Kantar research (19 - 21 March) finds that:
- 71% of people in G7 say their personal income has or will be impacted by coronavirus. This is highest in Italy (85%), the US (75%) and Canada (75%).
- Almost three quarters of people in the G7 (73%) are very or fairly concerned with how the coronavirus may affect their own health. 8 in 10 (82%) of people in G7 are very or fairly concerned with how the coronavirus may affect the health of family and friends, with a maximum of 93% in Italy
- TV news said to be most trusted source of reliable information about the virus in France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Great Britain, whereas it is said to be government in Canada and healthcare provider in the US
- Self-isolation is being exercised by majorities in France (85%), Italy (75%), Canada (67%), USA (64%) and GB (43%)
Kantar conducted this G7 citizen impact and public opinion study across Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Great Britain and the United States of America. Conducted online to support social distancing protocols, the study asked questions on personal response, personal impact, personal financial impact, perceptions of and understanding of government advice, perceptions of government response, most trusted information source and perceptions of potential interventions to the virus.
“We are committed to providing the evidence to contribute to the quality of public debate and public policy development. This research provides a unique look at the situation in society, using research over last few days with over 7,000 citizens and understanding how citizens are viewing their governments handling of the crisis to date,” said Dr Michelle Harrison, Global CEO of Kantar’s Public Division.
“Measuring the economic impact at the household level in terms of economic impact, and with this new understanding of how supportive and compliant citizens are across the G7 to government recommendations is crucial for policy to be able to respond and societies to be able to recover sustainably.”
Key findings from this G7 citizen impact study include:
Public opinion on the financial impact
70% of people in the G7 state that coronavirus has or will impact their household income : 82% Italy, 76% in Canada, 74% in the US, 70% in Great Britain, 65% in Japan and France and 58% in Germany.
However, three in ten people in the G7 say that they do not expect coronavirus to have a financial impact on them personally. This is highest amongst people in Germany (46%), Japan (35%) and France (34%).
Public’s most trusted information source
TV news is stated to be the most trusted information source to provide reliable information about coronavirus in France (33%), Germany (31%), Italy (37%), Japan (46%) and Great Britain (28%).
Perceptions of government effectiveness and international cooperation
Public approval of government response highest in Italy, where the public health impact of the virus is currently the heaviest – 76% of people in Italy say they somewhat or strongly approve of their national government’s response to coronavirus pandemic.
When asked about the cooperation between countries globally in response to the pandemic, 71% of people in Canada rate this as very good or fairly good, compared to 65% in the US, 62% in Great Britain, 54% in France, 45% in Germany and 37% in Italy and Japan. This may reflect the recent history of the virus’ spread geographically.
Perceived impact on public services and preparedness
People in Canada, Germany and Great Britain are most likely to think that the public services in their country are prepared to cope with the epidemic and its consequences. People in France are the most sceptical:
- 65% in Canada say very or quite well prepared
- 57% in GB
- 56% in Germany
- 47% in the US
- 44% in Italy
- 43% in Japan
- 33% in France
Personal actions and effectiveness of response to coronavirus
- 68% of people in G7 say they have started ‘social distancing’. This is highest in Canada and Italy (85%) and lowest in Japan (28%);
- 27% of people in the G7 say they have started wearing a mask. This is highest in Japan (65%) and Italy (62%);
- 68% across the G7 are avoiding visits to pubs, cafes and restaurants when possible;
- 54% are avoiding public transport when possible;
- 55% are avoiding visits to elderly and vulnerable relatives and friends.
Want to learn more? Register for our related webinar on Thursday 26 March at 3pm GMT.
Methodological information
The survey data and information on the methodology can be found here.
A total of 7,005 interviews were conducted online among adults (16+) living in the G7 nations of Canada (1,000), France (1,000), Germany (1,004), Italy (1,000), Japan (1,000), Great Britain (1,001) and the USA (1,000) between the 19th and 21st March 2020. Interviews were conducted online using the Kantar online access panel as the sample source.
The data was weighted to match population totals for age, gender and education for each country. For the results across all G7 nations – the countries have been weighted according to their population sizes.
Any use of this research must cite Kantar as the source.