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23 April 2020 – Chicago, IL – InsightsNow, a behavioral research firm, has announced an ongoing study with their proprietary Clean Label Enthusiasts® consumer research community, “COVID-19 Tracker on Clean Living Behavior.” The study provides insights into the swiftly changing landscape of clean living behaviors during the novel Coronavirus pandemic by tracking behavior pre-pandemic, current short-term shifts, and potential permanent changes. Insightsnow's Clean Label Enthusiast® (CLE) community of primary shoppers, identified to be driving the clean label movement, provided responses to give lead indicators into changing behaviors now—and those anticipated in the future.  

“By leveraging our existing community of trendsetters, we are able to find answers quickly during a time when brands must pivot quickly,” said Greg Stucky, Chief Research Officer of InsightsNow. “One of the key aspects of this study is how we are able to look deeply at a leading set of primary shoppers and evaluate their behavior over time, including pre-pandemic. We are also discovering how the current health situation is putting increased momentum behind the overall clean label movement.” 

Results show a timeline of behavioral changes in response to COVID-19.    

• Starting the week of March 9 in the U.S., the CLE community started making changes to their diets due to the novel Coronavirus. 36% of CLE were already making changes in vitamins and supplements (65%), and diet and lifestyle (48%). 
• During the last week of March, the study began to track consumer emotions regarding shopping for grocery and household items with 45% reporting frustration and worry, with satisfaction levels decreased to only 12%. By the third week of April emotions were improving with only 25% reporting frustration, and satisfaction up to 33%.  
• Higher purchase rates during the first week of April occurred in some categories, 15% buying more eggs than pre-pandemic, and 13% buying more bread products and salty snack items.  
• During the second week of April, CLE reported their day-to-day behaviors continuing to evolve. 22% utilized at home delivery of groceries most often, up from 9% pre-pandemic. There were increases in purchasing of comfort foods like desserts and sweets. 
• By the third week of April emotions were improving with only 25% reporting frustration, and satisfaction up to 33%. The percent increase in online ordering is starting to level off with 26% shopping for groceries online most often.  

Behavioral data for this ongoing report is being collected from the company’s proprietary research community of Clean Label Enthusiast® (CLE)—primary shoppers with a specific set of behaviors around the clean living movement that influence their buying decisions. Some of these behaviors include inspection of front and back product labels, ingredient beliefs about clean products, and advocating for the food industry.  This ongoing study includes 500 members of the U.S. based community, with insights gathered through qualitative engagements and quantitative surveys.