1. Why Some People Can’t Resist Crowds Despite The Pandemic
With the COVID-19 pandemic still gripping the globe and tens of thousands of new cases appearing every day, the choice to march, dine out, or join other social gatherings is complicated. While denial that the disease could hit us plays a part in some of these decisions, even people who acknowledge the danger of contracting the coronavirus keep risking social interactions. An evolutionary paradox that compels us to be social may be to blame.
2. How Exactly Do You Catch Covid19? The Growing Consensus
Six months into the coronavirus crisis, there’s a growing consensus about a central question: How do people become infected? It’s not common to contract Covid-19 from a contaminated surface, scientists say. And fleeting encounters with people outdoors are unlikely to spread the coronavirus. These emerging findings are helping businesses and governments devise reopening strategies to protect public health while getting economies going again.
3. An Early View of Post-COVID19 Discretionary Spending in Asia
Discretionary spending in some retail categories plummeted by as much as 90 percent at the peak of COVID-19 lockdown efforts aimed at easing the spread of the virus. Given that discretionary spending comprises roughly one-fifth to one-fourth of many countries’ GDP, we sought to understand how consumers in the most populous countries in Asia—China, India, and Indonesia—are thinking about such expenditures, as portions of these economies begin to reopen. Between April 28 and May 10, 2020, we surveyed more than 3,600 consumers across 91 cities about their pre- and midpandemic purchases and postpandemic plans in a broad range of categories, including apparel, personal electronics, domestic appliances, and vehicles.
4. Ready, set, go: Reinventing the organization for speed in the post-COVID-19 era
When the coronavirus pandemic erupted, companies had to change. Many business-as-usual approaches to serving customers, working with suppliers, and collaborating with colleagues—or just getting anything done—would have failed. They had to increase the speed of decision making, while improving productivity, using technology and data in new ways, and accelerating the scope and scale of innovation. And it worked. Organizations in a wide range of sectors and geographies have accomplished difficult tasks and achieved positive results in record time.
5. What makes Asia−Pacific’s Generation Z different?
Gen Zers (born 1996–2012) are coming of age. By 2025, the group will make up a quarter of the Asia–Pacific (APAC) region’s population—the same as millennials (born 1980–1995). And as Gen Zers mature, they will make and spend more money. Although Gen Zers share many qualities with millennials, it’s wrong to think of them simply as a younger version. Generation Z has its own unique characteristics. For one thing, unlike millennials, Gen Zers are entering into adulthood during a global pandemic. Still, the demographics are clear: by 2025, the two cohorts will compose half of APAC consumers.