those markets with a high caseload. Digital entertainment platforms are seeing a boom in both reach and time spent, as people spend more time in home. Digital entertainment has seen a 19% increase in Daily Reach and a 21% increase in average Daily Time Spent. Digital entertainment is thriving amid the Covid-19 outbreak and is the biggest growth area within the digital landscape, increasing 59% daily and 33% weekly. With people unable to socialise outside of their home, go to events, or engage in other out-of-home activities, digital can provide an almost unlimited variety of content to entertain, engage, fill time and alleviate boredom. At a top-line level, we have observed a 19% YOY increase in the daily usage of the internet for TV and video content (from 58%-69%) and a 11% increase weekly (from 77%-85%). Furthermore, we now see heavier consumption overall, with the amount of time spent increasing 20% from 110-132 minutes per day. The biggest gains come from the parent lifestages (+27%) and the markets that had the highest cases / stringency (+31%). Delving deeper, we can see there has been a massive uptick in the number of people who are watching TV programmes or films via a paid-for on-demand service: +76% daily (from 20%-35%) and +46% weekly (from 43%-62%). This is true across all markets and demographics irrespective of their situation. Covid-19 has radically affected both the consumption and the production of film and TV content since it all requires people to be together in small spaces which is against health regulations in many places. Also, e-commerce has become a lifeline for people across the globe and has seen a substantial growth in revenue YOY. Covid-19 has forced laggard audiences and markets to learn the benefits of online shopping driving a more balanced global profile of this activity. The world of e-commerce has been transformed as a result of Covid-19. At a global level, the proportion of people doing online shopping is up 8% weekly. However, with lockdowns forcing people to stay at home except for essential journeys, we have seen an uptick in the frequency of online shopping among particular consumer groups – the highest impacted markets have seen 27% growth weekly and 16% monthly, while parent groups have increased 13% weekly. Shopping With a shift of this scale, many businesses have reported that they have had to adapt swiftly to the ‘new normal’ and have significantly accelerated their digital development in line with demand. Understanding and responding to the user needs and behaviour of online audiences will be key to survival for brands and retailers.