PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

IMPLICATIONS OF COVID-19 ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR

1
Varun Pillai, 2Suhas Ambekar, 3Manoj Hudnurkar
Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development,
Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India
Email: [email protected]
Varun Pillai, Suhas Ambekar, Manoj Hudnurkar: Implications of Covid-19 on Consumer
Buying Behavior -- Palarch’s Journal Of Archaeology Of Egypt/Egyptology 17(6). ISSN
1567-214x
Keywords: Consumer Behavior, Implications Of Covid-19, Consumer Sentiments.

ABSTRACT
As a worldwide pandemic, the COVID-19 crisis is profoundly affecting the development
of the world economy as countries have taken measures like restricting travel and enforcing
lockdown. This pandemic has engulfed the world with fear, anxiety, and is anticipated to lead to
a significant degree of mental health emergency across the globe. Due to this change in
consumer sentiment, it is important to study how this pandemic has influenced Consumer
Behavior.
This study was done through primary research. An online questionnaire was floated, and
157 respondents were chosen to fill the questionnaire by using Convenience Sampling. The
survey was designed to gauge implications of Covid-19 on change in consumer buying behavior.
The findings show that there exists a relationship between likelihood of consumer
spending on products/services and fear due to Covid-19. There exists no relationship between
age and the likelihood of spending across different product categories. All age groups are
behaving similarly in adopting low touch/digital activities and intent in spending across different
product categories. The survey highlights that the consumers are likely to increase spending time
or usage on services and activities like OTT platforms, Social Media, Grocery Delivery Apps,
Buying online and opting for home delivery, Videoconferencing Apps, online platforms for e-
learning, Exercise/Wellness Apps and security protocols in shops like attendants using masks,
gloves and barriers, social distancing, regular cleaning and sanitization of shops, no-contact
purchasing and regular employee health checks are essential protocols that generate confidence
in consumers about their safety when they visit a shop.

4336
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

This research will help the organizations by providing them insights towards the
changing consumer behavior across different product categories and services which they can
utilize to adjust to the new normal.

1. Introduction
On December 31, 2019, a cluster of cases was first reported which had links to
the Hunan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, Hubei Province (Pneumonia
of unknown cause – China 2020). On January 5, 2020, WHO announced first
Disease Outbreak news of the new virus (Archived: WHO Timeline - COVID-
19). Due to person-to-person transmission, the virus had spread to multiple
countries, and as of July 12, 2020, the worldwide count of Coronavirus cases
were 12,856,050 and the number of deaths at 567,913 (Coronavirus Cases
2020).The Chinese government incorporated multiple containment strategies to
fight the spread of the virus. And flatten the curve. These containment
strategies are being used all over the world to fight the virus. The strategies
included isolating the positively identified cases either in specialized hospital
wards or in a monitored self-quarantine at home. Also, the cases which were
suspicious were put under home isolation to prevent community transmission.
Additional social distancing measures were put in place to prevent transmission
which involved partial shutdown of the economy (Report of the WHO-China
joint mission on coronavirus disease 2019, 2020). Preventive practices like the
use of face masks in public places, clean hygienic practices like regular
washing of hands were incorporated. Mandatory curfews were enforced where
colleges and schools were closed, organizations had to shut their offices, and
people were forced to remain inside their homes.
These mitigation measures have led to huge damage to the world economy
caused due to the associated disruption of demand and supply chains.
According to the chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina
Georgieva the world could see the worst global economic fallout since the
Great Depression in the 1930s, with over 170 countries likely to experience
negative per capita GDP growth due to the raging coronavirus pandemic
(Shalal, IMF chief says pandemic will unleash worst recession since Great
Depression). Further stoking the fear of a prolonged period of depression and
job losses.
In many countries due to COVID-19 drastic changes have been observed in
people’s daily habits (Mckibbin & Fernando, 2020). Social interaction,
socialization patterns, learning infrastructure of the students, and work
environment have all been affected. These changes have also taken a toll on the
mental health of the population. The growing concern among the population
regarding the spread of infection has created a panic mode in the community.
These apprehensions can give rise to acute stress, anxiety, and depression in
vulnerable individuals.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the
consumer's demands and purchasing behaviors (Guo, 2020). Hence, we need to
come up with a study to identify these behavioral trends to help the
organizations to pivot their business and marketing strategies to tap and cater to

4337
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

the consumers. For example, people must maintain social distancing and
maintain home quarantine to avoid physical contact hence, organizations must
strengthen their online and physical presence. We can also identify with the
help of this study how organizations can handle such periods of crisis and
provide a measure of flexibility in the operations to help early identification of
such social shifts and emerging needs to pivot faster.
2. Literature Review
Although not exactly can we predict when this pandemic will get over, but
sooner or later the Covid-19 pandemic will subside. The important question
that needs to be answered and has not been covered in any research is how the
post-COVID-socio-economic life will look like. We have observed how this
pandemic has fundamentally changed the pattern of human life in various parts
of the world. Communities and interaction before and after the Covid-19 will
never be the same. In many countries, Covid-19 pandemic not only resulted in
the emergence of various impacts on the health and economic sectors but also
forced drastic changes in people’s habits (Mckibbin & Fernando, 2020). We
use this to look at these changes in the consumer's behavior due to Covid-19.
However, these changing behaviors cannot be seen in isolation and is an
interplay between various situational variables (Belk, 1975). These situational
variables have been studied in detail in the below sections.

