Prague University of Economics and Business
Bachelor’s Thesis
2021 Minh Thu Pham
Prague University of Economics and Business Faculty of Business Administration
Bachelor’s Field: Corporate Finance and Management
Title of the Bachelor’s thesis:
Impact of COVID-19 on the consumer behaviour in Vietnam
Author: Minh Thu Pham
Supervisor: prof. Kottika Efthymia, CSc. / Ph.D
Declaration of Authenticity
I hereby declare that the Bachelor ́s Thesis presented herein is my own work, or fully and specifically acknowledged wherever adapted
from other sources. This work has not been published or submitted elsewhere for the requirement of a degree programme.
Prague, 12 May 2021 Signature
Title of Bachelor’s Thesis:
Impact of COVID-19 on the consumer behaviour in Vietnam.
Abstract:
The aim of this study is to investigate the shift of consumer behaviour under the impact of COVID-19 on the Millennials living in Vietnam. To explain their behaviour during the pandemic, the qualitative approach has been used and an in-depth interview have been carried out with Vietnamese customers. Findings of the study revealed that there was a change in shopping channel, from physical stores to e-commerce sites because of fear of virus infection.
However, consumers still feel the potential danger when shopping online. Decision-making process of consumers during this period is also forced to adapt because of consumer income is declining. Consumers become more cautious in every decision they made by looking more sources of product information, finding other alternative goods that are suitable for their budgets. Overall, four key factors influencing consumer decision-making process during COVID-19 have been identified in this study, namely price, quality, promotion and shipping fee. The results of the study thus confirm the signinificant effect of COVID-19 on the shopping patterns in Vietnam. As a result, recommendations were provided for the improvements of Vietnamese businesses during this tough time.
Key words: consumer behaviour, COVID-19, Millennials, e-commerce, Vietnam.
Acknowledgements
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to my supervisor prof.
Efthymia Kottika for her constructive criticism and constant guidance,
without which this work would not have been possible.
Table of Contents
Introduction ... 1
Theoretical Part ... 4
1. Literature Review ... 4
1.1. Consumer Behavior ... 4
1.2. Factors affecting consumer behaviour during COVID-19 ... 5
1.2.1. Psychological factors ... 5
1.2.2. Social factors ... 7
1.2.3. Cultural factors ... 8
1.2.4. Economic factors ... 9
1.3. Consumer decision-making process ... 10
1.4. Consumer profile ... 13
2. Methodology ... 15
2.1. Research paradigm ... 15
2.2. Research type ... 15
2.3. Method of data collection ... 15
2.4. Interview guide ... 16
2.5. Method of analysis approach ... 17
Practical Part ... 18
1. Main findings ... 18
2. Discussion ... 31
2.1. Discussion of important findings ... 31
2.2. Managerial implication ... 32
2.3. Research limitations and suggestions for future research ... 33
Conclusion ... 35
Table of Figures ... 36
References ... 37
Annexes ... 44
1
Introduction
Background
The rapid spread of COVID-19 has impacted the daily lives of people all over the world.
Because COVID-19 has become extremely infectious, public concern has risen, and many international efforts to prevent transmission have been introduced. Lockdowns, social
distancing, and stay-at-home orders are examples of public health precautions that have been implemented at the local, regional and national levels. These policies have caused changes in people’s daily lives all over the world, gradually leading to the transformation of a stable socioeconomic into noncontact communities. These transformations have had a significant effect on many market sectors, especially trade and delivery of commodities, education, and businesses. For personal meetings and lectures, online classes and video references have become common models, and the online shopping industry has grown remarkably (Jo et al., 2020).
As a result of the pandemic, health and safety concerns continue to have significant influences on the behaviour of shopper. Since all aspects of the economy are closely interconnected with public health policies and lockdown, the economic volatility of the nations has led to business paradigm shifts. Company have high chance of reviving and recovering thanks to the reinvention of systems and facilities. This highlights the role of digital transformation in creating and sustaining a reliable channel for companies in the event of an emergency.
A critical condition causes people to behave in unexpected ways, with certain parts of their behavior becoming irreversible. The consumer behaviour is not the exception regarding these shifts, hence being significantly influenced not only by the pandemic itself but also by the government restriction. Furthermore, consumers are the drivers of market competition, prosperity, and economic integration in any markets. As a result, taking economic
uncertainties into consideration, consumers who live through a pandemic might be changed, and the changes can be long-lasting even after the pandemic (Mehta et al., 2020).
COVID-19 is hastening the growth of Vietnamese e-commerce and digital finance, which pushes country realize the full digital potential, despite its negative impact on health, society, and economy. In terms of e-commerce growth, digital finances services have significantly increased such as internet banking and e-wallets, placing Vietnam among the top three countries in Southeast Asia. The revenue of this sector in 2021 will hit US $7 billion, an expansion of 16.2 percent year-over-year. Customer numbers are also forecast to rise by 13.5 percent to 51.8 billion, reaching approximately $135 per consumer on average annually (Le
& Nguyen, 2021).
2 The aim of this thesis is to explore shift of consumer behaviour in Vietnam under the impact of COVID-19. Furthermore, this study also emphasizes the influence of psychological, social, economical, and cultural factors on Vietnamese consumers during the pandemic.
Millennials nowadays make up a sizable demographic, and their purchasing power makes them attractive to a wide range of market industries. Therefore, the diversity of Millennials’
consuming behaviour that distinguishes them from other consumer groups, making them as a potential object for researching and investigating. Their purchasing behaviour is constantly improving and is responsive to the social, cultural, economic and political developments.
Obviously, the advancement of technology would direct them into new buying patterns.
Researchers are also concentrating on psychological aspects of approaching Millennials, in which beliefs, and more importantly, expectation serve as anchoring mechanisms for
generating links through successful advertising. Given the above, it is high time for sellers to invest more in understanding and applying explicit messages or even technological
achievements to fulfil the new customer needs. Otherwise, a lack of awareness of digital technology and its abuse as distribution tool will have significant impact on providing value to customers. As a result, it is critical for marketers to understand their target market on digital platform (Moreno et al., 2017).
Acknowledging the essential of these issues and opportunities, this paper aims to analyse the current state and potential future state to define changes in consumer behaviour of
Vietnamese Millennials during the pandemic.
Goal and Objectives
In order to address the goal of this study, some basic objectives should be discussed below.
The first objective is to identify the factors which affect the decision-making process of Millennials during COVID-19.
The second objective is to investigate whether there was a new trend towards online shopping while social distancing applied in Vietnam.
