76% of Brits have altered their behaviour in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

Behavioural findings:

• Nearly half (48%) have changed their personal hygiene habits and just under half (46%) have stopped shaking hands with people. Naturally people are more likely to have done the easy things though – compare these numbers to 17% who have stopped using transport and 14% who have worked from home more often.

• (Claimed) stockpiling is apparently lower than you might expect – 18% say they’ve stockpiled food and 16% say they’ve stockpiled toiletries, toilet roll or medicines.

• Over a third (39%) have avoided being in crowded places.

More general demographic findings:

• Younger people, especially 18-24 year olds, are more likely to say that they feel overwhelmed, significantly more so than all other age groups (34%)

• At the time of surveying, people are predominately worried about the potential impact which coronavirus might have on their physical health (31%), as opposed to other impacts such as household financial situation (26%) or work prospects (20%)

• As you might expect, younger people are more likely to be worried about the impact on their financial situation – 1 in 10 (11%) of 18-34 year olds are ‘extremely worried’ (vs. just 1% of 65+)

• Those who are working are significantly more likely to be worried about the impact on their financial situation than those who are retired (26% vs. 16%).

• Apart from those on ‘Up to 14k a year’ who are the most worried about the impact on their finances (37%), there’s not actually that much difference in how worried people are on other income levels.


• That said, a pretty hefty 75% of those who said that they currently feel negative about their household finances are worried about the impact that CV is going to have – 38% are extremely worried.

• Renters are significantly more worried than homeowners (36% of renters worried vs 20% who own their house outright, or 25% who own their house with a mortgage)

• The level of worry around the impact on current physical health really does not differ much by age group. 18-34: 31% worried, 18-44: 29% worried, 45-64: 33% worried, 65%+: 34% worried

• Concerns about coronavirus and the impact it will have on people’s mental health is more of an issue with younger age groups. A third of 18-24s and 25-34s (31% and 34% respectively) are worried about this, with 1 in 10 extremely worried. For older age groups its about 20% worried, e.g. 22% of 45-54s, 22% of 55-64s and just 9% of 65+

*Walnut Unlimited interviewed a nationally representative sample of 2011 GB adults aged 18+. Fieldwork was conducted between 13th -15th March 2020.


* For further comment contact: Thomas.Walsh@walnutunlimited.com or call 020 7845 8327.

*Please refer to the statistics as nationally representative and cite Walnut Unlimited as the source of the data. *Please make note of the date and time research took place. For any additional findings or for more details around a specific point, please get in touch as we may be able to get an answer for you. For further comment contact: Thomas.Walsh@walnutunlimited.com About Walnut Unlimited: Walnut Unlimited is more than a market research agency, they are the human understanding agency. They uncover human insights that help bring global brands closer to understanding people for better business decisions. Through innovative thinking, they use no-nonsense science drawing on specialisms in neuroscience and behavioural psychology and economics. They work across retail and customer experience, technology, financial, FMCG, brand and communications. Information about Walnut Unlimited can be found here: www.walnutunlimited.com