Coronavirus(covid-19)
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Coronavirus outbreak as a
pandemic on March 11, 2020 and as of as of July 12, 2020, the worldwide
count of Coronavirus cases were 12,856,050 and the number of deaths at
567,913 (Coronavirus Cases 2020). Since it spreads through contact with
infected persons (when they cough or when they sneeze) hence countries
around the world have implemented strict health protection measures to control
the spread of the outbreak. These measures included following social
distancing to enforcing complete lockdown to reduce transmission thereby
delaying the peak of the outbreak and spreading the cases over a longer
duration to relieve the pressure on the healthcare system of the country (Prem
et al., 2020). Such measures have forced the retail outlets, factories, and
businesses to remain closed leading to huge economic disruption and a global
recession seems inevitable (Fernandes, 2020).Covid-19 has been considered an
independent variable because this an unprecedented situation and never seen
before where the whole economy of the world is affected. And to counter it
spread these norms like social distancing, self-isolation and quarantine have
been introduced to reduce its spread which has affected the interaction patterns
of the population.

Psychological Factors
Pandemics are looming public wellbeing challenges where dread and frenzy
are basic human reactions (Bonneux & Damme, 2006). This kind of global
pandemic elicits different reactions from people depending on their cultural

4338
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

orientations. Media Communication may appear effective to quell such

concerns. However, it can also contribute to the panic and result in undesirable
responses from the public (Jones, Waters, Holland, Bevins, & Iverson, 2010).
Real infectious disease has a psychological effect that becomes “moral panic”
that spreads globally and is accompanied by a sense of stigma (Gilman, 2010).
The panic leads to panic buying, capitalistic behavior, and xenophobia. People
are unwilling to share their resources with other people or families because of
the need to secure their individual development (Ramsay, 2005).
A perception of scarcity is strongly associated with panic buying behavior. It
has also been observed that stockpiling of essentials upsurges if this perception
of scarcity fosters (Arafat et al., 2020). This can be seen as people are hoarding
toilet paper, sanitizers, and other household supplies. This hoarding leads to
scarcity of essential items and price rise of such items due to supply
constraints. A reverse effect of this phenomenon is supply constraints of
essential items creating a sense of scarcity in the mind of consumers and
leading to hoarding behavior. As social beings, we are constantly influenced by
our surroundings and hence measure the ferocity of the crisis by measuring the
responses of our encompassing fellow beings. It can also be described as the
herd instinct (Wilkens, 2020). When the society around us behaves in a similar
fashion then we too are coerced to toe the line. During an emergency or crisis,
the primitive part of our brain becomes more prominent and indulges in
behaviors that are necessary for our survival (Dodgson, 2020). Such behaviors
are purely based on instincts and involve poor rational thinking.
Furthermore, this pandemic has also caused an increase in xenophobic behavior
towards Chinese people (Aguilera, 2020). Chinese nationals have been banned
from restaurants and many cruise ship operators have declared prohibitions on
them from traveling on their cruise ships. Such xenophobic response has been
observed in many previous epidemics and pandemics and is a common
response when an infection originates from outside of their community (Alecu,
2020).
Psychological estimations of situations rely entirely on the consumer's
perceptions of the situation and are an extension of sociological inquisitiveness
to understand the present situation (Belk, 1975). The understanding of such
psychological factors is especially important as consumers' moods may provide
organizations with a complete understanding of the consumers and help them
to anticipate their reactions to business strategies. More generally, insights
about consumer's thoughts and feelings can provide an insight into consumer
behavior (Gardner, 1985). As fear is driving this hence we have measured fear
of COVID-19 using the Fear of Covid-19 Scale(FCV-19). And have
hypothesized that fear and likelihood of consumption is associated.

Economic Factors
Covid-19 is not just another public health crisis which we have seen in the past,
instead it has engulfed the whole global economy. Serious disruption has
already occurred to the economy due to reduced profitability, workforce
efficiency, huge death toll, closing down of business , trade disruption, and