The third objective is to understand the purchasing behaviour of Millennials during the pandemic through examining psychological, social, cultural and economic factors.
Eventually, the last objective is to evaluate the change of Millennials behaviour by comparing before and after COVID-19 occurrence.
3 Research Gap
There have been a number of valuable studies of the impacts of COVID-19 on health, economic and lifestyle (Dryhust et al., 2020; Lanciano et al., 2020; Mehla et al., 2020).
Research on consumer behaviour is also one of the most notable studies, especially when a pandemic occurs, it is essential to understand the changes in habits of consumers. However, previous studies on consumer behaviour have mainly focused on shifts in consumer shopping channels in the context of a pandemic, from physical stores to shopping online and panic buying phenomena (Fareeha et al., 2021; Koch & Schewe, 2020; Yuen et al., 2020; Naem, 2021).
Few studies on the effect of COVID-19 on Vietnamese consumers were eligible. Pham et al.
(2020) research conducted on the perceived benefits of online shopping in situation of specific context of Vietnam. The aim of this study is to see how COVID-19 affects online shopping in Vietnam. However, this article does not focus on the age and gender factors but focused rather about the disease consequences. Therefore, the current study can focus more on the impact of COVID-19 on the specific age or specific generation.
Pham et al. (2020) highlighted the dangers associated with online shopping in Vietnam after the pandemic outbreak. This study identified these risks that consumers may perceive of online shopping during pandemic such as product risk and information risk. However, the model in this study has not been verified, because it only focuses on measurement of the impact of COVID-19. Thus, future study can conduct the qualitative analysis to understand the in-depth insight.
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Theoretical Part 1. Literature Review
1.1. Consumer Behavior
Consumer ehavior is characterized as a collection of decision-making processes, such as searching, obtaining, using and disposing of goods and services (Khan, 2006). Solomon et al.
(2013) pointed out that consumer behaviour is the psychological process that consumers go through when identifying needs, seeking solutions to fulfil those needs, gathering and understanding information, making plans and putting those plans into action, making purchasing decision and participating in post-purchase actions.
From the above definitions, it was not only the purchasing behavior that caught the attention of the customer, but in fact the process began before the purchase took place (Solomon et al., 2013). When considering a product in mind, customers tend to find more alternative products and then compare their advantages and disadvantages, the difference in price and brand reputation. Consumer behavior not only stops there but it is also shown in the decision- making process, using products and finally post-purchase behavior is also an important step to know if customers are satisfied with the product or not (Khan, 2006).
It is undeniable that in consumer behaviour, not all consumers respond in the same way (Solomon et al., 2013). Differences in lifestyle can result in differences in internal factors such as vision, attitudes, and motives, as well as external factors, such as history, social strata, and demographic perspective (Mayra, 2020).
Laato et al. (2020) reported on the influence of pandemic on human life and found that the effects of a pandemic on consumption are not being taken care of by researchers. Instead, researches largely focused on the health implication of the pandemic and found out the solutions to improve the immune system to prevent disease. Hence, since the COVID-19 pandemic scenario is extraordinary and unusual, it helps us to gain insight into consumer decision-making process, the change in consumer mindset at each stage during the global crisis where people are unsure how to respond and have no strong point of reference. As a result, the consumer decision-making model of Nicosia analyses the behavioural changes affecting the pandemic COVID-19. In specific, consumers engage in the mechanism of consumer decision-making by operationalized activities. Nicosia (1982) offered a model for the clarifications and analysis of the processes used in consumer decision-making, consisting of five levels of action relating to product needs identity, product search, evaluation,
purchasing decision and post-purchase behaviours (Mason et al., 2021). However, depending on the context, the decision of the consumers will not always be the same because the
influencing factors can be significantly varied.
5 1.2. Factors affecting consumer behaviour during COVID-19
The consumer behaviour is mainly influenced by four factors which are: Psychological factors, Cultural factors, Economic factors and Social factors (Ramya & Alo, 2016).
1.2.1. Psychological factors
Psychological factors focus on highlighting psychological effects on consumer behavior, specifically how the consumer reacts to stimuli, experience, and learning as variables of consumer behaviour (Oana, 2020). A survival psychology recognizes that humans can change their behaviour in response to specific events such as natural disasters, pandemics and
terrorism. As a result of these psychological behavioural changes, negative phenomena such as herd mentality, panic buying, changing buying habits and making investment decisions may occur (Forbes, 2016). The two important variables influencing consumer behaviour, according to Seema et al. (2020), are perception and attitude.
Perception
The process of selection, organization and interpretation of these stimuli is perception (Solomon et al., 2013). The brain is exposed to some stimuli and attempts to interpret its purpose. This is an approximation of reality called perception. However, a lot of people believe the perception is a passive process through all what we hear and see but in reality, people actively perceive stimuli and objects from their surrounding environment (Cetină et.
al., 2012).
Risk perception
According to Pham et al. (2020), consumer perceptions have shifted dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among well-known pandemic perception, risk perception is one of the most researched areas because it demonstrates the shift in consumption (Tiziana et al., 2020).
According to Seema et al. (2020), the consumer’s understanding of the danger of being exposed to the risk content is reflected in risk perception. More specifically, Qing et al.
(2021) clarified that risk perception of COVID-19 is primarily related to an emphasis on physical health. In consumer research, the theory of perceived risk refers to consumers’ risk perceiving in their decision-making behaviors because of the uncertainty that can potentially cause negative consequences (Seema et al., 2020). Furthermore, perception of the danger associated with COVID-19 can affect their food purchases and consumption habits (Janssen et al., 2021). For instance, people can seek to decrease their risk of illness by the expansion of their use of delivery services, more hygienically prepared goods, longer shelf-life food and organic food in order to improve their immune system.
As a result, with the strong spread of disease, consumers tend to choose online shopping instead of in-store purchases to avoid getting infected. But online shopping also increases the risk perception of consumers because the consumers do not feel safe about quality of
6 products and return policies. Consumers often want to see and touch goods because physical contact with these products is a more enjoyable experience, allowing them to experience even greater sensory effects to evaluate product quality (Liu et al., 2003). Hence, a research from Kamalul et al. (2018) demonstrated that customers are always hesitant to buy online because they feel the potential risk, although many brands now support exchange. The study also found that the higher a consumer’s risk tolerance is, the less likely they are to buy. Kamalul et al. (2018) further describes that in the future, if a lower perceived risk level is reached, there will be an improvement in purchasing intention.
