Nearly half of consumers feel more connected to their community and are making more local purchases, according to a special work-from-home edition of Nielsen’s Total Audience Report revealing what marketers should know about how lockdown life is impacting consumers’ media habits, purchasing behavior and productivity.

The results of Nielsen’s Remote Workers Consumer survey of 1,000 adults who worked remotely prior to and during the pandemic show that two-thirds of respondents are new to working from home full-time as a result of COVID-19. Fifty-three percent of the same group cited the convenience of working from home as the top reason they worked from home at least occasionally prior to the outbreak.

Consumers’ perceived productivity rates have remained steady, with 72 percent of new work-from-homers reporting they have maintained or increased their productivity during lockdowns.

Despite 47 percent of respondents saying they’re less productive at home due to the amount of distractions, consumers aren’t ready to go back into the office anytime soon. Nielsen found that 80 percent of respondents would prefer to work for a company that lets them work from anywhere of their choice. In addition, 57 percent of workers have found it easier to manage a healthier work-life balance since the pandemic started.

The report shows that marketers have an opportunity to reach remote workers, who are listening to the radio, watching more digital content and scrolling social media platforms on a daily basis.

For example, from February to April, new work-from-homers spent the most time watching digital content, at 57 percent.

It’s interesting to note that despite the demise of the daily work commute, consumers’ radio habits haven’t faltered. In fact, 40 percent of respondents say they listen to the radio or streaming services everyday while working, while 35 percent do so at least once a week.

Thirty-three percent of people watch television or steam content during a work break everyday, mostly news (47 percent), comedy (40 percent) and movies (36 percent).

As of Q2, Nielsen’s Streaming Meter revealed that streaming now comprises one-fourth of all television minutes viewed. Netflix is the largest contributor to streaming time at 34 percent, followed by YouTube at 20 percent. Disney+ accounts for four percent of total streaming share.

Like streaming minutes, the number of services consumers are subscribing has also increased as 25 percent have added a service in the past three months, while just two percent are reducing their number of paid subscription services.

Over half, 64 percent, of respondents say they watch local news while teleworking to remain informed, which reflects the increase in local spending Nielsen has identified.

As for social, 31 percent spend time on social apps everyday, while 33 percent use social media at least once a week.

Other lifestyle changes teleworking has induced include consumers rising later (54 percent), staying up later (49 percent) and buying locally (40 percent), providing marketers an opportunity to reach consumers who are remaining close to home.

Television findings are from Nielsen’s TV Panel, which is based on a sample of over 40,000 homes; digital data is based on Nielsen’s Total Media Fusion, which is reflective of both panel and census measurement; and radio estimates are based on RADAR and the National Regional Database.