4339
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

halting of various sectors like the travel and tourism industry, motivating the
G20 governments to announce fiscal interventions of $8 trillion and massive
monetary measures (Kristalina Georgieva, 2020). The International Labor
Organization(ILO) warns that 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy,
which account for nearly half of the global workforce are in danger of losing
their jobs, due sharp decline in working hours globally, caused by the
disruption in organizations due to the COVID-19 outbreak (As job losses
escalate, nearly half of global workforce at risk of losing livelihoods 2020).
The supply disruptions are also setting off profound reduction in aggregate
demand, further hampering the possibility of economic recovery (Ramos &
Hynes, 2020). For example, in China, the production index in February
declined by more than 54% as compared to the previous month (Purchasing
Managers Index for February 2020). The sudden halting of the economy
triggered by Covid-19 pandemic produces effects which are analogous to those
of large scale, extreme, natural disaster (Coronese, Lamperti, Keller,
Chiaromonte, & Roventini, 2019).
Consumer facing sectors such as tourism, hospitality, and transportation have
suffered significant losses due to reduction in demand due to Covid-19. The
International Air Transport Association (IATA) assesses a reduction in airline
income arising from traveler carriage of up to $314 billion (IATA Economics’
Chart of the Week 2020). Hospitality, travel, transportation, amusement, and
manufacturing are among the several sectors in the world that are the worst
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a report that was published
on April 11, 2020, advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate in
the U.S. had peaked to a record level of 11% . In the paper titled Consumer
Sentiment: Its Causes and Effects author finds that the consumers attitudes
determined through surveys on consumer sentiment has a major effect on the
household purchase of goods. It was also found that consumer sentiment moves
with current economic conditions (Throop,1992). According to RBI Consumer
Confidence Survey published on June 4, 2020 consumer confidence collapsed
in May 2020, with the current situation index (CSI) touching historic low and
the one year ahead future expectations index (FEI) also recording a sharp fall,
entering the zone of pessimism. Consumer perception on the general economic
situation, employment scenario and household income plunged deeper into
contraction zone while expectation on general economic situation and
employment scenario for the year ahead were also pessimistic. Due to these
disruptions caused to the economic activities, consumers have also changed
their consumption patterns. Hence intention to consume is a variable of interest
in this study.

Consumer Behavior
What is the new normal? The new normal is the adjustment of societal
interactions and behaviors to the existing conditions. Unlike the pre-COVID
era which seemed to be hygienic and free from disease threats, in the new
normal people are faced with the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic. People are
anxious about their health and safety. For example, people are now avoiding

4340
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

going outside their homes, safety precautions like using masks and gloves are
being followed. People used to go outside, spend time by meeting others in a
restaurant, visiting the gymnasium to keep fit, traveling, and so on. In the new
normal era, however, those things are nearly impossible to do. Hence, in this
study we will check the hypothesis that significant association exists between
different low touch and digital activities.
When assessing a product or service for making a purchase decision,
consumers look for specific information to judge the product. The authors of
the paper Age and Factors influencing Consumer Behavior studied the impact
of age on the perceived importance and interaction of three factors known to
influence consumers when purchasing clothes: price, durability, and
sustainability (Hervé & Mullet, 2009). They found that younger participants
prefer low price and older people preferred suitability as an important criterion
when making a purchase decision. Hence, we hypothesized that age and
likelihood of spending across product categories would have an interaction and
that age and likely adoption of low touch/digital activities would have an
interaction.
People in the new normal era must diligently follow protocols like washing
their hands, using masks and following social distancing. Being aware of
health risks and using precautions from contracting Covid-19 is a new
paradigm that we have applied in our daily lives. The same also applies to our
social interaction with others, it does not have to be face-to-face and are
becoming virtual.
One of the most important criteria in understanding consumers is to understand
how they make their choices. As the result of a choice can only be felt in the
future, the consumer must deal with uncertainty and risk that accompanies this
choice. How consumers perceive risk is another important aspect of consumer
behavior that needs to be studied, as risk is often considered to be harmful and
hence ,it may produce anxiety in the minds of the consumer, in which case it
must be handled by the consumer to alleviate its effects. Both the risk
perception in a choice situation and the selection of methods for dealing with
the risk will be affected by the individual consumer's level of self-esteem
(Taylor, 1974). For example, in the context of the current Covid-19 pandemic
the risk of contracting the virus is coaxing the consumers to make changes in
the way they make their purchase decisions. As, the perception of risk is
alleviated by making purchases through online channels, the consumers are
pivoting towards it. There is no dearth of studies to underpin the fact that
consumers develop and use risk-reduction strategies in choice situations where
they perceive risk. An important study in this area was done by Roselius, he
identified that consumers who visualized greater amounts of risk in a particular
situation tended to show inclination towards different strategies than did those
consumers who perceived less risk in the same situation (Taylor, 1974). The
tendency to take risks should also be associated to coping with uncertainty
surrounding the world. As riskier a situation is perceived more safety avenues
the consumers tilt towards. It has been suggested that individuals may differ in

4341
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

the cognitive complexity of their perception of the world in which they live
(Meertens & Lion, 2008).
Covid-19 brought a drastic change in people’s daily habits (Mckibbin &
Fernando, 2020). Social interaction, social and learning patterns of students,
household consumption, religious rituals and activities, work patterns have all
changed; things will be difficult and require adjustments that are completely
different from the pre-COVID era. For example, the consumers have been
forced to self-isolate themselves due to lockdown and follow social distancing
norms due to which they have increased their online activities, in India, there
has been a rise of First Time Ecommerce users, who had so far been inhibited
to shop online (Halan, 2020). Apps like Bigbasket, Grofers, and Amazon have
seen an increase in their usage. A similar change in habit was observed during
the SARS crisis in Hong Kong in early 2003 (Forster & Tang, 2005). People
took to online grocery shopping during the outbreak and the demand for online
shopping was closely related to the spread of the infection, rising when
infections rose and slowing when infections declined. Such changes show that
post-COVID era consumer behavior is quite different and would depend on
psychological factors like fear due to Covis-19 and economic factors affecting
consumption patterns which lead to change in consumer behavior. Hence,
consumer behavior is the dependent variable.