Panic buying
Panic buying was one of the phenomena caused by risk perception that happened
unexpectedly during COVID-19 pandemic. Panic buying, on the other hand, has a long-term negative impact on society and economy (Prentice et al., 2020). A recent review article by Yuen et al. (2020) proposed four explanations for this phenomenon: perceptions (perceived danger and perceived scarcity), fear of unknown, copying behaviour and social psychological factors (social influence and social trust). A study of Naeem (2021) revealed that media influence can increase consumer panic buying behaviour during pandemic. The findings investigate how social media helped to engage people from various countries (the United State, China, the United Kingdom, Italy) who have close social ties and are able to create recommendations for buying. For example, a friend may share a video of the UK’s tissue paper crisis, which has gone viral, and many people may have purchased extra tissue paper and other items as a result. Similarly, some people shared pictures, videos, and posts about the empty shelves at large supermarket chains, which increased demand for online groceries and other alternative methods of immediate purchasing (Naeem, 2021). According to
Catherine et al. (2020), the public health risk mitigation measures undertaken by the government were significantly related to panic buying across all product categories. As a result of avoiding the risk of spreading COVID-19, household consumption of food, hand sanitizer, face masks, and painkillers increased dramatically.
Attitudes
According to psychologist Daniel Katz, attitudes exist to fulfil a function for the person.
Solomon et al. (2013) implied that an attitude is made up of three parts: affect, behaviour and cognitive. The way a customer thinks about an attitude object is called affect. A person’s intention to do something in response to an attitude object are referred to as behaviour. The views a customer has about an attitude object are pointed as cognition. The ABC model of attitudes are well-known for their three elements of attitudes (Solomon et al., 2013).
Risk attitude is described by Seema et al. (2020) as the consumer perception of risk content and how much he or she dislikes it. Nonetheless, during the pandemic, consumers would prefer to reduce the risk as much as possible. A study from Julia et al. (2020) published a report that explored customer perceptions from the beginning of the crisis. In the early stages of pandemic, consumers were terrified, resulting in panic purchasing due to concerns of
7 inadequate supply. Following that, consumers are reluctant to shop at retail stores because of worrying about infection and government restrictions. As a result, consumers have chosen online shopping as one of the main shopping channels throughout the pandemic to minimize their risks. More particularly, a latest research of Digital Commerce 360 revealed that
spending by consumers using e-commerce platforms has increased dramatically in 2020. The evidence is, in the US, consumers spent $861.12 billion in 2020, up 44$ from 598.02 billion in 2019. Also according to the agency estimate, there was an additional increase by $174.89 billion, which would not be achieved without a big hit of COVID-19 until 2022 (Digital Commerce 360, 2021).
1.2.2. Social factors Family
Normally, consumers are typically influenced by specific groups, especially by families in the household categories. Firstly, a consensual buying decision is one in which the entire family decides on a desired purchase, the only difference is how it is purchased. Under this
circumstance, family members will consider all the alternatives together until the most appropriate choice to the group goal is found. Secondly, in an accommodative purchase decision, family members with diverse interests and goals are unlikely to come to a
agreement on purchasing choices. Therefore, in this case, conflicts can arise when members are trying to reach agreement on what to buy or who can use it (Solomon et al., 2013).
In addition, home isolation does have some advantages that brings family members are closer. Nevertheless, due to the sudden job reduction, there was an increase in demonstrations and violence, which had a significant impact on society. Furthermore, staying at home for long periods of time can lead to depression and aggravation of previous medical conditions such as hypertension, stress and anxiety. Another social factor to consider is the inadequate supply of home disinfectants or medical items such as masks and hand sanitizers, leading to other problems, such as damage to the respiratory system and consumer health. As a result, people tend to respond strongly to this pandemic and gradually become sensitive to their interactions with other individuals (Javad et al., 2020).
Reference group
The reference group is one of the most important areas in the social factor of consumer behaviour. Schulz (2015) explains that individuals are usually influenced by different reference groups when they make a buying decision. More specifically, the reference groups will state how they feel about the product or brand, then influence directly to the choices of consumers. Reference groups can often include colleagues, friends and family members.
These groups are not necessarily mutually exclusive because an individual can be affected by multiple reference groups at the same time (Schulz, 2015).
8 Influencers are also one of the most critical reference groups because their followers share a common interest, opinion and lifestyle. During the pandemic, consumers become more concerned about physical contact with others, so consumers tend to use online platforms to implement their consumer behaviours. Influencers have a significant impact on consumers’
buying decisions based on their personal opinion, ability and popularity and are often trusted by consumers as experts in their field. More specifically, influencers do not only affect the views and lifestyles of their followers, but also has a significant effect on the consumer decision-making process (Andrew et al., 2021). Currently, influencers are well-known as journalists, bloggers, and brand advocates, are considered “the most powerful forces in the market” (Sudha & Sheena, 2017). As a result, a study of Abidin et al. (2020) carried out in Australia, China, Japan and Korean on the studies of influencers during COVID-19 revealed that the impact of influencers on consumer behaviour is huge. More specifically, in an uncertain situation, people tend to seek information from key opinion leaders, or when outdoor activities are restricted, people tend to spend more time on the internet, which can allow them to reach the influencers.
1.2.3. Cultural factors
According to Solomon et al. (2018), the influence of culture on consumer behaviour is significant. It would be lacking if we study consumer behaviour without cultural factors.
Culture is seen as a lens through which consumers see products and try to understand the behaviour of them and others. However, the relationship between consumer behaviour and culture is multilateral. In particular, products and services that conform to cultural priorities at any given time will be much more acceptable to consumers. On the other hand, research into innovative products and product design that are effectively created by a culture at any given period of time, offered a wealth of knowledge about the prevalent cultural values in at that time (Solomon et al., 2013).
Culture
To understand the customer mindset, it is essential to know the cultural elements that they practice. According to Lawan & Ramat (2021), culture is that complex whole of intelligence, belief, legislation, moral, traditions and other human capacity and habits acquired by
members as members of society. Culture can be learned from the family, from the
community, all that has been around us when we grew up and learned the ways of the world.
Culture is the most important factor in determining a person’s desires and behaviour.
Empirical study on the impact of culture on customer buying decision conducted by Lawan &
Ramat (2021), evaluated that the role of culture and social norms has a significant influence on the behaviour orientation of consumers. For example, while Asian countries strictly impose social distancing measures, European countries have a loose culture of discouraging people to stay at home. However, due to the applying social distancing to prevent disease transmission, despite the differences between the two cultures, there has been a shift in the
9 buying habits of both cultures, especially from brick-to-mortar to e-commerce (Lawan &
Ramat, 2021).
