Is the Idea of Re-entering Society Drumming Up Excitement or Nervousness?

Just as Stay-At-Home regulations were starting to become second nature, many states started outlining re-entry plans. But are customers even planning to frequent the businesses being opened right now? To gain a better understanding of how Americans feel the Stay-At-Home orders were handled and whether they actually feel ready to venture out, we surveyed 1,367 of our members aged 18+ from May 5-6.

When it comes to who should have been responsible for spearheading Stay-At-Home regulations, the majority of our respondents (57%) felt it should have been a state by state effort rather than the federal government leading the charge (43%).

As for how assertive they perceive their state’s approach to recent safety regulations, six-in-ten (61%) feel their state has been “appropriately proactive.” 

By state, those living in Florida or Texas, in particular, cite criticisms that their state was “not proactive enough” with Stay-At-Home regulations (39-45%). Bucking the trend,  33% of Michigan residents quip that their state was “too proactive.”

As for how they feel about returning to group settings within the next few weeks, the slight majority expresses hesitation, indicating they are either “not very confident” (34%) or “not at all confident” (19%) re-entering society.

By generation, Gen Z is the only cohort where the majority feel either “extremely” (15%) or “somewhat” confident (42%) returning to group settings in the next few weeks.

Representative comments from those who are wary about being out and about in the coming weeks include:

“Because of added testing, my state has not reached a peak. I do not believe that the governor of the state listened to experts, and used her own data which put the state at risk. There are people not practicing social distancing, and there are people who are not wearing masks in places that tend to be crowded.” (Male 24-29) 

“If we return to greater activity too soon, cases will rebound and get out of control again far more quickly than people realize, and it’s not just their own life the people going out are affecting. They affect us all.” (Female 30-34) 

“I’ve started going back to the grocery store out of necessity, and the behavior I see from people is not encouraging. People are not wearing masks, not distancing, not following the posted “one way” signs in grocery store aisles.” (Male 30-34) 

“Because people can’t be trusted to do the right thing, and I don’t want to risk being infected because of other people being stupid. If everyone used proper protection, then I’d be more open.” (Male 40-49) 

“COVID-19 is still very much around and spreading, and will only spread more as restrictions are lifted.”  (Female 40-49) 

“Things have started opening in my area and reports are saying people are not social distancing and not wearing masks. I will not start frequenting unnecessary places for a while still.” (Female 50-54) 

“I feel the scientists and politicians do not know enough about COVID-19 to make a safe decision at this time. We don’t have a vaccine. I’m very hesitant to go about like I did prior to COVID-19.” (Female 60-74) 

Stay tuned for a follow-up post delving into the precautions these respondents would like to see businesses take before they will feel comfortable patronizing them in-person.