Figure1: Conceptual Framework

3. Research Methodology
The research performed was done based on primary data. The primary data was
collected through an online survey. A convenience sampling technique was
used to identify 180 respondents to answer 15 questions. However, due to the
inaccuracy of the data 23 samples were removed from the study. This sampling
method was used as this method is easy to implement and cost effective. The
survey was divided into three parts, where the objective of the first part of the
survey was to identify the change in consumer behavior due to the Coronavirus
pandemic, and questions were asked to identify these changing behavioral
trends across product categories and services. The second part of the survey
was used to identify consumer sentiments due to the coronavirus pandemic and

4342
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

the third part of the survey was designed to identify the fear in the minds of the
consumer due to Covid-19 using Fear Of Covid-19 Scale(FCV-19S)
scale((Ahorsu et al., 2020). The scale contained seven questions. The
respondents indicate their level of agreement with the statements using a five-
item Likert type scale starting from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”.
All statistical analysis was done using Minitab software.
4. Results
Measuring Fear-
The demography of the respondents were as follows, 1% respondents were less
than 17, 55% of the respondents were in the age group 26-35,6% respondents
were in group 36-50,6% respondent were 51 and above.
Fear of Coronavirus-19 Scale (FCV-19S) was used to measure fear due to the
Covid-19 Pandemic. The scale contained seven questions and the respondents
indicate their level of agreement with the statements using a five-item Likert
scale where 1 stands for “Strongly Diasgree” and 5 stands for “Strongly
Agree”. A total score is calculated by adding up each item score (ranging from
7 to 35).The higher the score, the greater the fear of cororonavirus-19.
Respondents were also asked about their likelihood of increase in consumption
across different categories and services and five-item Likert scale was used to
measure the results where 1 stands for “Strongly Diasgree” and 5 stands for
“Strongly Agree”.

Statistical Inferential Analysis

1.0 Testing the association between likelihood of consumption across different
product categories/services and Fear
We will perform CHI-SQUARE TEST in Minitab
H0-There is no association between likelihood of spending across different
product categories/ services and Fear due to Covid-19
H1-There is an association between likelihood of spending across different
product categories/ services and Fear due to Covid-19.

Table 1: CHI-SQUARE TEST

Chi-Square Test was conducted for each of the questions in FCV-19S scale and
except the first question which is “I am most afraid of Covid-19” the rest of
the questions of the scale had no relationship with likelihood of consumption
across different product categories.
Chi-Square Test conducted for 5% Level Of Significance and 95% Confidence
Interval shows in table 1 that the p-value is 0.030 which is less than the 5%
Level Of Significance. Hence, we accept the Alternate Hypothesis i.e. “There
is relationship between likelihood of consumption across different product
categories and Fear.”

4343
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

To gain deeper insight we conducted principal component analysis on the

correlations of the FCV-19S scale seven items. Maximum Likelihood method
was chosen and Factors were divided into 3 components. Varimax rotation was
used to clarify the relationship among factors. As shown in table 2.The first
factor seemed to reflect physiological responses to the COVID-19 with items
3,4,5, 6, and 7 most highly correlated. The second factor tends to represent
generalized emotional responses to the COVID-19 with item 1 most highly
associated. The third factor tends to represent anxiousness related to Covid-19
with item 2 most highly associated. The three varimax factors accounted for
about 95.1%, of the total variance.

Table 2 : Rotated Factor loadings and communalities

From the above results we can observe that generalized emotional responses to
COVID-19 and likelihood of consumption of products or services are
associated. This fear response is what has played a role in change of consumer
behavior due to the pandemic.

Consumer Behavior
By measuring the fear response due to Covid-19 and its relation with
Consumption we have identified a change in consumer behavior due to this
pandemic.However, to identify precisely what the change is we have conducted
the below studies.
Respondents in the survey were asked how likely you are to spend more in the
below Product/Service categories and the scale was from 1 to 5 where 1 stands
for Strongly Disagree and 5 stands for Strongly Agree. 54.43% respondents
Strongly Agree that they are likely to increase the spending on Groceries,
24.68% Strongly Agree that they are going to increase spending on Snacks,

