Australian have many desires post-COVID -- including more compassion and fewer toxic people -- as they reassess what they want from life.
The Australia Project 2021 report from cultural insights agency, The Lab, includes expert interviews and analysis of conversations online using machine learning and AI moderated interviews of 1,500 people in April with Nature.
Key findings:
- 82% want to appreciate life more post the pandemic
- 77% want to be more financially ready post the pandemic
- 72% say that after the pandemic they want to have more “dare in life”
- 71% want more family time post the pandemic
- Australians want more time for relationships, being in the moment, travel and exploration, enjoyment of life, and themselves
- They have less time for toxic people, wasteful spending, screens, uncertainty and taking things for granted
- 84% say that “caring and compassionate” is the future society they want
Paul Labagnara, cofounder of The Lab, says Australians have been through much this past year.
"Some of the lessons that are surfacing as the pandemic eases show that people are looking for anything but a return to normal. Instead, they are refocusing on what’s really important to them," he says.
“COVID has provided an opportunity to find perspective. On one hand, we have seen a huge rise in the notion of the appreciation of what people have, including the smaller things in life and a promise to themselves of not taking things for granted.
"Almost 50% of Australians want to spend more time with loved ones and family and are focusing on care, consideration, and connection. On the other hand, there are Australians who want to let loose and live in the now – they don’t want to wait, they want to do more.
“It’s these two parallels, and the friction between them, that makes the future so interesting. There’s definitive change happening as a response to the forces that shaped society until the arrival of the pandemic. Things won’t fall back into ‘traditional’ ways but will instead take one of two routes in the new Australia."
Brands have an opportunity to meet Australians’ new values.
Australian values are changing, with 65% of Australians saying that honesty is their most important value, followed by fairness (55%).
Labagnara says there's a great story about a desire to see more empathy in our lives and in the way we treat each other.
"Australians want to see brands sharing the same sense of empathy and appreciation they have found through the pandemic," he says.
“Brands are faced with a great opportunity to step up and fill the gaps that Australians were missing pre-pandemic, to really showcase trust, expertise and a willingness to serve the Australian people.”
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