Do liberals want curbside pickup more than conservatives? Contactless shopping as protectionary action against the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

Consumers showed a dramatically increased interest in contactless shopping in reaction to the COVID‐19 pandemic. Based on the protection motivation theory, this study investigated how contactless shopping grew as a protectionary action against COVID‐19. Findings from a nationwide online survey ( n = 311) confirmed the impact of politicization of the pandemic on consumer responses for contactless shopping intention and the significance of threat and coping appraisals in taking protectionary actions. This study adds knowledge to the existing literature on contactless shopping and protection motivation theory. Results imply that retailers must invest in contactless shopping and provide an in‐store shopping environment that prioritizes the health and safety of shoppers and employees to decrease the threat of virus infection during shopping. However, in doing so, retailers are recommended to develop different marketing strategies regarding contactless shopping based on consumers' political orientations.

The connection of attachment and self‐gifting for the disconnection of loneliness across cultures

“…Our study serves an ongoing need to explore loneliness beyond elderly and adolescent populations (Rippé et al, 2018) and provides insights outside of Western cultures (Tynan et al, 2010) As new norms unfold in a world responding to the pandemic, changes in the shopping environment could impact lonely and insecure consumers. Future research can examine the role of attachment theory and how lonely consumers respond to expected trends such as contactless shopping (Kim & Im, 2021) and fear-inducing panic buying (Billore & Anisimova, 2021;Kim et al, in press).…”

“…As new norms unfold in a world responding to the pandemic, changes in the shopping environment could impact lonely and insecure consumers. Future research can examine the role of attachment theory and how lonely consumers respond to expected trends such as contactless shopping (Kim & Im, 2021) and fear‐inducing panic buying (Billore & Anisimova, 2021; Kim et al, in press). Similarly, other potential mediators or moderators related to the pandemic and post‐pandemic shopping for attachment style and emotional loneliness could be examined, such as isolation, boredom, stress (Gordon‐Wilson, in press) and, consumer vulnerability (Kursan Milaković, in press).…”

“…The pandemic purchase experience evokes both negative and positive emotions (Kim et al, in press; Kursan Milaković, in press) from shopping experiences such as panic buying (Billore & Anisimova, 2021; Kim et al, in press), contactless shopping (Kim & Im, 2021), and social distancing shopping—with all possessing the potential to be the new normal sustaining levels of elevated loneliness (Banerjee & Rai, 2020; Killgore et al., 2020; Tull et al., 2020). Besides the detrimental health consequences of loneliness, lonely individuals experience a lack of social support—worsened by lockdown/stay‐at‐home orders that restrict social interaction only to those in one's household.…”

Shop at your own risk? Consumer activities in fashion e‐commerce

“…Furthermore, the COVID‐19 pandemic has brought about drastic changes in consumer attitudes, intentions, and behaviour. As a result, while differences between retailers and product categories exist, it seems that the majority of retailers are negatively affected by the pandemic (Kim & Im, 2021). Nonetheless, current studies illustrate different reactions in consumer behaviour during the pandemic.…”

“…While some consumers maintain crisis‐induced behaviours others return to familiar consumption behaviours (Rayburn et al, 2021; see also Gordon‐Wilson, 2021). At the same time, COVID‐19 has sharply increased consumer adoption of digital and contactless shopping (Kim & Im, 2021; Tran, 2021)—highlighting the importance of studying consumer behaviour in e‐commerce and emphasizing the role of technology‐mediated consumption as a coping strategy amidst such a crisis (Yap et al, 2021). Similarly, the pandemic also has influenced consumers’ risk perceptions (Kim et al, 2021), likely resulting in new ways of managing such risks.…”