4344
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

79.75% Strongly Disagree that they are going to increase spending on Tobacco
Products, 28.48% Strongly Disagree for increasing spending on
Takeouts/Deliveries, 52.53% Strongly Disagree for spending on Alcohol,
48.73% Strongly Disagree for spending on Restaurants, 31.65% Strongly
Disagree for spending on Footwear,33.54% Strongly Disagree for spending on
Apparels, 73.42% Strongly Disagree for spending on Jewelry,30.38% Strongly
Agree for spending on Household Supplies, 25.95% are neutral for spending on
Personal-Care Products, 29.75% are neutral for spending on Skincare-Makeup,
36.08% Strongly Disagree for spending on Furnishing And Appliances,
28.48% Somewhat Disagree for spending on Home Entertainment, 44.94%
Strongly Disagree for spending on Outside Entertainment, 30.38% are neutral
for spending on Books, 29.75% are neutral for spending on Consumer
Electronics, 69.62% Strongly Disagree for spending on Pet Care Services,
25.95% Somewhat Agree for spending on Fitness And Wellness, 27.85% are
neutral for spending on Personal-Care Services, 23.42% are neutral for
spending on Petrol/Diesel, 66.46% Strongly Disagree are for spending on
Vehicle Purchases, 27.85% Strongly Disagree for Travelling By Car, 63.92%
Strongly Disagree for spending on Vacations, 72.78% Strongly Disagree for
Pilgrimage Visits, 77.5% Strongly Disagree for spending on International
Flights, 44.14% Strongly Disagree for spending on Domestic Flights, 61.39%
Strongly Disagree for spending on Hotel/Resort Stays, 37.34% Strongly
Disagree for spending on Hospital Visits, 27.85% Strongly Agree for spending
on Health Insurance.
2.0 Testing the association between likelihood of consumption across different
product categories/services and age
We will perform CHI-SQUARE TEST in Minitab
H0-There is no association between likelihood of spending across different
product categories/ services and age
H1-There is an association between likelihood of spending across different
product categories/ services and age.

Table 3: CHI-SQUARE TEST

Chi-Square Test conducted for 5% Level Of Significance and 95% Confidence
Interval shows in table 3 that the p-value is 1 which is greater than the 5%
Level of Significance. Hence, we fail to reject the Null Hypothesis i.e. “There
is no relationship between likelihood of spending in different product
categories and age.”
The respondents were asked whether COVID-19 was the reason for the
adoption of online services, 49% responded with a YES , this indicates that the
consumers have been pushed to adopt online services by the PANDEMIC and

4345
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

this can be used by the organizations to adopt ONLINE services in their

customer journey touchpoints to be accessible to these customers.
The respondents were asked to answer the question that how likely you are to
increase the adoption of below digital and low touch activities where a 5 point
scale was used 1 stands for Strongly Disagree and 5 stands for Strongly Agree.
53.75% respondents Strongly Agree that they are going to increase the usage of
OTT platforms. 27.50% Strongly Disagree that they will increase their time
spent on Playing Online Games. 41.88% Strongly Agree that they are going to
increase Social Media usage. 30.63% Strongly Disagree that they are going to
increase the usage of Food Delivery Apps. 38.13% Strongly Agree that they
are going to increase the usage of Grocery Delivery Apps. 37.50% Strongly
Agree that they are going to increase Buying Online and opting Home
Delivery. 30.63% Strongly Disagree that they are going to increase buying
online and opting in-store pickup. 45% Strongly Agree that they are going to
increase the usage of Videoconferencing Apps. 40.63% Strongly Agree that
they are going to increase the usage of Online platforms for e-learning. 27.50%
Strongly Agree that they are going to increase the usage of Exercise/Wellness
Apps. 46.88% Strongly Disagree that they are going to increase the usage of
ride-sharing apps.
3.0 Association between age and likelihood of adoption of digital and low
touch activities.
We will perform CHI-SQUARE TEST in Minitab
H0-There is no association between likelihood of engaging in digital/low touch
activities and age.
H1-There is an association between likelihood of engaging in digital/low touch
activities and age.

Table 4: CHI-SQUARE TEST

Chi-Square Test conducted for 5% Level Of Significance and 95% Confidence
Interval shows in table 4 that the p-value is 0.973 which is greater than the 5%
Level Of Significance. Hence, we fail to reject the Null Hypothesis i.e. “There
is no relationship between likelihood of engaging in digital/low touch activities
and age.”
4.Testing the relationship between different digital/low touch activities where
change is expected.
We will perform One-Way Anova in Minitab
H0-All means are equal
H1-All means are not equal

4346
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

Table 5 Results of ANOVA

Table 6: Mean and standard deviation across product categories

We assumed equal variances for the analysis. One-way ANOVA in Table 5
shows results show p value is less than level of significance i.e 0.05, hence H0
is rejected and it is established that “All means are not equal”.
For further study, Turnkey Pairwise Comparison is done to understand the
relationship between adoption in these different digital/low-touch activities

4347
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

Table 7 Grouping information using Turnkey Method

Above grouping from Table 7 using Turnkey Method, shows that OTT
Platforms, Online Platforms for E-Learning, Videoconferencing Apps, Grocery
Delivery, Buy Online and opting for home delivery, Social Media are under
category A. Exercise/Wellness Apps, Playing Online Games are under category
C. Food Delivery, Buy Online For In-Store Pickup are under category D. Using
Ride-Sharing Apps are under category E.
The respondents were asked about the security protocols which they
considered important while choosing a store to shop-in. 65.61% considered
choosing a shop where attendants use masks, gloves, and barriers. 68.15%
considered regular cleaning and sanitization of the shop as an important
protocol.69.43% respondents considered Social Distancing. 68.15% considered
No-contact purchasing. 63.69% considered regular employee health checks as
an important security protocol.