Subculture
Subcultures are groups of people that hold beliefs and common experiences that distinguish them from others. Based on our age, ethnicity, residence, each consumer belongs to variety of subcultures (Ramya & Alo, 2016).
Social Class
Social class is defined as standing for consumers in the society, by a complex set of variables, to determine. According to Hajo et al. (2020), a person’s social status has a significant impact on her or his life chances, such as income level, career position, work efficiency, and life satisfaction. Regarding Ramia & Alo (2016), in our society, there are distinct social groups.
There are three classes: high, middle, and low-class consumers. The purchasing habits of these three social groups vary. High-class buyers are looking for high quality goods to raise their social status, while middle-class buyers intentionally purchase and collects information to compare various sellers of the same segment and low-class consumers instinctively spend (Ramia & Alo, 2016). Hajo et al. (2020) also reveals that COVID-19 impacts remarkably on every class, both vertically and horizontally. Nevertheless, the effects of the pandemic vary from class to class. In particular, the upper-class consumers tends to have anxiety of
infection, meaning that in terms of health risk, while economic risk is overestimated by the middle-class shoppers. Finally, the lowest class were influenced higher by both economic and health risks (Hajo et al., 2020).
1.2.4. Economic factors
According to Ramya & Alo (2016), economic factors are determined as significant factors because it measures how much an individual spends on purchasing of goods and services.
The economic impact of a recession such as growing unemployment, freezing wages and pensions at a certain degree as result of rising inflation, acceleration of energy prices and declining buying power, is causing major changes in buying behaviour (Oana, 2020).
Personal income
A person’s purchasing behaviour is determined by his personal income (Ramya & Alo, 2016). Thus, increased disposable income contributes to increased spending on a variety of products. However, according to the International Labour Organization (2020), millions of workers have lost half or more of their earnings, including that many workers in sectors such as airlines, retail, hotels, and tourism have to work for lower salaries. More specifically, there are about 850 million labour (70%) in the group of G20 countries that have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, leading to a decrease in their earnings estimated to 61% (ILO, 2020).
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Savings
The amount of personal income saved also influences consumer purchasing behaviour.
According to European Central Bank (2020), there has been a significant increase in household savings. The reason is that governmental measures to contain the disease has significantly reduced their normal level of expenditure that had led to involuntary saving. In addition, the sudden emergence of the pandemic has caused long-term income uncertainty, especially the risk of future unemployment, leading to precautionary savings (ECB, 2020).
1.3. Consumer decision-making process
Consumer decision-making is a important characteristic of consumer behaviour, but how we view and buy goods, as well as how much thought we put into decisions, varies widely depending on factors such as the degree of novelty or risk in the decision. A purchase decision is made up of many phases that results in the choosing of one commodity over competing ones (Marya, 2020).
Figure 1 Decision-making process
Note: Consumer decision-making process. From Consumer Behaviour (5th ed., p. 334) by M. Solomon, G. Bamossy, S.
Askegaard & M. K. Hogg, 2013, Europe. Copyright 2013 by Pearson Education.
11 Based on the assumption that a consumer is an information processing system, the five-stage model of decision-making is at the core of a classic perspective of consumer behaviour about how consumers make decisions. This model, however, is not always useful in interpreting actual consumer decisions since neither problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternative or product choice occur in isolation from each other and without the impact of any external factors (Solomon et al., 2013).
During the global recession, consumers are increasingly conscious of the importance of money that obliges consumers to trade-offs in money, brand, quality, and personal comfort.
Consumer decision-making is strongly affected by the recession environment, which is mostly influenced by changes in the consumer’s economic situation, since they may be at risk of losing their jobs or having their income reduced (Singh, 2020).
Problem recognition
When we notice a substantial difference in our present situation and an expected or ideal situation, we have identified a problem. According to Brick and Berndt (2009), recognizing a challenge or need is dependent on a variety of conditions and contexts, both personal and technical ones, and that identification leads to the development of a buying concept.
According to Maslow hierarchy of needs, human beings are still dissatisfied; as one need is fulfilled, a new one will come and this trend continues indefinitely. At this point, customers became aware of the occurrence of an unmet need during a moment of high risk during the crisis. As a result, improvements in the buyer’s economic condition may have a direct impact on them, as they may face an increased risk of losing their job or earning a reduced salary, both of which would result in a significant decrease in disposable income.
In this scenario, consumers would reduce their leisure spending, especially on utilities.
Furthermore, the population’s saving behaviour can be much more visible on the economy since it was widely recognized that during economic downturns. Hence, behaviour of consumer, which relies on limited incomes to meet infinite requirements, is much more economical and responsive (Oana, 2020).
Information search
Once a concern is found, customers most likely request more information about the
commodity before making a purchase decision directly. Information search is the mechanism by which consumers evaluate their context with enough data to make a good decision.
However, based on their knowledge of the product, or some external factors, different
persons participant in this process in different ways (Solomon et al., 2013). Moreover, in time of crisis, the consumer would engage in a borderless process of information gathering, as the risk making a bad decision is far higher during these periods (Oana, 2020).
12 Evaluation of alternatives
In this phase, consumers begin compare and evaluate all the knowledge gathered from the search and take different alternate products into account as desired. In addition, various aspects of the commodity such as size, quality, brand and price are also taken into
consideration. Therefore, this stage can also be viewed as the most critical one in the entire process of consumer decision-making process.
The involvement of consumer in deciding which alternatives to consider are much greater than they normally do, even in the case of making scheduled, repetitive decisions. In spite of the decision’s result, most people tend to buy goods that are cost-effective and delay the buying of products that demand significant investment in the event of crisis. Furthermore, during emergencies, the purchasing choice is always oriented toward different brands and products (Oana, 2020).
Purchase decision
The consumer decides to make a final purchase at this stage because all options have already been checked and a definitive decision has been taken. Purchased product can be categorized in three distinct types: planned purchase, partially purchase and impulse purchase (Kacen, 2002).
During the global crisis, the decision is oriented towards the purchase of goods that provides them with an additional value, and implicitly, a maximum of utility because of the mental comparison of the alternatives. Consumers are much more sensitive and realistic in terms of purchase price of commodities. Therefore, consumers are likely to be attracted by various promotional tools changes such as discounts, the availabality of samples for product free checking, advertising focused on truthful advertisements, which both highlight the utility and durability of goods (Oana, 2020).
