What happens to consumer behavior 6+ months into a pandemic? Are people still shopping or are they glued to their television sets? Have cable subscriptions been replaced with new streaming services? Have consumers paused major life events? What will the 2020 holiday season look like and how are advertisers going to effectively reach audiences based on these new behaviors?
Understanding the dynamics of how the pandemic has impacted consumer behavior has been keeping market researchers busy since March of this year. It has also left marketers scratching their head about how to derive meaningful consumer engagement.
The good news is that, even in the current economic climate, pivotal life events are still taking place and in many cases are happening at a rapid uptick. Home sales are up 47 percent since March 2020.1 The current birth rate in the U.S. in 2020 is up almost one percent from 2019.2 And even basic activities like online grocery shopping are up nine percent since pre-pandemic levels in February 2020.
And yes, people are glued to their televisions and streaming services. Overall OTT (Over-the-top) consumption is up 14 percent since January 2020 (pre-pandemic levels) with premium paid streaming services leading the charge with a 17 percent increase in the number of viewing households.3 Although over 90 percent of recent moviegoers had a positive experience and were glad to be back at the movies, we're also seeing a surge in premium rentals based on direct to consumer movie releases.4 As one example, Disney+'s recent success with Mulan demonstrated the real potential of the premium movie rental market.
To address these shifting consumer behaviors, Comscore recently launched a host of new audiences heading into the holiday season, including segments such as premium OTT streaming subscribers, premium OTT rental subscribers, streaming music subscribers, online grocery shoppers, heavy social media users, new baby, new house, retirement, and more.
In the current environment, many brands have stepped up and found ways to deepen consumer relationships through more meaningful touchpoints, but they still need to move beyond outdated segments. Comscore’s new audiences give advertisers the ability to further enhance those touchpoints by adding an element of relevancy and timeliness to the moment of outreach.
This holiday season is shaping up to be unlike any other. Give your campaigns the chance to connect with audiences in a meaningful way. Comscore’s new audience segments are available today in all the top DMPs and DSPs.
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Sources: 1 https://www.census.gov/construction/nrs/pdf/newressales.pdf 2 https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/birth-rate#:~:text=The%20current%20birth%20rate%20for,a%200.95%25%20decline%20from%202017 3 Comscore OTT Intelligence, July 2020 vs Jan 2020 4 Comscore's PostTrak® service, collected between August 21 - September 6, 2020