P&G's Zevo conducts survey finding 71% of Americans have 'bugxiety,' or a fear of bugs; brand highlights its Flying Insect Trap, On-Body Mosquito + Tick Repellent and Insect Killer Spray products that can remove stress over bugs

Although the average home has more than 100 kinds of bugs living in it¹, most Americans are woefully unprepared to deal with them. Why? Turns out the majority of the population (71%) suffer from a fear of bugs² – or what Zevo dubs “bugxiety.”

Procter & Gamble’s (NYSE: PG) Zevo recently conducted a 2023 survey to learn more about consumer attitude toward bugs and how they respond to being around the little critters. Ready for some interesting findings?³

• More Americans ratedtheir anxiety of bugs (46%) higher than their anxiety of getting fired (44%)
• Fourteen percent of Americans said they wouldn’t marry someone who suffered from bugxiety
• And there are even a handful of people who confessed to crashing their car to escape from bugs!

Despite the high number of Americans with bugxiety, most are in a reactive mode when it comes to bugs. Thankfully, Chetan Parekh, Vice President & General Manager of Zevo at Procter & Gamble says Zevo has a proactive and effortless solution. “Bugs are inevitable, especially in the summer months, but our best-selling Flying Insect Trap continuously attracts and eliminates a variety of flying insects without disrupting your daily life – and helps you achieve a whole new level of clean and calm.”

Given fear and stress are commonly associated with bugs instead of the zen you can get from Zevo, it is no surprise that bugs impact everyday life. Many respondents shared their extreme reactions to spotting bugs at home and even at work. Survey respondents admitted*:

“I've ran down the street screaming at the top of my lungs, looking like a fool in front of a lot of people.” – 34 year old male

“I would not go back into my office at work (because I saw a roach) until a coworker showed me the corpse of that bug.” – 49 year old female

For those who suffer from bugxiety, bugs aren’t just “bugging” them. Forty-eight percent of Americans say it directly affects their daily life in more ways than one.⁴ For example, 1 in 3 Americans thought about burning their home after finding bugs.⁵ Crazy, right? However, there are effortless alternatives to help those suffering from bugxiety feel some relief and achieve a whole new level of calm. No need to react with fear or stress (or practice relaxation techniques!): just plug or spray and walk away.

So how can Zevo help Americans’ stress fade when bugs invade without having to touch the creepy crawlies?

• Flying Insect Trap: Great for those who can’t stand flying annoyances, Zevo’s Flying Insect Trap uses a special blue & UV light system to attract and trap flying insects (e.g., house flies, fruit flies and gnats) on a strong adhesive pad, which can be easily removed and disposed of via a pull tab.
• On-Body Mosquito + Tick Repellent: New On-Body repellent provides odorless, non-sticky and complete protection against mosquitos and ticks for up to 8 hours, so you can enjoy the outdoors unbothered by bugs and without the ick of traditional bug sprays.
• Insect Killer Spray: For those who freak out when they see creepy-crawly pests, Zevo Insect Killer Sprays offer complete protection against spiders, roaches, ants and more. Simply spray directly on unwanted bugs and watch while Zevo targets and shuts down biological pathways found in insects, not in people or pets. Wipe away with a clean cloth or paper towel with no residue left behind...and that’s it.

Got Bugxiety? Zevo It! All of Zevo's products are available for purchase online at zevoinsect.com and at the retailers you love across the U.S. To find a local retailer that carries Zevo products, visit Zevo’s store locator. For more information, visit Zevo online or connect on Facebook and Instagram and show us how you #ZEVOit.

About Zevo™

Launched in 2017, Zevo provides smart insect control products that kill bugs in and around your home in a different way. Part of Procter & Gamble, Zevo’s suite of household insect sprays, plug-in trap systems, and On-Body products control crawling, flying, and stinging insects, and are made to bother bugs, not your family. Zevo products are available for purchase online at zevoinsect.com and at all major retailers across the U.S. For more information, visit Zevo online or connect on Facebook and Instagram.

About Procter & Gamble

P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit https://www.pg.comfor the latest news and information about P&G and its brands. For other P&G news, visit us at https://www.pg.com/news.

Methodology

Undertaken by Maru Public Opinion, this study was conducted by its sample and data collection experts at Maru/Blue 26th April – 2nd May, 2023 among a random selection of 1,066 adult Americans aged 25-50 who are Maru Springboard America online panelists. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error (which measures sampling variability) of +/- 3.0%, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals when compared to the data tables are due to rounding.

*Open ended response.

¹ Royal Society Publishing

² Maru/Blue on behalf of Citizen Relations and Zevo, April 2023

³ Maru/Blue on behalf of Citizen Relations and Zevo, April 2023

⁴ Maru/Blue on behalf of Citizen Relations and Zevo, April 2023

⁵ OnePoll on behalf of Citizen Relations and Zevo, May 2022