Post-purchase evaluation
The post-purchase evaluation is the final step in this process. This stage is also critical because it would have a direct effect on the consumer decision-making process in the future for the same commodity (Martin, 2006). In other words, this phase represents the experience of the customer in buying a good or service. The customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction is determined by the evaluation of the purchase and its comparison to its own desires, according to Brink and Berndt (2009). The effect is influential to customer experience and is well known to have a direct impact on buyer decisions in future to purchase the same products from the same sellers.
13 Summary
The global COVID-19 pandemic affects civilizations and societies all over the world, affecting different sectors of society in different ways. This extraordinary condition has several consequences for customer daily lives, and it has significantly changed how companies and consumers interact. (Eger et al., 2021).
Consumers become more vigilant when making every purchase decision as a result of labour redundant, decreasing salary, saving money and be easily attracted to sale promotions and free shipping products. However, in order to avoid the infection of the virus and comply with government measures, consumers have a shift in their shopping channels, from brick-and- mortar to e-commerce across countries (OECD, 2020). Hence, it is undeniable that COVID- 19 has helped the global e-commerce market expand rapidly. According to Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the growth rate of e-commerce reached 18 percent with the size of 11.8 billion USD in 2020, making Vietnam become the only nation in Southeast Asia with double-digit e-commerce growth (MOIT, 2020).
However, the influence of the COVID-19 crisis on e-commerce is not consistent across product segments or sellers. According to the report of OECD (2020), there was a substantial increase in demand for items related to personal protection such as sanitizer, face masks and disposable gloves, as well as groceries while demand for items related to travel, sports or apparel decreased significantly. Food goods became the single largest winner in e-commerce in China, with a 36 percent growth in cumulative revenue from January to April 2020, compared to the previous year (OECD, 2020). According to Galanakis et al. (2021),
consumers became more health-consciousness in their product choices because boosting the immune system was a priority for consumers, especially within the COVID-19. This research also shows the there is a rapid increase in sustainable, nutritious, organic, and functional foods during pandemic. Furthermore, Chenarides et al. (2020) report an increase in fresh produce and dairy consumption among households with children as well as an increase in frozen foods and bottled water consumption among households who were shopping and buying more.
1.4. Consumer profile
Generation Y, who were born between 1981 and 1996, is a well recognized generation of Millennials (Sengupta, 2018). They are known as Millennials because they grew up during the dawn of the internet and are familiar with the modern age of technology (Fromm &
Garton, 2013). Milllenials are well-educated, technologically savvy, confident, multitalented, and enthusiastic (Sengupta, 2011). They were the first generation to be encouraged under the
14 mantra “follow your dreams” and to trust in their own abilities, so they are naturally self- assured (Ralf, 2019).
The Millennials is the generation with the most financial pressures in the post-recession period. They have also experienced higher unemployment and debt burdens, and because of their population size, they are seen as a large and attractive sector now and in the future.
(Moreno et al., 2017).
In Vietnam, as in the rest of the world, they are typically young and marked by the violent past of Vietnam, the appearance of the internet, and mass media. As a result, a typical Millennials in Vietnam was born ten years or more after the reunification of the country in 1975 and is characterized by the advent of the internet in December 1997, which is very similar to characteristics of their global brethren (Ralf, 2019).
According to the Boston Consulting Group Center for Customer Insight in Vietnam, in 2013, there were approximately 20 million middle and wealthy class customers, accounting for 23 percent of the population, this figure is expected to rise to about 30 million in 2020, occupied for 35 percent, and roughly 47 million in 2030, occupied nearly 52% of the population (Vietnam Economics Time, 2019).
The Millennials purchase behaviour
The hypothesis of Uses and Gratuities is one of the hypotheses used to describe the motives that influence Millennials in the digital media social network analysis (Rahman, 2015).
In the growth of e-commerce, Millennials are an important component. The use of this generation on e-commerce after socialization and online shopping will continue to expand with disposable income. While Millennials dislike pop-up advertising, the graphics are very effective at capturing their attention, and they will return to a website that offers low prices and quick delivery (Smith, 2011).
Compared to the past generation, Millennials spend more but have a lower brand loyalty.
This low loyalty may be due to increased sensitivity to price promotions. They want products and brands that match their characters, lifestyles, social values, and society. They create symbols that embody their personalities and use logos to express their beliefs (Ayaydin &
Baltaci, 2013). In addition, e-coupons and promotions are fascinated in this generation and is strongly interested in market research on a variety of channels, including blogs, e-mails, smartphone applications and many other applications (Moore, 2013).
Decisions on buying for Millennials are much quicker than these previous generations, although this is due to access to information of reference group or reviews of those who have already purchased. Since Millennials value the views of their reference group, as a result, ask them to check on the merits of a website or product (Moreno et al., 2017).
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2. Methodology
2.1. Research paradigm
The paradigm words are described by Kuhn (1977) as a collection of principles, values that a research group shares about research existence and behaviour. In particular, it can help to determine what aspects of consumer lifestyles were changed by the pandemic that caused them to adapt in order to better understand consumer behaviour. As a result, the interpretive model was used to follow the framework of the paper. This means interpretive paradigm is commonly referred with understanding the world under the perspective of individuals through their experience (Willis et al., 2007). However, since the interpretive paradigm is more subjective than objective, the primary data must be considered because it heavily influenced by personal beliefs and viewpoints (Nguyen & Tran, 2015).
2.2. Research type
In this paper, a qualitative research is carried out to obtain a specific consumer perspective through their behaviour and experience. Qualitative methods are used to address questions about experience, context and perspective, from the perspective of participants. These types of data are rarely countable and measurable (Hammarberg et al., 2016). Qualitative research is also permitted for the human observation in their natural environments in order to
determine how their experiences and behaviour are influenced by the nature of their lives, such as economic, cultural, or physical context in which they live. In addition to
understanding how people take decisions, qualitative research is often used to explain social interactions between people and the standards and beliefs that people share (Hennik et al., 2020).
2.3. Method of data collection
In qualitative research, data may be collected using a range of approaches, including interpretations, textual or visual analysis, and interviews (individual or group). However, interviews and focus groups are the most commonly used approaches, especially in the field of behaviour (Hammarberg et al., 2016). To meet the objectives of the paper, an in-depth interview is used to consider the real emotions and behaviour of consumers. The in-depth interview is a technique designed to provide an insight into the perspective of participants on the study. This method of interview entails answering open-ended , and probing wherever necessary to obtain data deemed useful by the researcher (Willis et al., 2007).
