At Spark Emotions, we wanted to truly understand how people are feeling on a monthly basis and in this month, we focus on February. Throughout the year, we focus in on different topics by month depending on what is important to the general public. For February, we spoke to over 1,000 people to understand their mood, emotions and what plans they have for the month ahead.
How the UK is feeling about February
February is the month to celebrate Valentine’s Day, however, this year romance will be particularly difficult since the country is in another lockdown with even heavier restrictions. Not only does this mean Valentine’s Day will be spent at home, but that new year fitness push is limited due to gym closures and travel bans. As the UK enters its second month in lockdown, we wanted to know how people were planning to celebrate Valentine’s Day and discover more about their exercise behaviours in lockdown.
The February paper brings you an understanding of the general mood of the nation by understanding how people are really feeling in the United Kingdom; how the UK plans to celebrate Valentine’s Day and how they feel about exercising in a national lockdown.
There were many events in January that would have influenced how UK adults are feeling in February. The UK was put into a third lockdown that included the closure of schools and universities which may go on for months. A new, more infectious, strain of the virus was discovered, and the UK was hit with flooding in the wake of storm Christoph. Despite this, some good news came from the success of the vaccination program as over 10 million people received their first dose of vaccinations by the 4th of February.
As the UK came to terms with the lockdown, people were feeling worried but hopeful as the vaccinations took up momentum. In February, this hope is continuing and optimism is increasing but boredom is setting in over lockdown.
Despite the emotion of ‘satisfied’ the continuing lockdown has pulled down emotions leaving the UK with lower than ever levels of Happiness, Excitement and Control. Typically, we would expect levels to be higher for February as people look towards spring.
How can you help
While the UK has been through lockdowns before, people may be finding this one particularly hard as the weather is poor and the days are shorter so retailers should look to ease the boredom.
People don’t have much to look forward to since hospitality venues are closed for Valentine’s Day so there will be an opportunity to inspire people to experiment with food at home. This will also mean more couples will be spending the event with their children so give ideas and suggestions on how to include the family.
If you would like to see our full February Mood of the Nation, get in touch by filling out our form below.
Written by Tara Moran, Research Executive at Spark Emotions.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Tara via email tara.moran@sparkemotions.com or connect with her on LinkedIn
