Essential evidence and behaviour design to support the COVID-19 response

Verian (then Kantar Public) produced what we believe to be the first assessment across the G7 of the economic impact at the household level of Covid 19. Using our digital infrastructure to reach many thousands of citizens, we were able to convene an on-line meeting of many hundreds of international government officials and policy makers in March 2020 to share our findings. This was part of a diverse programme of work during 2020 and 2021 to support governments across the end to end spectrum of knowledge needs and required behavioural tools. This included population level sampling and biomeasure collection for Covid 19 prevalence measures; and the creation of communications to support adherence to mask wearing in public transport and critical infrastructure. 

Alongside this, in the UK we established Inside Lives to give our clients access to detailed insights about the way citizens and businesses were experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, the national lockdowns and their views on the government's response. The team created an ongoing online community that provided longitudinal qualitative insights into responses to the pandemic. Across 12 weeks, the community that included parents and key workers, completed a video diary and responded to tracking questions.  

Impact 

The insights provided perspectives on a wide range of policy issues, including views on returning to use public transport, home schooling, flexible working, sustainability, household finances, trust in scientific information and priorities for the recovery.  

The community was designed to include a diverse range of life stages and circumstances – including people who lost employment and those living alone – as well as small and medium business owners drawn from a variety of sectors. The COVID-19 pandemic presented policy makers and government communicators with unprecedented challenges and the Inside Lives community provided rich, near real-time feedback on the COVID-19 experience of the public in the UK to support the recovery.