Consumer Sentiments
Respondents were asked how optimistic are they about the economic recovery
in the next 5-6 months and as is shown in Fig 4, 29% responded that they are
neutral, 25% responded that they somewhat agree, 20% responded that they
Strongly Agree, 5% responded that they Strongly Disagree.

4348
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

Respondents were asked how long you think you need to adjust your routines
due to COVID-19 and as shown in Fig 5, 31% responded 2months, 30%
responded 5+ months, 22% responded 3 months, 17% responded 4 months.
Respondents were asked how long you think that your personal/household
finances will be affected due to COVID-19 and as shown in Fig 6, 32%
responded 3-5 months, 25% responded less than months, 23% responded 6 to 8
months, 9% responded 9 to 12 months, 11% responded greater than 12 months.
Respondents were asked how long you think that you are going to reduce
spending due to COVID-19 and as shown in Fig 7, 42% responded 3-5 months,
29% responded 6-8 months, 12% responded greater than 12 months, 11%
responded that they are not going to reduce their spending, 6% responded 9-12
months
5. Discussion
The study intended to analyse, “The effect of fear on Purchase Intentions” and
found that there exists relationship between fear and purchasing intentions. The
products that can alleviate those concerns of fear can affect the purchasing
intention. Hence, we made a hypothesis about fear due to Covid-19 and
likelihood of increasing the consumption of products and services. We found
there exists a relationship between them. We asked the respondents about
security protocols that can alleviate their concerns of fear and we found that
security protocols in shops like attendants using masks, gloves and barriers,
social distancing, regular cleaning and sanitization of shops, no-contact
purchasing and regular employee health checks are essential protocols that
generate confidence in consumers about their safety when they visit a shop.
The study analyses relationship between Age and Factors influencing
Consumer Behavior. The impact of age on the perceived importance and
interaction of three factors known to influence consumers when purchasing
clothes: price, durability, and sustainability.
We tested the hypothesis that age and likelihood of spending across product
categories would have an interaction. However, the Chi-Square Test performed
on the likelihood of spending in different product categories and age revealed
that there exists no relationship between age and likelihood of spending in
different product categories. This shows that this pandemic has brought a huge
change in the consumer buying behavior and they are acting differently in their
purchasing behaviors across product categories due to the COVID-19
pandemic. This behavior change could have been produced due to important
factors like safety and security, fear and anxiety about the pandemic, economic
factors contributing to future uncertainty influencing in a major way their
decision-making process.
The testing of hypothesis that age and likely adoption of low touch/digital
activities would have an interaction shows that there exists no relationship
between age and the adoption of low touch and digital activities. According to
the primary research through survey we found that people across all age groups
are showing their inclination towards adoption of digital/low-touch activities.
The tendency to avoid risk and safety concerns has coerced them into this
behavior.

4349
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

We also tested the relationship between different digital/low-touch activities

where change is expected in the consumption. We used ANOVA to test the
relationship and used Turnkey Pairwise Comparison to find the similar
groupings. All in category A are likely to increase in the adoption. This is
because due to the enforced lockdown platforms for E-Learning were
increasingly used to learn new things from the luxury of homes. Also, since
schools and colleges are still closed, they are using these platforms to learn.
Videoconferencing apps were widely used by the population to work, study,
and connect with family members and will be continued in future. Grocery
Delivery and buy online and opting for home delivery were used to buy
household essential items to avoid going out. All in category C have also seen
an increase in adoption. Exercise/wellness apps were being used to stay fit as
the Gyms and outdoor parks were closed. Also, to avoid going out and remain
staying fit people prefer using such apps in future. Playing online games will
also see increase in adoption as people are avoiding going out due to Covid-19
and hence prefer spending their free time playing these games. All the activities
in category D and E contain activities like Food Delivery, Buy Online for In-
Store Pickup and using Ride-Sharing Apps are going to have a reduction in
their adoption as these activities are not considered safe due to the ongoing
Covid-19 pandemic. Hence, people are avoiding these activities.
6. Conclusion and Recommendations
Considering the relevance globally of the Indian consumer market, and non-
existence of any detailed study about the changing consumer behavior due to
Covid-19, this study provides useful insights which the organizations can use
to adjust to the new normal.
Our hypothesis of relationship between fear due to Covid-19 and likelihood of
increase in consumption across products and categories turned to be true.
Hence, organizations need to incorporate these protocols at every step that
involve customer interaction to alleviate the safety concerns of the customer.
Such measures will increase the confidence in consumers mind and improve
the sentiment.
Secondly, this study highlights that the consumers across all age groups are
behaving the same when it comes to their likelihood of spending across
different product categories or services. As incomes have declined due to the
pandemic consumer are spending on essentials and not on discretionary
spending. The survey highlights that consumers are likely to increase their
spend on groceries, snacks, household supplies and health insurance. The
consumers are likely to decrease their spend on tobacco products,
Takeouts/deliveries, alcohol, restaurants, footwear, apparels, jewelry,
furnishing and appliances, home entertainment, pet care services, vehicle
purchases, vacations, pilgrimage visits, International and domestic flights,
hotel/resort stays, hospital visits.
Thirdly, the research highlights that age does not have any interaction with the
likelihood of adoption of low touch and digital activities. The consumers are
tilting towards online services and digital solutions as well as no-contact or
reduced-contact channels to get goods and services. The survey highlights that

