Identifies “Preemptive Loneliness” as the Deep-seated Uncertainty About a Return to a Disconnected Existence

NEW YORK, June 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Horizon Media announced today the latest finding of its Social Isolation Barometer indicating that attention may be shifting back to COVID concerns as infection rates rise, raising fears of a new period of quarantine.

As we exit the third week of mass protests around the US, the number of people protesting against racial injustice continues to grow. While initially these protests shifted attention away from COVID-19, with the CDC reporting over 32M new cases of COVID-19 as of June 19th—a 13% increase from the week prior—research from Horizon Media’s latest Social Isolation Barometer indicates that attention may be shifting back to COVID concerns.  In fact, this recent spike may be reengaging people’s fear of being re-isolated.  In other words, we may be suffering from pre-emptive loneliness.

Horizon Media, the world’s largest independent media agency, has been tracking the feelings of isolation among Americans since March 26th. Each day, 1,000 are interviewed; to date over 93,000 interviews have been completed. In this latest analysis—week 12—Horizon is seeing that interest in protests and unrest have begun to shift to a refocus on COVID concerns. 

Feelings of isolation were at an all-time high in the first two weeks of April. While they had begun to decline, the study shows a leveling off of scores: For the week ending June 14th they declined by a mere 1%. In fact, areas that are seeing a resurgence in COVID cases are also showing the strongest increase in feelings of isolation: Houston, Miami and Phoenix saw a 22% increase in people saying they “feel very isolated” during that same week. 

“There seems to be a lot of push-pull going on in terms of how people are dealing with the relief of re-opening while at the same time seeing a spike in COVID cases in markets with looser and/or loosening restrictions. It’s as if the spike is triggering the stress and fear that is lingering just under the surface for many people. While they want to return to feeling ‘normal’, reports of a potential second wave seem to be creating what we’re calling pre-emptive loneliness,” said Sheri Roder, Chief of Horizon’s WHY Group. “While they may not physically be back in quarantine, emotionally they’re already halfway there, which means they may be much slower to do things like eat at a restaurant’s outside dining, for example. Should this trend in feelings of isolation continue, we may once again see a return to depressed spending in the near future,” said Roder.

Even if we don’t see a second wave of the pandemic, it may be quite some time before people can gather together in the ways they are used to doing. As social animals, connection to others is a key component to people’s existence, and prolonged isolation will impact everything from our health, to our mindsets, to the products we buy, to what we do in our free time. This need for human interaction provides an opportunity for businesses to consider the role they can play to help alleviate people’s feelings of isolation.

About Horizon Media
Horizon Media, Inc. is the largest independent media agency in the world. The company was founded in 1989, is headquartered in New York, and has offices in Los Angeles and Toronto. With estimated billings of $9 billion and over 2,300 employees, Horizon is the third largest U.S. media agency according to COMvergence data.

Recognized as one of the world’s ten most innovative marketing and advertising companies by Fast Company, Horizon Media has been named Media Agency of the Year by MediaPost, Adweek and AdAge and is known for its highly personal approach to client service. Renowned for its culture, Horizon is also consistently named to all the prestigious annual Best Places to Work lists published by Fortune, Forbes, AdAge, Crain’s New York Business and Los Angeles Business Journal; including “Best Workplaces for Diversity,” “Best Workplaces for Women,” and “Best Workplaces for Millennials” honors.

Earning the industry’s highest honor, Bill Koenigsberg, President, CEO and Founder of Horizon Media, was inducted into the American Advertising Federation (AAF) Hall of Fame in 2019.

For further information please contact
Stephen Hall
shall@horizonmedia.com