There are some forms of interview; in this article, the interview is conducted by semi- structured interview and is more open than the structured interview, thereby enhancing the
16 capacity of the interviewer to assess and extend answers. Furthermore, semi-structured
interviews combine standardized questions and predetermined responses with more open- ended questioning method. In a semi-structured interview, all participants are asked the same series of stem questions (often with predetermined answer choices such as “yes” or “no”), and then the interviewer asks follow-up questions to learn more about each participant’s unique experience (Wethington & McDarby, 2015).
To understand the impact of COVID-19 upon Vietnamese consumers, the participants were chosen on the basis of Vietnamese citizenship and residency during a pandemic. Participants must also be aged 23 – 39 in order to qualify the paper requirements. However, to ensure the objectivity of the study, the participants would be split into two groups including five males and five females. The interviews will take place for 30 minutes and will be conducted online.
A successful qualitative interview, according to Alshenqeeti (2014), has two main
characteristics: it is flows naturally and is rich in information. Therefore, the interview should provide an environment in which his or her interviewees could be more comfortable and therefore talk freely. Bird (2016) pointed out that the participants should have the chance to comment or pose questions at the end of the interview. Moreover, researchers would benefit from conducting pilot sessions before implementing interviews, as this would not only optimize the interview contents but also assess their effectiveness and utility as a research tool.
2.4. Interview guide
Since participants can answer a few questions without being asked, an interview guide is required throughout the interview process. As a result, using an interview guide will assist researchers in not having to question it directly later, as well as logically organizing the interview (Bird, 2016). Firstly, a phone call or an online interview is expected to determine if the participants are qualified for the interview, with the Millennials being the preferred generation. In addition, participants will be asked seven key questions, as well as sub-
questions, to ensure that all of the goals of the paper are fulfilled. However, in order to avoid stressful atmosphere and to helps participants feel more comfortable to share, an informal interview will be taken place and start with small-talk topic. After that, participants would answer to open-ended questions about their experiences and shopping behaviour before and during the pandemic. It is necessary to maintain the motivation of interviewees by avoiding boredom, according to Berg (2007). This can be achieved by ensuring a minimum amount of demographic (e.g., age) and personal information in different ways (e.g., income). Therefore, there may be a fairly delicate question about personal detail at the end of the interview that will make the participants feel uncomfortable; then participants will have the option of choosing whether or not to reveal their personal information.
17 2.5. Method of analysis approach
Data analysis is characterized as the method by which the researcher regularly searches and organises interview transcripts, notes on observation and all other non-textual resources in order to better explain the phenomenon (Wong, 2008). The researcher becomes the tool of interpretation by judging the coding, contextualization and recontextualization of the results (Starks & Trinidad, 2007).
In this paper, thematic analysis is applied in order to provide knowledge and understanding of the phenomenon under study. Thematic analysis is the method of identification of data trends in qualitative research (Maguire & Delahunt, 2017). Thematic analysis is approached in several different ways. However, the essence of thematic analysis often leads to
misunderstanding, considering how it is different from the qualitative research.
A six-phase guide is provided by Braun & Clarke (2006), which constitutes an important guideline for such analyses.
• Get to know the details.
• Creating the initial codes.
• Looking for themes.
• Going over the themes again.
• Identifying and labelling the themes.
• Creating the article.
Moreover, coding and categorizing data is a big part of the qualitative analysis method.
Although coding is a critical component of qualitative data analysis, the terms coding and data analysis are not interchangeable. Coding is the method of separating a vast amount of raw data and information into smaller portions and categorizing them (Wong, 2008).
18
Practical Part 1. Main findings
After the steps of the thematic analysis, the data gathered were classified during the in-depth interviews and the main themes in this part, the most relevant subjects were listed and examined.
Table 1 Important coding
Sex Male [M], Female [F]
Age 24-29 [20s], 30-39 [30s]
Family Status Single [S], Married [MR]
Source: Author
Table 2 Influence of psychological factors
Theme 1 Significant statement Formulation
Influence of psychological
factors
“I was really concerned in the early days of the pandemic that my mother might get ill because she had diabetes.” [M, 30s, MR]
One of the main reasons for the condition of patient risky was underlying medical issue.
“I didn’t go out until it was absolutely necessary… Since I firmly believe in government measures, I strictly commit to staying at home and comply with social distancing.” [M, 20s, S]
Participant raised consciousness of the danger that COVID-19 brought so he took precautions to defend himself.
“Well I sometimes feel uncomfortable when making purchases online… It may come from being unsure whether the product just bought is the same as the recommendation.” [F, 30s, MR]
Participant feel insecure when she had to use a new shopping channel as a main one.
“I was worried about the supply shortage, so I immediately went to the supermarket right away to stock up on necessary supplies.” [F, 30s, MR]
Fears of a shortage of supply make participant in panic buying state.
Source: Author
19 The results of in-depth interview revealed that during the pandemic, all participants became aware of the dangers. The first is the health risk; participants expressed concern that the dissemination of virus would have a direct impact on their families’ health, especially the elderly with existing medical conditions. This finding is close to that of Quing et al. (2021), who found that COVID-19 risk assessment is largely related to physical health. To metigate this risk, all participants acknowledge they are all complying with 5K regulations and medical records via the government Bluezone application.
However, the risk is not only in the perception of health, it is also reflected in the fact that as the shopping channel changes during the pandemic, older participants admit they are not sure about the items they bought online. Conversely, the younger generation, especially those under the age of 30, believe that they are less risky because they conducted extensive research on the commodity before purchasing it. In addition, in order to minimize risk, they also often consider the prestige of the store from which they purchase goods.
Furthermore, a few participants, mostly those who were married, claimed that they were influenced by the fear of supply shortage. On the other hand, single participants believe that they are unaffected by this phenomenon because they always store enough food for
themselves at home.
Table 3 Influence of social factors
Theme 2 Statement Formulation
Influence of social factors
“Yeah, in the beginning I wasn’t really used being at home for that long. But gradually I don’t feel that bad when spending more time with my family.” [M, 20s, S]
Participant feel more involved with their family in the unintended situation.
“The way we fight the pandemic together, through the first wave then second wave, it makes me feel quite connected with the
community.” [F, 20s, MR]
Participant feel more engaged with the community.