4350
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

the consumers are likely to increase spending time or usage on services and
activities like OTT platforms, Social Media, Grocery Delivery Apps, Buying
online and opting for home delivery, Videoconferencing Apps, online
platforms for e-learning, Exercise/Wellness Apps. In the post-covid world
order, organizations across various sectors cannot depend primarily on their
offline presence. They will have to realign themselves to the new normal of
online buying and make their presence felt in the online channels. Hence,
organizations need to embrace multichannel ecosystem and converge the
operations of their online and brick and mortar stores. The consumers are likely
to decrease spending time or usage on services and activities like playing
online games, food delivery app, buying online and in-store pickup, and ride-
sharing apps.
The questions in survey asked to generate insights about the consumer
sentiments highlighted that optimism among the consumers have decreased and
most them expect Covid-19 to affect their routines for a long time to come.
Also, majority consumers shared that their incomes have declined, and they are
reducing their spend. They are spending on essential items and not
discretionary categories. This trend will continue unless the economic effects
of the pandemic return to normal.
As the spread of the virus is still not contained and the countries continue to
struggle to control its spread. This calls for collaborative effort in the form of
global investment in vaccine research and development, and its distribution
across geographies. Focus should also be given to precautionary measures like
capacity development for real-time monitoring of the population and
development of contact tracing capabilities. As outbreaks of the virus is not
going to subside anytime soon, proactive measures and collaborative actions
are required at national and international levels to save lives and to protect
economic prosperity.
7. Limitations
The study is exploratory in nature and is by no means an exhaustive study that
encompasses the whole Indian population. Hence, to better understand the
behavior this study can further be undertaken in rural and urban India with a
bigger sample size and representation from smaller towns and cities to make
this study comprehensive. Also, this study can be further expanded to
incorporate different countries as well to learn about the change in consumer
behavior in their region.
The study used demography, psychology, and economic factors for identifying
the change in consumer behavior. However, there are other factors like
personal, cultural factors, and social factors that affect the consumer behavior.
The implications of these factors can further enhance our understanding about
the implication of covid-19 pandemic on consumer behavior.
The study does not consider panic buying behavior that is induced during the
times of crisis. A perception of scarcity and losing control of your environment
is strongly linked with such panic buying behaviors which are formed due to
fear, exacerbation of anxiety and insecurity, hence ,further studies are

4351
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

warranted to explore panic buying behaviors during crisis which could be of

great help in dealing with such situations in future (Arafat et al., 2020).
References
Aguilera, J. (2020, February 03). Harmful Xenophobia Spreads Along with
Coronavirus. Retrieved July 12, 2020, from
https://time.com/5775716/xenophobia-racism-stereotypes-coronavirus/
Ahorsu, D. K., Lin, C., Imani, V., Saffari, M., Griffiths, M. D., &
Pakpour, A. H. (2020). The Fear of COVID-19 Scale:
Development and Initial Validation. International Journal of Mental
Health and Addiction. doi:10.1007/s11469-020-00270-8
Alecu, L. S. (2020). BOOK REVIEW Taylor, S.: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
PANDEMICS: PREPARING FOR THE NEXT GLOBAL
OUTBREAK OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE, Cambridge Scholars
Publishing, 2019, p. 158. Journal of Community Positive Practices,
20(1), 97-101. doi:10.35782/jcpp.2020.1.06
Arafat, S. Y., Kar, S. K., Marthoenis, M., Sharma, P., Apu, E. H., &
Kabir, R. (2020). Psychological underpinning of panic buying during
pandemic (COVID-19). Psychiatry Research, 289, 113061.
doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113061
Archived: WHO Timeline - COVID-19. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2020, from
https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/27-04-2020-who-timeline---
covid-19
As job losses escalate, nearly half of global workforce at risk of losing
livelihoods. (2020, April 29). Retrieved July 12, 2020, from
https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-
ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_743036/lang--en/index.htm
Belk, R. W. (1975). Situational Variables and Consumer Behavior. Journal of
Consumer Research, 2(3), 157. doi:10.1086/208627 31. Thomas, W. I.
"The Behavior Pattern and the Situation," Proceedings, Twenty-second
Annual Meeting, American Sociological Society, 22 (1927), 1-13
Bonneux, L., & Damme, W. V. (2006). An iatrogenic pandemic of panic.
Bmj, 332(7544), 786-788. doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7544.786
Coronavirus Cases:. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2020, from
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Coronese, M., Lamperti, F., Keller, K., Chiaromonte, F., & Roventini, A.
(2019). Evidence for sharp increase in the economic damages of
extreme natural disasters. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, 116(43), 21450-21455. doi:10.1073/pnas.1907826116
Purchasing Managers Index for February 2020. (2020). Retrieved July
12, 2020, from
http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202003/t20200302_1729
254.html
Dodgson, L. (2020, March 25). A human behavior expert explains 4
psychological reasons why people are panic buying items in bulk during
the coronavirus pandemic. Retrieved July 12, 2020, from

