On May 5, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an end to the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than three years since its original declaration.
This certainly does not minimize the tragic death of nearly 7 million people reported worldwide, or the prolonged health, economic, and societal effects that COVID-19 has had on millions of others. The official end to the pandemic does highlight the incredible development of a COVID-19 vaccine and distribution of more than 13 million doses worldwide, as of June 2023 (WHO COVID-19 Dashboard).
COVID-19 impacted virtually every aspect of culture and society, creating sharp political and cultural divides across the country. The official end of COVID-19 allows us to reflect on the differing attitudes and opinions surrounding pandemic-related topics and the impacts on consumer sentiment and behavior.
For over three years, we collected and analyzed survey data from participants across the U.S., asking questions that provided insights into how the pandemic impacted their daily lives, their willingness to implement safety precautions, in addition to their perceptions and opinions on how the government responded to the pandemic.
Since the public health emergency has officially ended, we are shifting our research focus to a broader set of social, behavioral, and economic topics and how these areas relate to current events, public health, consumer sentiment, and purchase behavior. Additionally, we are moving the home of this research to ThinkAlike Laboratories and will no longer publish our findings on COVID-19 Outlook.