Consumer Characteristics and Behavior in the Era of Covid Epidemic

Research Article
Open access

Consumer Characteristics and Behavior in the Era of Covid Epidemic

Kongming Zhu 1*
  • 1 Beijing royal school    
  • *corresponding author 255138923@qq.com
Published on 24 April 2023 | https://doi.org/10.54254/2754-1169/5/20220086
AEMPS Vol.5
ISSN (Print): 2754-1177
ISSN (Online): 2754-1169
ISBN (Print): 978-1-915371-21-8
ISBN (Online): 978-1-915371-22-5

Abstract

A pandemic brings change to health and quality of life, it may also adversely impact financial and food security. These changes also alter how humans react to the situation, sometimes in a very contrasting way from their normal behaviors. Consumer behavior is not general human behavior, it is rather a very specific behavior directed toward the search, purchase, sale, or disposal of goods or services. In times of crisis, consumer behavior can go through a three-step cycle of reacting, coping, and long-term adaptation. The pandemic can also impact food consumption in the face of shrinking income, closure of food service, and managing the household as a unit of consumption in the face of any uncertain shortages. The pandemic has impacted consumer behavior by impacting the shopping habits of people. During the pandemic, impulsive buying was caused by the emotion of fear. These studies used the theory of fear appeal to explain the three important concepts of “perceived efficacy, threat, and fear.” This theory suggests that fear generates an emotional reaction from customers. Covid-19 has brought extreme challenges for governments, businesses, and societies across the world. These challenges have affected psychological, social, and economic changes. Unemployment without an alternate employment option available during the pandemic has impacted household finances severely. Along with its financial impact it has also caused stress and changed consumer behavior. With the uncertainty that existed and shrinking incomes, the way consumers buy, shop, and consume items changed.

Keywords:

Customer Behaviour, Purchase Pattern, Food, Pandemic, Covid-19, Essential Terms

Zhu,K. (2023). Consumer Characteristics and Behavior in the Era of Covid Epidemic. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,5,241-247.
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References

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[21]. Lisa Cameron and Manisha Shah. 2015. Risk-Taking Behavior in the Wake of Natural Disasters. The Journal of Human Resources 50, 2 (2015), 484–515.

[22]. Kathryn E. Bender, Aishwarya Badiger, Brian E. Roe, Yiheng Shu, and Danyi Qi. 2022. Consumer behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: An analysis of food purchasing and management behaviors in U.S. households through the lens of food system resilience. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences 82, (August 2022), 101107. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2021.101107

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[24]. Muhammad Naeem. 2020. Understanding the customer psychology of impulse buying during COVID-19 pandemic: implications for retailers. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management 49, 3 (January 2020), 377–393. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-08-2020-0317

[25]. Prince Clement Addo, Fang Jiaming, Nora Bakabbey Kulbo, and Li Liangqiang. 2020. COVID-19: fear appeal favoring purchase behavior towards personal protective equipment. The Service Industries Journal 40, 7–8 (June 2020), 471–490. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2020.1751823

[26]. Bumsoo Kim. 2020. Effects of Social Grooming on Incivility in COVID-19. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 23, 8 (August 2020), 519–525. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2020.0201

[27]. Allysha Wiranata and Arga Hananto. 2020. Do Website Quality, Fashion Consciousness, and Sales Promotion Increase Impulse Buying Behavior of E-Commerce Buyers? Indonesian Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship 6, (January 2020). DOI:https://doi.org/10.17358/ijbe.6.1.74

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Cite this article

Zhu,K. (2023). Consumer Characteristics and Behavior in the Era of Covid Epidemic. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,5,241-247.

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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 2022 International Conference on Financial Technology and Business Analysis (ICFTBA 2022), Part 1

ISBN：978-1-915371-21-8(Print) / 978-1-915371-22-5(Online)
Editor：Javier Cifuentes-Faura, Canh Thien Dang
Conference website: http://www.icftba.org
Conference date: 16 December 2022
Series: Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences
Volume number: Vol.5
ISSN：2754-1169(Print) / 2754-1177(Online)

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References

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[2]. Seema Mehta, Tanjul Saxena, and Neetu Purohit. 2020. The New Consumer Behaviour Paradigm amid COVID-19: Permanent or Transient? Journal of Health Management 22, 2 (June 2020), 291–301. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/0972063420940834

[3]. Eleonora Pantano, Kim Willems, Eleonora Pantano, and Kim Willems. 2022. How Pandemic Crisis Times Affects Consumer Behaviour. In Retail in a New World. Emerald Publishing Limited, 13–28. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-846-420221004

[4]. Alina Butu, Ioan Sebastian Brumă, Lucian Tanasă, Steliana Rodino, Codrin Dinu Vasiliu, Sebastian Doboș, and Marian Butu. 2020. The Impact of COVID-19 Crisis upon the Consumer Buying Behavior of Fresh Vegetables Directly from Local Producers. Case Study: The Quarantined Area of Suceava County, Romania. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, 15 (January 2020), 5485. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155485

