How Has COVID-19 Impacted Australians’ Decision-Making?

To say the world has changed because of COVID-19 is an understatement. The coronavirus pandemic shut down country after country, forced governments to reassess and restructure priorities, and made businesses rethink their systems and strategies.

On an individual level, COVID-19 has compelled people to reflect upon their own priorities, reevaluate and revise their plans, and engage in more analyses before making decisions.

But how exactly has COVID-19 impacted decision-making among Australians?

To answer this question, “The Choosi Choices Report” was created to reflect the realities Australians are facing when it comes to making both big and small decisions.

Insights from “The Choosi Choices Report”

The Choosi Choices Report for June 2020 presents data collected through a quantitative online survey involving 5,073 Australian respondents age 18 and above. This age range covers participants from Generation Z through to the pre-boomer generation.

The report shares the following information on the survey participants, which was comprised of 49.2% male and 50.8% female:

Generation Z: 10.5%

Generation Y: 29.4%

Generation X: 23.5%

Baby boomers: 31.2%

Pre-boomers: 5.4%

Summary of key findings

New priorities

Seventy-eight percent of the survey participants choose to be healthier. Instead of prioritising their career (which people were wont to pre-COVID), 76.2% of the respondents choose health and well-being, while for 72.1% of the respondents, family comes first.

Roots of uncertainty

There are two things that make decision-making difficult for Australians — that is, lack of knowledge and information overload.

This seemingly paradoxical situation is understandable, as people tend to put off decision-making until more information is available to them. Based on the findings, 65% conduct in-depth research before making a decision.

However, once they do their research, they realise that the amount of information can be overwhelming, especially when there are conflicting sources. This is probably why 53.3% of the participants say that making a choice is more difficult now because of the amount of information available. Moreover, 78.4% of the respondents agree that uncertainty about the future has further complicated decision-making.

Effects of having too many choices

There are so many options available to people today — in terms of food, clothes, gadgets, etc. — and freedom of choice has expanded immensely. However, the unexpected impact of too much choice is already causing problems, as reflected in the following findings:

50.6% feel more stressed due to having too many choices

41.4% think that more choices have made their lives more difficult

27.7% say too much choice impacts their happiness negatively

13.4% (1 in 10 Australians) strongly agree that having more choices made their lives better

71.8% (7 in 10 Australians) suffer from information overload

66.8% feel strongly pressured to make ‘perfect’ decisions

56.3% worry about making wrong decisions

Making life decisions

When it comes to identifying the most stressful decisions Australians have had to make:

51.3% identify major financial decisions

32.5% identify emotional decisions

28.1% identify making relationship choices

People also struggle with trivial decisions like eating healthy, saving or spending money, what to watch on Netflix, and what to wear.

Ethical choices

The volume of information available also shows that Australians are making conscious choices to do good.

85.9% choose more ethical options

90.6% agree that consumers should always have ethical alternatives

When it comes to purpose over profit, 84.3% of Generation Z respondents value it, whilst 70.4% of baby boomers hold the same view.

Based on the findings presented in the report, Australians in general have become more reflective in making choices — which can actually result in better long-term decisions.