“I do not trust the
recommendation from the influencers. Normally, if I have heard any information about that item, I will read the feedback from various sources as well. Then I will ask my friends and relatives for
Suggestion is insufficient for participant to make a purchase; she still needs the opinion of her friend/relatives.
20 their thoughts if they have ever
used it, which would make me feel safer.” [F, 30s, MR]
“It depends on who I’m purchasing the product with. If the person using the product is my mom, I will first check with them.” [F, 20s, S]
The one who buys the product with the participant has the most effect on her.
“Depends on the products, but the majority of the products I used were recommended by my favorite beauty blogger, particularly for healthcare and make-up items.” [F, 20s, S]
Influencers has the huge impact on the purchase decision of
participant, especially in their professional field.
Source: Author
According to the findings of an in-depth interview, families and influencers have a huge effect on their purchasing behaviour. During the pandemic, eight out of ten participants, they spent more time on social media contacting their friends. Among them, two female
participants mentioned that they spend more time viewing clips from popular Youtubers, which allows them to get more about new items. They also claimed that the majority of the functional food or healthcare items they had recently purchased were suggested by beauty bloggers. Others, on the other hand, said that they did not believe the product promoted by bloggers because they feel it has been commercialized. Instead, they are more likely to trust recommendations from friends and family, especially those who have previously used the product, since it seems more trustworthy.
More surprisingly, despite the fact that a pandemic completely disrupts people lives, all participants agree that it is an unintentional way to get family members closer together.
Table 4 Influence of cultural factors
Theme 3 Statement Formulation
Influencer of cultural
factor
“Since I wanted to support the community, I bought vegetables and fruits from local brands rather than international brands, as I usually do.” [M, 30s, MR]
There was a shift of buying behaviour, from international brands to local brands.
“I feel very comfortable
purchasing vegetables from local farmers, since pesticides and
Participant feels safe when purchased vegetable from local farmers.
21 preservatives were minimal.” [F,
30s, MR]
“Because it is expensive to buy the import goods during the pandemic, I mostly buy organic food from farmers who cannot be sold to support them.” [F, 30s, MR]
The unintentional situation forced participant to have a different shift of the origin of items.
“I firmly support buying from local brands. However, I found that the quality of the clothes was not actually good with the price I have to pay.” [F, 20s, S]
Participant dissatisfied because of the quality of the items was not commensurate with the price.
“Inexplicably, after the lockdown period, clothes from local brands are more expensive than before.”
[F, 20s, S]
The supply shortage during the pandemic has significantly increased the cost of item.
Source: Author
The findings of an in-depth interview revealed that the participants are all strongly influenced by the cultural factors in the pandemic. They acknowledged that they all share a common belief that it is important to keep both themselves and community stay safe. As a result, the majority participants stated that they prefer to stay at home, use delivery services and online channel as much as possible.
Participants over the age of 30 and married, claimed that they had switched to purchasing vegetables and fruits in favor of farmers, who were unable to export abroad due to the effects of the pandemic. This request was made by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local representatives to improve people’s perception of organic goods in the country and to alleviate the country’s reliance on imported suppliers.
Furthermore, younger female participants reported that they have shifted their brand
preferences from global to local brands. However, they are disappointed because the price of the clothing has risen while the standard is not commensurate with the price they would pay.
Interestingly, one out of ten participants upper-class participants said that COVID-19 had little impact on their buying habits, and that they preferred to shop as usual. The majority of the participants, though, including those from the middle and lower classes, was impacted by both health and economic risk factors. This varies slightly from the findings of Hajo et al.
(2020), who observed that middle-class participants are more concerned about economic risk, whereas low-class participants are more concerned about both economic and health threats.
22 For this reason, one middle-class person justified that she always feel the health risk present, because the pandemic did not neglect any class in society at all.
Table 5 Influence of economic factors
Theme 4 Statement Formulation
Influence of economic
factor
“The reduction of working hours has significantly affected the purchasing power of my family…
My family income was declined remarkably…” [M, 30s, MR]
The purchase power of participants has been greatly affected by the decrease of income level.
“Of course, I always have a savings in case of unintended incidents… but no one can be sure when everything will be normal and I still need to pay my debt so I couldn’t spend too much…” [M, 30s, S]
Participant understands that saving is necessary, but he had to limit his spending because of other payments.
“The pandemic may still last longer than expected, I have to limit my spending on this savings.” [F, 30s, MR]
One of the most important considerations influencing the purchase decision is the savings.
Source: Author
An in-depth interview revealed that economic conditions greatly influenced all of their buying decisions during the pandemic. Participants said that during the early days of the pandemic, they were all cut off hours or even laid off. As a result, their income is considerably lower compared to the past, and their purchasing habits are also changed.
Furthermore, this has caused participants to carefully consider whether this commodity is appropriate, or whether it can be postponed for a later purchase.
Interestingly, young participants, especially unmarried participants, reported that they previously had no savings accounts, and COVID-19 was a big hit for them. Therefore, in order to get through the difficult period, they mentioned having to cut back on unnecessary spending, such as not grabbing coffee outside, cooking at home and buying goods at large sales events.
23
Table 6 Shopping channels before COVID-19
Theme 5 Statement Formulation
Shopping channels
before COVID-19
“I would prefer to shop at brick- and-mortar… I love the entire pleasure of walking into shops to see and touch items before
purchasing them.” [F, 30s, MR]
The reason made participants choose physical store is because they want to try out items before purchasing them.
“I am most likely to buy clothes, health/ beauty items, appliances and home decoration in store.” [F, 20s, MR]
The categories of products that participants purchase in store are the types of products should be experienced.
“The products I purchased in store are expensive, so I would like to try them before making a decision.” [M, 30s, S]
The items bought in brick-and- mortar stores are most certainly premium.
“It is safe and secure since I am able to look at the product physically and see if there is something wrong with it before I purchase it.” [F, 30s, S]
It is more reliable for participant to be able to touch and see the items in store.
“Since I did not have time to go to malls, I choose to shop on e-
commerce sites like Shopee, Tiki and Lazada… These platforms also provide the free shipping fee” [M, 30s, S]
Due to a lack of time for visiting store makes participant prefer e- commerce platform to purchase.
“I don’t feel comfortable
purchasing online… and there is no guarantee of the product quality.”
[F, 30s, MR]
Participants feel risky when purchasing goods online due to the lack of quality guarantee.
“I only purchased products online if the products are on sale or from the official website.” [F, 30s, MR]
Participants only purchase online when there are available of good deals and promotions.