4352
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

https://www.insider.com/why-people-are-panic-bulk-buying-during-
the-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-3.
Fernandes, N. (2020). Economic Effects of Coronavirus Outbreak (COVID-19)
on the World Economy. SSRN Electronic Journal.
doi:10.2139/ssrn.3557504
Gardner, M. P. (1985). Mood States and Consumer Behavior: A Critical
Review. Journal of Consumer Research, 12(3), 281.
doi:10.1086/208516
Gilman, S. L. (2010). Moral panic and pandemics. The Lancet, 375(9729),
1866-1867. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(10)60862-8
Guo, M. (2020). Measuring the impact of the coronavirus on China's
consumption. Retrieved July 12, 2020, from
https://us.kantar.com/business/brands/2020/survey-measures-
coronavirus-outbreak%E2%80%99s-impact-on-china%E2%80%99s-
consumption/
Halan, D. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on online shopping in India - Re-Tales
by Dr. Deepak Halan: ET Retail. Retrieved July 12, 2020, from
https://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/re-tales/impact-of-covid-
19-on-online-shopping-in-india/411513.
Hervé, C., & Mullet, E. (2009). Age and factors influencing consumer
behaviour. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 33(3), 302-308.
doi:10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009.00743.x
International Air Transport Association. IATA Economics’ Chart of the Week:
return to air travel expected to be slow. In: IATA Economics
Report(2020). Available online at: https://www.iata.org/en/iata-
repository/publications/economic-reports/return-to-air-travel-expected-
to-be-slow/(accessed 23 April 2020)
Jones, S. C., Waters, L., Holland, O., Bevins, J., & Iverson, D. (2010).
Developing pandemic communication strategies: Preparation without
panic. Journal of Business Research, 63(2), 126-132.
doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2009.02.009
Kristalina Georgieva, I. (Director). (2020, April 09). Confronting the Crisis:
Priorities for the Global Economy [Video file]. Retrieved July 12, 2020,
from https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2020/04/07/sp040920-
SMs2020-Curtain-Raiser
Mckibbin, W. J., & Fernando, R. (2020). The Global Macroeconomic
Impacts of COVID-19: Seven Scenarios. SSRN Electronic Journal.
doi:10.2139/ssrn.3547729
Meertens, R. M., & Lion, R. (2008). Measuring an Individual's Tendency
to Take Risks: The Risk Propensity Scale. Journal of Applied Social
Psychology, 38(6), 1506-1520. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00357.x
P. W. Forster and Ya Tang, "The Forster, P., & Tang, Y. (2005). The Role
of Online Shopping and Fulfillment in the Hong Kong SARS Crisis.
Proceedings of the 38th Annual Hawaii International Conference on
System Sciences. doi:10.1109/hicss.2005.615

4353
 PJAEE, 17 (6) (2020)

Pneumonia of unknown cause – China. (2020, January 30). Retrieved July 12,
2020, from https://www.who.int/csr/don/05-january-2020-pneumonia-
of-unkown-cause-china/en/unknown cause-China, (2020, January 5).
Prem, K., Liu, Y., Russell, T., Kucharski, A. J., Eggo, R. M., Davies, N., . . .
Klepac, P. (2020). The effect of control strategies that reduce social
mixing on outcomes of the COVID-19 epidemic in Wuhan, China.
doi:10.1101/2020.03.09.20033050
Ramos, G., & Hynes, W. (2020). A systemic resilience approach to
dealing with Covid-19 and future shocks. Retrieved July 12, 2020, from
https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/view/?ref=131_131917-kpfefrdfnx
Ramsay, M. A. (2005). Darwin and International Relations: On the
Evolutionary Origins of War and Ethnic Conflict (review). The Journal
of Military History, 69(2), 610-611. doi:10.1353/jmh.2005.0121
Shalal, A., & Lawder, D. (n.d.). IMF chief says pandemic will unleash
worst recession since Great Depression. Retrieved July 12, 2020, from
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-imf/imf-chief-
says-pandemic-will-unleash-worst-recession-since-great-depression-
idUSKCN21R1SM
Taylor, J. W. (1974). The Role of Risk in Consumer Behavior. Journal of
Marketing, 38(2), 54-60. doi:10.1177/002224297403800211
WHO. (2020). Report of the WHO-China joint mission on coronavirus disease
2019 (COVID19). https://www.who.int/docs/default-
source/coronaviruse/who-china-joint-mission-on-covid-19-final-
report.pdf
Wilkens, J. (2020, March 22). Why we hoard: Fear at root of panic-buying,
psychologists say. Retrieved July 12, 2020, from
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/story/2020-03-
22/hoard-fear-panic-buying-psychology

4354