COVID-19 and its lasting impact on the consumer goods and services industry

: how does the change in consumer behavior affect the new normal in online and offline consumption?

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed consumer behavior, habits and patterns worldwide. Although there is literature on the impact COVID-19 has had on consumer behavior in the consumer goods and services industry, there is little research on the effects the pandemic has had, now that almost all government mitigation policies are lifted around the globe. This research first reviews the available literature on the impact of epidemics and pandemics on consumer behavior. The second part consists of an empirical survey study using the five-step logic from Nicosia’s (1982) consumer decision-making model. Here, COVID-19’s impact on consumer behavior changes is measured at each stage of the consumer’s decision-making pro cess. A within-subject design is used to elicit the subject’s perceptions at three different points in time. Time period one marks the time before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, time point two marks the time during COVID-19 peak periods and before the introduction of vaccines,and time period three marks the time after the lift of several mitigation policies. The main find ings are that consumers return to normal in service-intensive industries such as restaurants or fitness studios. Consumers continue to value sanitation products and avoid contact with sales staff and other customers. Moreover, they return to spending time in retail facilities and increas ingly use online channels to search and buy products and services.

Date of Award	1 Feb 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Daniel Fernandes (Supervisor)