Changes in Consumer Purchasing Behavior Due to COVID- 19 Pandemic

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is facing historical challenges without prior preparation. Because of the unavoidable economic crisis for the shutdown of numerous trade and industrial activities the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered substantial modifications in the habits of consumers all over the world. The pandemic has led to key changes in consumers purchasing and consumption behavior as the result of lockdown, social distancing, and uncertainty about the future due to its infectious nature. This study investigated the impact of the pandemic outbreak on consumers’ purchasing and consumption behavior in a developing country such as Bangladesh. An online survey was conducted for collecting data about the changes in buying behavior through a structured questionnaire. The research targeted 200 respondents belonging to different age-gender segments, qualifications & occupations, and household monthly income. The 191 completed responses had received and analyzed among 200 distributed structured questionnaires. The Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM) method was applied, with the Smart PLS software v.3.3.2 for analyzing the proposed theoretical model and to test the developed hypotheses. The outcomes of the research strongly indicate that the health and safety concern, imposed restrictions, financial condition, surrounding environment-people, and other realities caused a remarkable change in consumer buying behavior. The outcomes of this study provide significant guidance to policy interventions, marketing decisions, and strategies for doing business as usual during and after the pandemic and perhaps add to the understanding of this unprecedented and ongoing phenomenon.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, consumer behavior, TPB model, panic buying, online shopping, risks perception.

DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/77-04

Publication date:March 31^st 2021