September’s schwack of useful survey results and stats sent out over the ResponseSource Press Release Wire take in the surprising (anxiety aiding in shopping decisions, avoiding GPs, demands for better remote working tech, etc.) – and the not-so-surprising (the rise of cleaning during the COVID-19 outbreak). If you’re in need of data for features you’re working on right now, grab some quick numbers from the experts…

‘Should I buy this?’

Are you more likely to buy something if you’re 100% sure it’ll be right for you? The Imperial College Business School paper ‘Strong Anxiety Boosts New Product Adoption When Hope Is Also Strong’ would argue ‘no’. Doing exactly what it says on the tin/in the title, the paper reveals that people who are particularly anxious about making a purchase are actually more likely to buy the product than those who are less emotionally invested in the outcome, particularly if they’re hopeful about the results. But do these findings highlight a risk-seeking daredevil streak in shoppers cracking out their cards for products they haven’t tried before? Not quite – read the full story here.  

Entrepreneurial equality

The all-female team at BLOOM Gin’s poll of 2,000 women aged 25+ found that 50% believe we need more female entrepreneurs in the UK, but only a fifth of those surveyed have taken the leap to start their own businesses. A majority believe that women are yet to achieve true equality in the workplace, and over half admitted they haven’t been able to achieve their own business ambitions. The main reasons for this: not enough funds to start (55%), the difficulty of juggling work and family (49%) or a lack of confidence (51%). Read the full story (and how BLOOM is hoping to help) here.

Cleaning concerns

Whether you’ve found yourself with more or less time on your hands during the COVID-19 outbreak (furlough, but then home-schooling, but maybe extra freelance commissions, maybe less), we’re spending an average of 63 more minutes of our lives cleaning each week in the UK. Research from Hydrachem has found that 57% of us are cleaning much more than we did before the spread of Coronavirus, 52% are more concerned about the cleanliness of our home and 38% aren’t quite sure if the products we’re using are even capable of killing the virus. If you have the time, read the full story here.

Connecting with colleagues

With the early lockdown days of Friday drinks over Microsoft Teams and Zoom quizzes with colleagues long abandoned by a lot of workplaces, the isolation of remote working is starting to set in for workers missing the office. A national Connections Survey from Boomi has found that nearly 60% of employees feel more isolated and disconnected from their teams and work while remote working. The bad – 60% of C-suite respondents felt working remotely is negatively impacting their creativity. The better – 80% of IT leaders feel their teams are more valued right now. Read the full story here.

Go exploring with MistaJam

If video chats with colleagues, friends, or friendly colleagues isn’t cutting it when it comes to maintaining your mental wellbeing, Mind and Merrell have an idea of what you might be going through and what may help. The stats: Mind’s survey of 16,000 people during lockdown found that two out of three adults and three quarters of young people aged 13-24 with an existing mental health condition reported worsening mental health. The initiative from Mind and Merrell to combat this: encouraging people, where possible, to get outside and explore their local area to connect with nature (MistaJam is a fan). Read the full story.

The Doctor is in (so give them a call)

Feeling anxious about the results of a new de-icer and taking the risk of putting in an order anyway (a la our first press release selection) is one thing, but deciding to skip contacting your GP surgery and risking self-diagnosis when you’re worried about a health issue is another. Also, it’s on the rise, according to a YouGov study conducted on behalf of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 52% of those surveyed said that the pandemic has made them more likely to try and diagnose their own symptoms, with 39% saying they didn’t want to waste their GP’s time. In the words of Allergy UK’s Amena Warner: ‘Always speak to your doctor first’ – read the full story here, and take care of yourselves until our next stats and surveys round-up.

We provide these as a jumping-off point for your own research and you should perform your own checks on any of these stories – a few tips in this post. If you’d like to source experts, further information or case studies for any of these topics or something else you’re working on, head to the (free) Journalist Enquiry Service to save hours of research and expand your network of sources.