Source: Author
24 According to the findings of in-depth interviews with Vietnam’s Millennial generation, the majority participants choose to purchase in physical stores rather than using an e-commerce platform. Some participants, however, mentioned that that they would prefer to spend time on purchasing online because it more accessible and offers better promotions and shipping fee.
Most of the participants claimed that the reason make them choose physical store as a main shopping channel is that they are able to see, touch and experience it before purchasing. The result is compatible with the result of Liu et al. (2013), who found that consumers like to see and touch goods because personal contact with them provides a more enjoyable experience, bringing them with greater sensory effects and more opportunity to compare product
qualities. Consumers in-store conclude that web displays clearly cannot justice to many of the product’s visual and technical features.
Furthermore, from the results of in-depth interviews revealed that the types of products that participants always purchase in brick-and-mortar are apparels, beauty/healthcare products and electronic devices. In other words, those are the types of products that should be experienced before buying.
Seven out of ten participants claimed that they feel risky when purchased goods online because there are only some stores allow returning products. Participants also argued that online shopping can be linked to negatives consequences not seen in traditional business, such as inability of the consumer to directly value products quality, lack of personal contact with seller, lack of interaction and social connection with others, as well as payment security.
Table 7 Shopping channels during COVID-19
Theme 6 Statement Formulation
Shopping channels
during COVID-19
“Due to government measures and restriction, I used Shopee as a main shopping channel”. [F, 20s, S]
Participant prefer to use online shopping during the pandemic.
“I used the Grab fresh services of from Grab that they offer
handpicked service in the supermarket and deliver to my home while the pandemic was at its worst…” [F, 30s, MR]
Instead of going out, the participant opted to sit at home and use a courier service for goods bought at the store
“I buy clothing and appliances online, buy foods directly at the supermarket”. [F, 30s, MR]
Participant have changed their shopping channels, but still consider physical stores to purchase foods.
25
“My family purchased foods with the larger quantities than normal… due to restriction from the government.”
[M, 30s, MR]
There was a preparation of food in order to reduce the amount of time going out during the pandemic.
“Well, I feel more convenient because I don’t need to go out.” [M, 20s, S]
Participants feel advantageous to shop online during the
pandemic.
“I feel safe not only with my products I purchased… but also when shippers arrived, we still have to keep standard distance, wear masks to prevent virus transmission.”
[F, 20s, S]
Participants feel protected when shopping companies ensure that their employees maintain a standard distance and wear a mask when delivering products.
“Unlike purchasing in brick-and- mortar stores, I was able to return products in the given period times.
But for online shopping, the return policy is still complicated, not all items are returnable, particularly the sale season…”
“Online sellers also do not provide the excellent customer service.” [F, 30s, S]
Customer service and return policy influence the participant’s hesitancy in making a purchase decision
Source: Author
The result of in-depth interviews revealed that during the pandemic, there was a change in shopping channels, especially from brick-and-mortar to e-commerce. This finding is in line with the results of Loxton et al. (2020), who claimed that COVID-19 forced the behaviour of consumers to change.
Furthermore, the majority of participants considered to choose shopping online as main shopping channel during the pandemic due to the restrictions and measures from the government. Another reason they switched to this shopping channel was their fear of spreading the virus in the community. However, not all of products are purchased online.
Participants claimed that they buy almost everything online, except for food and fresh products. The rest participants use the services of shipping firms, which means that the shippers can go to the store and pick up the goods that the consumers have already chosen from the list, and deliver them directly to the customer’s home.
26 Nearly all participants agreed that, during a pandemic, online shopping is a shopping channel that makes them feel safe and protected. This can also come from the commitment of the shipping firms, that their employees are required to keep a distance of 2 meters, wear a mask, and clean with hand sanitizer at all times.
All of the participants believe that they store more food during the pandemic than usual, especially canned foods, instant foods, etc. Hence, they are more secure during the pandemic.
Table 8 Decision-making process before pandemic
Theme 7 Statement Formulation
Decision- making process
before pandemic
“I often find the information of products before buying it through the blogs and social media.” [F, 20s, S]
Participant looked for information before making a purchase
decision.
“Shopee very often display products that have similar functions with the currently viewed products, so I always compare them.” [F, 20s, S]
Participant considered more preference product when buying online.
“I always read the feedback of item; it makes me feel certain with my decision.” [F, 30s, S]
Reading the feedback makes participant feel safe about the decision.
“If it is beauty and healthcare product, I will check opinion from my favorite influencers.” [F, 20s, S]
The influencers in their
professional field will influence on their decision-making process
“I rarely changed my plan when purchased in-store because it was written in my list already.” [F, 30s, MR]
Participant was rarely influenced by external factors when shopping in physical store.
Source: Author
The result of in-depth interview showed that, before the pandemic, participants were very careful when purchasing, especially on the internet. All participants agreed that that they find information about the product from influencers, referrals from colleagues and family, and, most importantly, social media. They also tend to look for more alternatives, but still weigh in on the product suggested by someone they trust.
27 Interestingly, seven out of ten participants, during the big sales occassions every month at Shopee and Lazada, they spend three times more than normal because there are always promotion up to 50%, plus free delivery. They said that even though they were aware of the danger, they were willing to take a chance because they were just paying a lower price. For every hour, Shopee will release limited vouchers for various categories. Consumers at this time, have the mentality to compete with each other to get cheap vouchers, even when they do not really need the product. However, participants also consider the alternatives displayed on Shopee to compare.
When shopping in-store, one participant claimed that she rarely changed her mind because she already knew what she wanted to buy.
Table 9 Decision-making process during the pandemic
Theme 8 Statement Formulation
Decision making process
during the pandemic
“…Consider carefully if I really need that product.”
“I think I should not waste my money easily until I am certain I am paying for what I expected.”
[M, 30s, MR]
Participant became more cautious before making decision.
“At the beginning of the
pandemic, many familiar brand products were sold out, so I had to switch to another brand.” [F, 20s, S]
The unintended case forced participant to the new product preference.
“I am quite afraid of the lack of food supplies and necessary items, so I didn’t take too much time to think…”
[F, 30s, MR]
The panic buying state makes participant quickly make decision instead of considering carefully.
“I tend to find newer brands with the affordable price… I mean the quality for me is the first priority but cheaper is still better.” [F, 20s, S]
Participant found more new preference brand to qualify their criteria.
“I was rarely influenced by anyone during this time on what should I buy, because I have to limit my spending.”
[F, 30s, S]
The financial hardship reduces the impact of the reference group on the consumer.
Source: Author
