Diners are largely in favor of wearing masks, survey finds

A recent state and national poll revealed that consumers are overwhelmingly in favor of wearing masks in restaurants and bars. The survey of 500 Americans across the U.S. and in coronavirus hotspots such as California, New York, Florida and Texas found that 83% of respondents feel positively about businesses that enforce mask wearing, while only 6% say they resent being compelled to don a mask.

The support is even more striking among consumers in New York and California. When it comes to bars, 91% of New Yorkers and 90% of Californians say it is very important to wear a mask indoors; and 90% and 88%, respectively, feel the same about doing so when dining in restaurants.

Texans are less supportive, with 82% in favor of mask-wearing in bars and 78% in restaurants. This lax attitude may be a reason behind a surge in coronavirus cases in the state, which led Gov. Greg Abbott to order all Texas bars to close and all restaurants to roll back to 50% capacity on Friday.

Residents lean a little more favorably toward masks in Florida, which is also experiencing a COVID-19 spike and on Friday suspended on-premise drinking at bars in an effort to stop the virus’ spread. The survey found that 87% of Florida residents feel it’s important to wear masks in bars and 81% in restaurants.

While consumers support mask wearing, compliance is a different story. Nationally, only 67% reported that they don a mask “always” or “often.”

The poll was conducted by 1Q, a market research platform, on June 22.