Radio Is Ready to Go – Part 2

June 12, 2020

Earlier this week we spoke about Nielsen’s special study dividing consumers into three groups concerning their attitude to commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic. They classified consumers into three groups:

• Ready to go
• Proceed with caution
• Wait and see

Clearly most advertisers who are ready to jump-start their business need to focus on the ready to go segment of the population. In the first survey (4/30-5/2), this group comprised 34% of the sample. Things are moving fast, and people’s attitudes are changing. Nielsen repeated the study (5/27-5/29) and this ready to go group is now 54% of the sample, a big jump in just a month or so.

Source: Custom Nielsen study conducted 4/30-5/2 and 5/27-5/29, via an online survey, based on a weighted sample of 1000, P18+

While a majority of the population is ready to go, 46% of the sample is still playing it safer. Therefore, advertisers who want to get their message out to the more promising ready to go group need to make sure they are targeting them effectively.

Comparing the total sample to the ready to goes highlights the reason that advertisers need to focus on this segment. When asked what they plan to spend money on within a month following easing of COVID-19 restrictions, compared to the total population, the ready to go segment indexed:

• 117 for shopping
• 117 for professional services
• 126 for food and dining
• 134 for home improvements

Like the first part, what makes this second part of the study so valuable is that it also found that this ready to go portion of the population are heavy radio listeners. Compared to the total population, these groups index as follows:

• Wait and see – 18% less likely to be heavy radio listeners
• Proceed with caution – 9% less likely to be heavy radio listeners
• Ready to go – 9% more likely to be heavy radio listeners

Considering that over half of the sample is ready to go, an index of 109 for heavy radio listening is tremendous. When asked what activities they intend to do within a month after COVID-19 eases in their area, heavy radio listeners indexed:

• 153 go to bars
• 144 plan/book a vacation
• 143 shop for major purchase, such as an appliance or electronics
• 138 go to a car/truck dealership
• 118 dine out quick-serve/sit-down restaurants

Advertisers need to understand this study and how using radio can jump-start their business.

Interested in more information about convincing prospective advertisers that radio is a great buy? Reach out to us here.

-Charlie Sislen, Partner

• Tweet