{"id":3270,"date":"2020-04-13T11:27:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T11:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/borderlessaccess.com\/blog\/?p=3270"},"modified":"2025-06-13T09:55:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T09:55:28","slug":"covid-19-top-concerns-for-south-african-consumers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/borderlessaccess.com\/blog\/covid-19-top-concerns-for-south-african-consumers\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19: Top Concerns For South African Consumers"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

As national lockdown extends, South Africans\u2019 greatest COVID-19-related concern is the economy.<\/strong>  This is even more top-of-mind for most citizens than concern over their family\u2019s health care needs, which features as their second most pressing concern.<\/p><\/br>\n\n\n\n

Even before COVID-19 has entered the country, only\u00a030% of South Africans had an optimistic view\u00a0of the country\u2019s economy improving within the next year. Adding that the impact of a five week lockdown plus the double whammy of Moody\u2019s downgrading the country to Junk status \u2013 and it is not surprising that concerns rise even higher.<\/p><\/br>\n\n\n\n

Income and availability of food are also pressing issues for most South Africans<\/strong> as a result of the current health crisis. Their least pressing worry is the travel limitations that the virus is imposing.<\/p><\/br>\n\n\n\n

Young and old share the same concerns alike, with older consumers finding the economy more of a worry while millennials are more concerned about their own family\u2019s personal health.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"South<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Lower to middle LSM consumers are generally more concerned about the virus and its secondary implications on their lives than are higher LSM consumers<\/strong>. Presumably due to having fewer options, these consumers are more worried about their own incomes, education options, and the state of the economy, while higher LSM consumers seem slightly less concerned about these aspects.<\/p><\/br>\n\n\n\n

High LSM consumers are more concerned than most about availability of food and, out of stocks<\/strong>. Being used to a high level of grocery accessibility, many of these consumers have not previously encountered food shortages before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"South<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Of course currently during lockdown, consumers are not going anywhere other than their own living rooms\u2026 but in the two weeks preceding lockdown, the government and media\u2019s communication was highly effective in persuading consumers to avoid highly populated areas. In those two weeks, South Africans were already avoiding restaurants, public transport, events, stadiums and gyms more than consumers in some other countries.<\/strong><\/p><\/br>\n\n\n\n

The strong local outdoor lifestyle meant that consumers did not stay away from parks as much as occurred in other countries. This was also enforced by messages on social media which suggested that parks were one of the \u2018safer\u2019 ways to engage with others in those pre-lockdown weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Places<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The efficient response of our government has set the tone for South Africans\u2019 dedicated compliance to the lockdown regulations. Worry over the situation has also contributed towards this.<\/p><\/br>\n\n\n\n

South Africans are not alone in their concerns. At a global level, consumers are united in the belief that the pandemic will negatively impact their professional, personal and travel plans<\/strong>, with less than 12% globally believing it will have no impact at all on their personal lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pandemic<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Borderless Access, a market research company<\/a>, gathered the information in this article through an online survey of over 4,500 people across 9 countries. The survey included panellists from the USA, Mexico, UK, Germany, South Africa, Nigeria, India, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, and was conducted from March 20\u201329, as most of these countries were entering national lockdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our next piece will focus on the expectations that consumer have of their brands during and post COVID-19<\/strong>. Here we\u2019ll share what brands can do to provide support and stability for consumers<\/strong> in this uncertain world.<\/p><\/br>\n\n\n\n

Borderless Access has been perfecting the practice of digital online research for many years. We have invested decades in\u00a0transitioning clients from traditional to online methodologies. At the time like this, the knee-jerk reaction is to move to online for the wrong reasons. We believe for many strong reasons that\u00a0online is the future of research\u00a0and can help you to transition to digital in a proactive rather than reactive manner. In this way, Borderless Access can help you to keep tracking your business insights, no matter the external global factors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>As national lockdown extends, South Africans\u2019 greatest COVID-19-related concern is the economy.  This is even more top-of-mind for most citizens than concern over their family\u2019s health care needs, which features as their second most pressing concern. Even before COVID-19 has entered the country, only\u00a030% of South Africans had an optimistic view\u00a0of the country\u2019s economy improving within the next year. Adding that the impact of a five week lockdown plus the double whammy of Moody\u2019s downgrading the country to Junk status \u2013 and it is not surprising that concerns rise even higher. Income and availability of food are also pressing issues for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":3287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consumer-behavior"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTop COVID-19 Concerns for South African Consumers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover the primary concerns of South African consumers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, offering valuable insights into their priorities and challenges.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/borderlessaccess.com\/blog\/covid-19-top-concerns-for-south-african-consumers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"COVID-19: Top Concerns For South African Consumers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover the primary concerns of South African consumers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, offering valuable insights into their priorities and challenges.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/borderlessaccess.com\/blog\/covid-19-top-concerns-for-south-african-consumers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Market Research Insights -Borderless Access Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-13T11:27:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-13T09:55:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/borderlessaccess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/covid-19-concerns-for-south-african-consumers.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"955\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cindy Bowdan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cindy Bowdan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/borderlessaccess.com\/blog\/covid-19-top-concerns-for-south-african-consumers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/borderlessaccess.com\/blog\/covid-19-top-concerns-for-south-african-consumers\/\",\"name\":\"Top COVID-19 Concerns for South African Consumers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/borderlessaccess.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-13T11:27:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-13T09:55:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/borderlessaccess.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7cef99a161a6dc7f1d93f063980cd0fd\"},\"description\":\"Discover the primary concerns of South African consumers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, offering valuable insights into their priorities and challenges.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/borderlessaccess.com\/blog\/covid-19-top-concerns-for-south-african-consumers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/borderlessaccess.com\/blog\/covid-19-top-concerns-for-south-african-consumers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/borderlessaccess.com\/blog\/covid-19-top-concerns-for-south-african-consumers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/borderlessaccess.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"COVID-19: Top Concerns For South African Consumers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/borderlessaccess.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/borderlessaccess.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Market Research Insights - Borderless Access Blog\",\"description\":\"Gain fresh perspectives and insights on global trends for your business growth. 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