Here’s What Listeners Are Thinking

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Understanding the mindset of the consumer has always been important for advertisers. However, during these times, what resonated with consumers pre-COVID may no longer be relevant. How a consumer currently feels, their concerns and their trust has never been more important for advertisers to recognize than now.

It is without question that consumers have a great number of concerns. They are concerned about the physical and mental health of family members and friends. They are also experiencing a wide range of emotions, from fear to optimism.

Even with all this uncertainty, consumers believe that this event will end. According to online survey of over 20,000 radio listeners, more than half of radio listeners believe that this crisis will end but things will be different.

As noted before, advertising during these difficult times matters, because people continue to shop. Based on this same survey, nearly 9 in 10 adults plan on shopping for groceries and 6 in 10 plan on purchasing gas for the car. Other purchases include pharmacy, meals from restaurants and liquor or beer.

Despite shifts in daily routines, radio listeners continue to tune into their favorite radio station. They are listening across devices and platforms – on smart speakers, via apps and on a regular radio. Surprised? Contrary to popular opinion, nearly 80% of survey respondents use a working radio in their homes that they use.

Listeners trust the stations that they tune into – 48% trust their station, which is just six points shy of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and NIH (National Institutes of Health), according to Radio Listeners’ Behavior During the COVID-19 Crisis – an online survey of over 20,000 radio listeners conducted by Jacobs Media. They tune in to radio for the important reasons they always have – to listen to music, the morning show and the radio station personalities on throughout the day that they have always tuned into – because radio matters. Radio delivers a balance of information and humor that listeners need during these times.

Marshall McLuhan stated that “the medium is the message.” As a trusted source of information, radio is an integral part of consumers lives – especially during these most unusual days. Understanding the mindset of the consumer has always been important, but even more so during these times. Knowing what the radio listener is thinking is just as important what they are doing.

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