Signals #1: Understanding the coronavirus crisis

The defining event of 2020 is the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) across the world. Within two months we have moved from the first deaths being announced in China to the World Health Organization labelling the outbreak as a pandemic. The crisis sees governments, companies and individuals all having to respond to an unprecedented set of challenges, as the implications of this “once in a century” event start take shape.

There are so many topics to watch and monitor over the coming weeks and months. Governments will be under pressure to lead and inform. Businesses – large and small – have to make the right decisions for their employees and their customers. Meanwhile, people’s behaviours will be changing, in ways which may have longer-term implications beyond the immediate circumstances of the crisis.

Ipsos is committed to helping our clients navigate with confidence our world of rapid change, and this digest has been prepared to help us all better understand the dynamics of the current outbreak. It sees us bring together our latest research on coronavirus and draws on our surveys, social media monitoring and the analysis of our teams around the world. We have sought to highlight our key learnings so far and started to identify how attitudes and behaviours around the world may be changing.