Qatar World Cup 2022 – consumer insight
It’s the FIFA men’s World Cup! This year, the games are being held in Qatar during our winter. We wanted to find out how consumers are reacting – are they watching, and how do they feel about the event? Read on for our research summary!
Are Consumers Watching the World Cup this year?
42% of the nationally-representative Vypr Community said that they’ll be watching.
A separate 13% said that they’ll watch the highlights, and 17% will watch if there’s nothing else on.
However, 29% said they won’t be watching at all. Along this line, we found that there is mixed sentiment around the cup.
Many consumers are not feeling positive about this year’s cup
When asking our sample what they think about the World Cup this year, we found a mixed bag of responses – only 35% felt positive, and a substantial 38% of responses were negative.
These negative responses mainly pertain to disappointment in the choice of location, and the odd timing to hold the tournament.
As the tournament is being held in the winter, we also wanted to find out where people will be watching.
Where Will Consumers Watch?
The majority (79%) will be watching at home, compared to only 30% at a pub/bar, 26% at a friend or family member’s house, and 11% at an outdoor venue.
We followed up to ask why most are watching at home and found that the cost of living crisis is having an impact, as it’s making going out too expensive for many.
Consumers also thought that it’s far more comfortable to watch indoors at this time of year in the UK.
The World Cup’s timing lining up with the Christmas season is also affecting behaviour. One response received was as follows – “It’s around Christmas time and I feel I will have lots more activities to be doing I also feel the pubs and bars will be busy”.
As further evidence, we found that there is much more excitement for Christmas than the games – 60% of consumers are looking forward to Christmas, compared to just 24% looking forward to the World Cup.
People are also not hosting many get-togethers this year
The Winter World Cup, combined with the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, means consumer appetite to get together has been reduced. Only 18% of our sample said that they’ll be attending a get-together/party, and an even smaller 9% said that they’d be hosting one.
Lastly, consumers plan to celebrate the games with specific purchases…
For those watching the games, food and drink is an important aspect of the occasion.
61% said they’d purchase snacks, 60% alcohol, 51% takeaway foods, 47% soft drinks, and 42% will purchase food to cook at home, like wings and burgers.
Consumers will also make non-food purchases – 22% voted that they’ll buy football flags, and another 22% will buy football shirts.
Evidenced by the fact only 10% voted for none of the options, most consumers are making purchases specifically to celebrate the games. This has led to lots of opportunities, but products need to be strategically optimised to avoid clashes with Christmas.
—
Want to get robust consumer insights to optimise winning products? Try now with a free research question: https://vyprclients.com/free-steer/