How Do Pandemics Such as Covid 19 Impact Consumer Behavior (Essay Sample)

How do pandemics such as Covid 19 impact consumer behavior?
Name
Course Title and Number
Instructor
Date
How do pandemics such as Covid 19 impact consumer behavior?
Pandemics cause stress and induce adverse cognitive behavior such as instability, fear, and impulsivity, crucial factors influencing consumer behavior. Some people develop dysfunctional consumer behaviors such as impulsive spending while others become inactive, decreasing purchasing. Following pandemics, the changes in consumer behavior are often defensive mechanisms to bring about emotional stability, manage stress, and restore a sense of self. Pandemics such as COVID-19 impact consumers’ behavior by influencing what and where to consume.[Adolfo Di Crosta et al., "Psychological Factors and Consumer Behavior During The COVID-19 Pandemic", PLOS ONE 16, no. 8 (2021): e0256095, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256095.]
During pandemics, a change in demand for some products increases drastically while others drop radically. For example, following the COVID-19 outbreak, some products such as masks, disinfectants, and cleaning products became essential, and customers stockpiled them due to the fear of contamination. Also, consumers were hoarding some basic needs’ products such as toilet paper and water due to uncertainty caused by the lockdown of most countries. In earlier pandemics, such as avian influenza, scholars reported a decline in the consumption of chicken meat. Similarly, the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) outbreak shifted consumers’ behaviors to excessive spending on expensive meat products such as organic and ‘green’ meat. The outbreak of the H1N1 swine flu pandemic led to a decline in purchasing of animal meat due to the increased risk of infection.[Jagdish Sheth, "Impact of Covid-19 On Consumer Behavior: Will the Old Habits Return or Die?", Journal of Business Research 117 (2020): 280-283, doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.059.] [Madelon Hutjens, "The Influence of Fear on The Buying Behaviour of Consumers in Case of An Animal Disease Outbreak", Wageningen University: Wageningen, The Netherlands, 2014, https://edepot.wur.nl/318026.] [Madelon Hutjens, “The Influence of Fear on The Buying Behaviour of Consumers” 3]
The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed the resilience and creativity of consumers out of sheer necessity and government regulations of social distancing and country lockdown. Many consumers preferred purchasing products online rather than overcrowding in shopping centers and stores. The home delivery of most products affected other significant services such as education and work, where people rely on Zoom video services to work and learn. Streaming service