"Ready to Go" Americans Are Listening To Radio

As vaccinations become more widespread, America continues to reemerge from the pandemic. From employee recruitment to consumer confidence and media consumption, life is beginning to return to normal. 

To help advertisers determine a path forward, CUMULUS MEDIA | Westwood One analyzed a recently released Nielsen study for this week's blog to uncover which media audiences have the greatest purchase propensity.

• Nielsen consumer study: More Americans are “ready to go” than ever: In the March 2021 study, 61% of consumers considered themselves “ready to go,” up from 53% in October of last year.
• The “ready-to-go” segment perceives less risk, feels safer, and indicates their cities are emerging from crisis: 95% of the “ready to go” segment agree that people are starting to resume normal activities. 92% point positively to stores' reopening while 90% view their cities and towns emerging from the crisis.
• The “ready-to-go” segment is an attractive consumer group made up of AM/FM radio listeners: In the “ready-to-go” group, advertisers can find a desirable consumer group that over-indexes in having children aged 2-11 (117), having an annual income of $100K+ (113), and working outside of the home (114). Compared to the average, the “ready-t-go” consumers are 5% more likely to listen to AM/FM radio in a typical day.
• Travel: Podcast listeners and heavy AM/FM radio listeners are more likely to plan/book a vacation versus the average consumer: According to the Nielsen consumer study, 24% of heavy AM/FM radio listeners intend to plan or book a vacation within a month after COVID-19 eases in their area, +41% more than heavy TV viewers. Podcast listeners are even more likely with 33% saying they intend to plan or book within a month.
• Hotels: Podcast listeners and heavy AM/FM radio listeners are +57% more likely to spend more on hotel reservations within a month of COVID-19 restrictions' easing versus the average consumer.
• Auto: Podcast listeners (+43%) and AM/FM radio listeners (+18%) are more likely to make an auto purchase in the next 12 months versus the average consumer and heavy TV viewers.
• Restaurants: Heavy AM/FM radio listeners and podcast listeners are more likely to dine out: 63% of heavy AM/FM radio listeners intend to dine out at either a quick serve or sit-down restaurant within a month. More than half of podcast listeners also intend to dine out after COVID-19 restrictions ease.