Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Consumer Behavior During Adverse Events

Lenka Veselovská – Matej Bel University, Faculty of Economics, Institute of Managerial Systems, 5766/16 Dlhé hony St., 058 01 Poprad, Slovak Republic

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic created unique conditions in societies with various implications for the future. A research study based on empirical research conducted on a sample of 1172 consumers explores the consumer behavior changes that occurred during the pandemic. It was discovered that the con­sumers in the age group 30 – 39 years old living alone to the greatest extent decreased the amount of products they bought during the pandemic. In 2021, the most significant impact of the shop availability factor was recorded, from the point of view of consumers aged 50 to 59. Consumers aged 40-49 were most likely to be influenced by expert information in their purchasing decisions and they were the ones who most trusted the official government information on pandemic development. Fear was an important factor that influenced consumer behavior during the pandemic. The fear of job loss manifested itself in higher savings among consumers in the 40-59 age group. On the contrary, lower age categories of consumers were more concerned about the health of their loved ones, which was mainly reflected in the tendency to shop in brick-and-mortar stores unaccompanied. Guidelines were formulated based on these findings in order to predict how the consumers will adapt their behavior during the next adverse event that may occur in the future. By explaining in detail what changes occurred and why they occurred it is possible to predict consumer behavior during adverse events in the near future.

8th International Scientific Conference on Recent Advances in Information Technology, Tourism, Economics, Management and Agriculture – ITEMA 2024 – Selected Papers, Hybrid (Zayed University, Dubai, UAE), October 24, 2024

ITEMA Selected Papers published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans – Belgrade, Serbia

ITEMA conference partners: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, Slovenia; Faculty of Organization and Informatics, University of Zagreb, Varaždin; Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade, Serbia; Institute of Marketing, Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland; Faculty of Agriculture, Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine ”King Michael I of Romania”, Romania

ITEMA Conference 2024 Selected Papers: ISBN 978-86-80194-90-5, ISSN 2683-5991, DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/ITEMA.S.P.2024

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