Ongoing Attitudes to Covid
September 2022
Cultural Participation MonitorWave 7 | Autumn 2022
This research is from The Audience Agency's nationwide longitudinal (ongoing) panel survey of changing views about participating in creative and cultural activities through the recent and ongoing crises, and beyond, the Cultural Participation Monitor.
Contents
Themes
Fears surrounding Covid-19 are softening, with half feeling 'back to normal' and fewer than 1 in 10 people expressing strong concern about catching the virus themselves, although over half still worry about vulnerable friends and family, while support for certain safety precautions remains high.
Concerns about catching Covid-19
Significant numbers do remain somewhat concerned about Covid-19 (henceforth Covid), with 39% ‘agreeing’ or ‘strongly agreeing’ that they are worried about catching Covid, while 55% say that they are worried about others they know falling ill with it.
- However, only 9% ‘strongly agree’ they are worried about catching Covid, which is much lower than the 13% who said so in Spring 2022.
- A slightly less reduced 15% ‘strongly agree’ that they are worried about others they know catching it, down from 18% six months ago.
- A majority of 53 % think they can avoid catching or spreading it with precautions, while 39% say they have stopped making Covid-specific lifestyle adjustments altogether - and we can speculate this is in fact far higher in practice, given that 61% say that ‘it is time for people to get back to normal’.
- That said, only a minority of 31% say that they consider the Covid pandemic to be ‘effectively over’ in the UK, although this is up from 25% in the spring.
Attitudes towards safety measures
There remains widespread support for various Covid safety measures:
- Oddly, 76% still consider ready availability of hand sanitiser indoors ‘very important’ or ‘important’, narrowly behind enhanced ventilation at 79%.
- Social distancing was the least popular measure, with only 51% rating it as ‘very important’ or ‘important’.
- Masks and ventilation were rated as much more important indoors compared to outdoors (54% cf. 36% and 79% cf.49% respectively).
There is, however, a sense that Covid’s threat is receding:
- Only 13% think the risks of catching/spreading Covid are ‘very high’ or ‘high’ from everyday activities outside the home (but 30% for indoor events).
- Looking ahead, 36% think it is ‘very likely’ that Covid will have an impact in 6 months, 18% in a year and 14% in two years.
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Cost of Living Crisis
The vast majority of respondents say that they are worried about the effects of the cost-of-living crisis on them and their household, with a whopping 92% intending to scale back on entertainment spend outside of the home as a result, especially among mid-engaged, middle-aged and less urban groups.
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Everyday Creative Participation
While financial uncertainty might make people nervous about splashing out on more expensive arts and culture activities, over 40% of people say that pursuing creative hobbies in their own time is a key interest, a trend that skews towards younger participants and has increased through the pandemic.
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Plans for Future Attendance
While willingness to attend continues to trend upwards however, people do anticipate that their future in-person participation will be less frequent than pre-pandemic, though outdoor events are an exception, and they also intend to engage with cultural activities more locally (and inexpensively) than before.
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Recent Engagement Trends
Recent arts, culture and heritage attendance has risen to an impressive 90% among respondents, with film and museums/heritage proving especially popular, particularly with families, while online arts activities continue to attract a younger and more ethnically diverse audience.
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Spend in Cultural Shops and Cafés
As audiences tighten their belts, they also plan to reduce their general spend in venues' shops and cafés, though the former looks to be harder hit than the latter, where younger and highly culturally engaged visitors express a willingness to pay slightly more for greener and more ethical alternatives.
