Survey results show big contrast with general population

This month's issue of the ISHES newsletter reveals the results of two surveys conducted by the Institute for Studies in Happiness, Economy and Society (ISHES) in May 2020 on lifestyle changes during the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In Japan, the state of emergency was lifted on May 25 across the country, including the Tokyo metropolitan area. We felt it was a rare opportunity to do the surveys and learn how people spent their time in the midst of COVID-19, while it was still fresh in their minds.

We conducted nearly-identical online surveys targeting two separate audiences.

The respondents of the first survey were about 500 people nationwide. It sampled people based on demographics, including gender, age, and where they lived (large/small/medium cities and rural areas) in proportion to the national population (survey outsourced to Macromill, Inc.). We refer to this as our general survey as it targeted the general public. It was conducted on May 29 and 30, 2020.

Respondents of the other survey were 784 people who were gathered by inviting them to take the survey via the environmental email news service and the Facebook page of Junko Edahiro, the president of ISHES. We refer to this as our "high-interest group survey" because we believe the respondents are highly aware of environmental and social issues. It was conducted from May 24 to June 9.

We expected to see a difference between the general and high-interest group surveys, but the gap in actual results was far beyond our expectations. Here we report based on the survey results about changes in how people obtain food, and new things they have started or are spending more time doing.

How people obtain food: Bigger changes in high-interest group

The survey consisted of multiple-choice and open-ended questions. For example, one question was, "Have you changed the ways you purchase food for your family during COVID-19?" Response options were "changed," "changed somewhat," "not changed much" and "not changed." Those who chose "changed" or "changed somewhat" were asked to respond to open-ended questions about the changes (see results of multiple-choice questions at end of this article).

In the general survey, for the question about how they purchase food, 35% of respondents answered "changed" or "changed somewhat." In contrast, 50% of the high-interest group chose those answers, which is 15 percentage points higher than the general respondents. Further differences were observed in how they answered the open-ended answers.

High-interest group tended to shop less often and make purchases that support someone

To analyze the open-ended questions, we used what is known as "co-occurrence network analysis." This method examines patterns or the combinations of words used in respondent' answers. For example, in the survey, many respondents answered that they go shopping less frequently. The four words "go," "shopping," "less," and "frequently" were often used together and therefore identified as a pattern.

For the open-ended questions of the general survey respondents, analysis revealed patterns for "reduce the number of shopping trips," "buy locally," "spend less time shopping," "buy groceries online," "buy in bulk to stock up" "buy from co-ops and delivery services," and "buy frozen foods, boxed lunches or take-out food." Japan was not in a complete lockdown, but these results show clearly that the Japanese are trying to reduce the number of shopping trips.

In contrast, although the high-interest group showed similar patterns with "buy groceries online," "buy from co-ops and delivery services," and "reduce the number of shopping trips," it was also common to observe patterns of making purchases that support someone, including "support producers," "support COVID-19 victims," "direct orders from producers," and "buy locally-grown vegetables." These patterns were not apparent in the general survey. Other patterns observed were "eat with family" and "cook at home."

The implication is that high-interest group is shifting toward supportive purchasing and reducing the number of shopping trips during COVID-19. Shedding some light on these qualitative changes is a significant achievement of the surveys.

Did you start something new or spend more time doing something during COVID-19? More than 80% of high-interest group say "Yes"

Next, we introduce some other interesting results. In the surveys, 44% of general respondents and 86% of the high-interest respondents responded "yes" to the question, "Did you start something new or spend more time doing something during COVID-19?" The high-interest group was nearly twice as likely to answer "yes."

High-interest group started communicating more and investing in the self

In response to the open question "What specifically have you started?" the general respondents show a pattern of hygiene-related actions such as "sanitizing, washing hands, and wearing a mask." There were also patterns like "reading books, studying, and doing hobbies," "playing video games and watching TV," "exercising, cooking, organizing things at home," and "studying at home."

In contrast, the high-interest group does not show a pattern of hygiene-related actions. Instead, there is a communication-related pattern, including "pay more attention to communicating with others" and "dialogue in a local community," as well as investing in oneself, such as "online seminars" and "online courses and events." Other patterns include "spending time with family," "taking care of children," "gardening and decluttering," "organizing personal affairs," "growing vegetables on the balcony," "gathering and sending information through social media," "documenting things," and "watching TV and movies, listening to music."

What do you want to continue doing post-COVID? High-interest group says "All of the above"

When asked, "Of the things you newly started, what do you want to continue after COVID-19?" the general respondents show a pattern of hygiene-related actions such as "washing hands and sanitizing." Other patterns are almost the same as the answers about things newly started mentioned above. There is also a pattern of answers like "going back to my old life," although less common.

In contrast, the answers of the high-interest group show patterns that they want to continue "self-development," "social and environmental issues," "online seminars and telework," "volunteering," and "online networking" after the coronavirus situation. There is also a pattern of "all of the above," which is in contrast to the general group response about "going back to my old life."

Who is in the high-interest group?

In short, it is clear that during the pandemic the high-interest group has shifted its ways of purchasing food to locally-based or supportive buying. We can also see they think they will join online seminars for personal development and learn more about social issues in the post-COVID age. We noticed similar tendencies in responses to other questions in this survey.

So, who is in the high-interest group? Unfortunately, this time we did not collect data on their attributes, but whoever they are, respondents in the high-interest group are definitely advanced in their sensitivity to environmental and social issues, according to the patterns of their responses.

According to the Diffusion of Innovations theory by Everett Rogers, innovators, which account for 2.5% of the population, are the first to adopt new ways of thinking and products that have not been around yet, followed by early adopters, which account for 13.5%. When this 16% of the population adopts new ways of thinking and products, the possibility of spreading to the whole population is said to be increasing. Assuming the high-interest group survey represents innovators and early adopters, we could say that the changes in this group can foretell upcoming changes in society.

We will all have the challenge of building a post-COVID-19 world. The results of the high-interest group survey suggest there are future prospects for a happy, sustainable society that goes beyond business as usual. Do we see COVID-19 as just a temporary problem, or as an opportunity to create a new future? Can we boost the circulation of local economies and create a highly resilient society? The future will depend on our choices.

Reference: Questions and answers (multiple-choice questions only; figures in parentheses are percentages)

1. Have you changed how you obtain food?
General group: Changed (7) Changed somewhat (27) Not changed much (49) Not changed (18)
High-interest group: Changed (15) Changed somewhat (35) Not changed much (33) Not changed (17)

2. Has your amount of free time increased?
General group: Increased (17), Increased somewhat (24), Neither (46), Decreased somewhat (8), Decreased (4)
High-interest group: Increased (44), Increased somewhat (25), Neither (18), Decreased somewhat (7), Decreased (6)

3. Have you started something new? Or have you increased the amount of time you spend more on something?
General group: Yes (44), No (56)
High-interest group: Yes (86), No (14)

4. Have your relationships with others changed?
General group: Changed (20) Changed somewhat (37) Not changed much (30) Not changed (13)
High-interest group: Changed (27) Changed somewhat (43) Not changed much (23) Not changed (7)

5. Has your happiness level increased?
General group: Increased (3) Increased somewhat (10) Neither (48) Decreased somewhat (25) Decreased (15)
High-interest group: Increased (14) Increased somewhat (30) Neither (30) Decreased somewhat (20) Decreased (7)