Pandemic Will Keep Most at Home and Online Shopping Elevated; 15% Plan to Buy New TVs in Advance
CHICAGO, January 3, 2022 – Numerator, a data and tech company serving the market research space, has published findings from a consumer sentiment study to understand how people plan to watch and spend for Super Bowl LVI. Overall, consumers indicate they are not ready for a return to normal due to Omicron, and most consumers plan to watch this year’s Super Bowl at home. Online shopping behaviors remain elevated as more than 1 in 4 plan to shop online for their Super Bowl groceries for the second consecutive year.
Three-quarters of Americans plan to watch the Super Bowl – and most plan to stay home. 55% of consumers say they will watch the game at home alone, or with members of their household, up five points from previous years.
- 2% of consumers plan to watch the game from a bar or restaurant
- Consumers ages 65+ were the most likely age group to say they will not watch this year’s game (30% of respondents), and Gen X was the least likely to say so at 21%.
Consumers are not expecting a return to normal times yet. 62% of consumers expect the Omicron variant to affect their Super Bowl plans, with more than a quarter (26%) expecting the COVID-19 impact to be significant.
Almost as many viewers will watch for the commercials as the game itself. 45% of viewers say they are looking forward to watching the football game, while 42% are excited for the commercials. Other Super Bowl rituals follow closely behind, with 39% of consumers looking forward to gathering with others, 38% to eating and drinking, and 36% to the halftime show.
Super Bowl Spending Insights:
More than 7 in 10 viewers expect inflation to affect their Super Bowl shopping plans, and one quarter is expecting the impact of rising prices to be significant. These consumers have already made plans to change their shopping behaviors in response: 38% say they will seek out promotions, 27% will switch to lower-priced brands, 23% will shop at different retailers, 19% will buy smaller sized products, 19% will avoid certain products, and 10% will buy in bulk to save money.
Avid sports fans are more likely to buy televisions and kitchen products to prepare for the Super Bowl. 18% of avid sports fans say they plan to buy a TV or other electronics in advance of this year’s game, compared to 15% of Super Bowl viewers. 23% of avid sports fans indicate they will make tableware or kitchen equipment purchases before the Super Bowl, compared to 20% of consumers.
Despite fewer gatherings, 7 in 10 consumers plan to spend the same or more as last year. 56% of consumers say they will spend the same as usual on food and drinks for the Super Bowl, while 15% plan to spend more, and 13% plan to spend less.
- 17% say they will not make any Super Bowl purchases, and of this group, 5% have typically made Super Bowl purchases in the past.
The majority of viewers plan to buy alcohol for the game, with beer as the clear winner – especially among avid sports fans. Nearly seven in 10 Super Bowl watchers (69%) plan to purchase alcoholic beverages. Almost half of consumers (45%) plan to buy beer, which jumps to 52% when looking specifically at consumers who identify as avid sports fans.
- Nearly a quarter (23%) of consumers plan to buy wine for the Super Bowl, followed by spirits (20%), hard seltzers (14%), and ready-to-drink cocktails (12%).
- While hard seltzers and ready-to-drink cocktails appear at the bottom of the list, both significantly over index with Gen X and younger Millennials, showing potential for a future shift in Super Bowl alcoholic beverage share.
Online grocery buying behaviors are sticking. 27% plan to order their Super Bowl groceries online (compared to 28% in 2021), with 16% planning to order for pickup (e.g. Click and Collect), and 11% for delivery.
The 2022 Numerator Super Bowl survey was fielded to 1,841 consumers between 1/12/2022 and 1/18/2022. Numerator panelists self-identify for demographic and psychographic attributes.
About Numerator
Numerator is a data and tech company bringing speed and scale to market research. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Numerator has more than 2,600 employees worldwide. The company blends proprietary data with advanced technology to create unique insights for the market research industry that has been slow to change. The majority of Fortune 100 companies are Numerator clients.