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[7]. Wen-Rui Zhang, Kun Wang, Lu Yin, Wen-Feng Zhao, Qing Xue, Mao Peng, Bao-Quan Min, Qing Tian, Hai-Xia Leng, Jia-Lin Du, Hong Chang, Yuan Yang, Wei Li, Fang-Fang Shangguan, Tian-Yi Yan, Hui-Qing Dong, Ying Han, Yu-Ping Wang, Fiammetta Cosci, and Hong-Xing Wang. 2020. Mental Health and Psychosocial Problems of Medical Health Workers during the COVID-19 Epidemic in China. Psychother Psychosom 89, 4 (2020), 242–250. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1159/000507639

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[12]. Samantha K. Brooks, Rebecca K. Webster, Louise E. Smith, Lisa Woodland, Simon Wessely, Neil Greenberg, and Gideon James Rubin. 2020. The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet 395, 10227 (March 2020), 912–920. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8

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[14]. Colleen P. Kirk and Laura S. Rifkin. 2020. I’ll trade you diamonds for toilet paper: Consumer reacting, coping and adapting behaviors in the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Business Research 117, (September 2020), 124– 131. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.028

[15]. Jagdish Sheth. 2020. Impact of Covid-19 on consumer behavior: Will the old habits return or die? Journal of Business Research 117, (September 2020), 280–283. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.059

[16]. Russell J. Zwanka and Cheryl Buff. 2021. COVID-19 Generation: A Conceptual Framework of the Consumer Behavioral Shifts to Be Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of International Consumer Marketing 33, 1 (January 2021), 58–67. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/08961530.2020.1771646

[17]. Jorge Cruz-Cárdenas and Patricio Arévalo-Chávez. 2018. Consumer Behavior in the Disposal of Products: Forty Years of Research. Journal of Promotion Management 24, 5 (September 2018), 617–636. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/10496491.2018.1405514

[18]. Jorge Cruz-Cárdenas, Ekaterina Zabelina, Jorge Guadalupe-Lanas, Andrés Palacio-Fierro, and Carlos RamosGalarza. 2021. COVID-19, consumer behavior, technology, and society: A literature review and bibliometric analysis. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 173, (December 2021), 121179. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121179

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[20]. Mona A. Clee and Robert A. Wicklund. 1980. Consumer Behavior and Psychological Reactance. Journal of Consumer Research 6, 4 (1980), 389–405.

[21]. Lisa Cameron and Manisha Shah. 2015. Risk-Taking Behavior in the Wake of Natural Disasters. The Journal of Human Resources 50, 2 (2015), 484–515.

[22]. Kathryn E. Bender, Aishwarya Badiger, Brian E. Roe, Yiheng Shu, and Danyi Qi. 2022. Consumer behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: An analysis of food purchasing and management behaviors in U.S. households through the lens of food system resilience. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences 82, (August 2022), 101107. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2021.101107

[23]. Ludovica Principato, Luca Secondi, Clara Cicatiello, and Giovanni Mattia. 2022. Caring more about food: The unexpected positive effect of the Covid-19 lockdown on household food management and waste. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences 82, (August 2022), 100953. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2020.100953

[24]. Muhammad Naeem. 2020. Understanding the customer psychology of impulse buying during COVID-19 pandemic: implications for retailers. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management 49, 3 (January 2020), 377–393. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-08-2020-0317

[25]. Prince Clement Addo, Fang Jiaming, Nora Bakabbey Kulbo, and Li Liangqiang. 2020. COVID-19: fear appeal favoring purchase behavior towards personal protective equipment. The Service Industries Journal 40, 7–8 (June 2020), 471–490. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2020.1751823

[26]. Bumsoo Kim. 2020. Effects of Social Grooming on Incivility in COVID-19. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 23, 8 (August 2020), 519–525. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2020.0201

[27]. Allysha Wiranata and Arga Hananto. 2020. Do Website Quality, Fashion Consciousness, and Sales Promotion Increase Impulse Buying Behavior of E-Commerce Buyers? Indonesian Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship 6, (January 2020). DOI:https://doi.org/10.17358/ijbe.6.1.74

[28]. Ludvík Eger, Lenka Komárková, Dana Egerová, and Michal Mičík. 2021. The effect of COVID-19 on consumer shopping behaviour: Generational cohort perspective. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 61, (July 2021), 102542. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102542

[29]. 2020. COVID-19: Fast-changing Consumer Behavior | Accenture. Retrieved October 17, 2022 from https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/consumer-goods-services/coronavirus-consumer-behavior-research

[30]. Slickdeals. 2020. Americans Increased Impulse Spending by 18 Percent During the COVID-19 Pandemic, According to New Survey Commissioned by Slickdeals. Retrieved October 18, 2022 from https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/americans-increased-impulse-spending-by-18-percent-during-thecovid-19-pandemic-according-to-new-survey-commissioned-by-slickdeals-301055530.html

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