Hygienists, Caregivers, Oblivious and Other COVID-19 Confined Canadians: Market Segmentation Analysis of Their Routine Activities


This study examined routine activities reported in a survey sample of 4,600 adult Canadians aged 15 years old and over during the COVID-19 confinement period of May 4-10, 2020 and collected by Statistics Canada. A marketing segmentation analysis was carried out using a roster of 26 typical weekly activity items leading to the extraction of typical activity patterns and the identification of six major segments present in the Canadian adult population: "Hygienists" (25%), "Caregivers"(14%), "Sound Body Minders" (23%), "Home-centric" (19%), "Media-centric" (9%) and "Oblivious" (10%). Weekly activities included a wide range of actions such as washing hands, avoiding crowds, watching T.V., internet browsing, exercising, alcohol consumption and others. The six population segments were identified using a combination of principal component and k-means cluster statistical analysis. Marketing segmentation is a useful tool for decision makers to categorize population members and, by doing so, facilitate better public campaigns, help design messages and implement changes that can promote more efficient ways to deal with the various societal consequences of the COVID-19 confinement.

Full study available at:   https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/6vumh/

COVID-19 Confinement in Canada