Examining the role of saving and safety on the buying behavior: lessons from the Indian consumer's in COVID-19 crisis

Abstract

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has transformed consumer buying behavior across the world. COVID-19 crisis brought a behavioral change in consumers' attitudes toward health, financial and social well-being. The current research work highlights the factors influencing consumer buying behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic considering saving and safety perspectives.Design/methodology/approachThis study attempts to understand the gap in buying behavior with reference to saving and safety. Survey-based study was conducted during the second phase of COVID-19, and the respondents were those who lived in highly affected COVID cities in India. Exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were carried out for testing the hypotheses.FindingsSeven factors became the prominent factors in consumer buying patterns during the pandemic. Consumers in the times of COVID-19 pandemic spend only on essential items as compared to nice-to-have and non-essential items.Research limitations/implicationsRespondents considered in the research were millennials aged 25–40. The current research is limited to specific geographic location.Practical implicationsThe study assessed how savings and safety influence consumer buying behavior. The 2S framework model for consumer buying behavior during pandemic has been developed. The findings of the study provides a road map to the companies, policy makers, managers and consumers in understanding the consumer buying behavior during pandemic.Originality/valueThe current research work observe the changes in the behavioral patterns of consumers in the context of 2S framework, i.e. saving and safety. This study offer novel contribution as there is no available literature that examined the saving and safety aspects together for consumer buying behavior during crisis.

Risk Based Approach to Documenting Consumer Behavior Changes During the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…Consumer behavior as a basic marketing variable is characterized as people's behavior related to the acquisition, use, and disposal of consumer products (Li et al, 2021). It is a summary of external manifestations, activities, actions, and reactions of the organism divided according to their psychological nature into instinctive, habitual, and rational (Valaskova et al, 2021;Khanna et al, 2022). Based on the understanding of consumer behavior, businesses can subsequently create their marketing offer and apply it to the market.…”

“…On the other hand, the popular media became less important when making decisions. According to Sun et al (2022) and Khanna et al (2022), during adverse events, people react more to official information provided by an authority more than during Veselovská, L. | Hudáková, L. | Bartková, L.…”

Utjecaj pandemije COVID-19 na kupovno ponašanje

“…Potrošači su se u pandemijskim uvjetima suočili s nepredviđenim izazovima koji su rezultirali naglim promjenama u kupovnom ponašanju, pri čemu su sigurnosne mjere bile jedan su od ključnih elemenata i odrednica u njihovu ponašanju u kupnji širom svijeta te su potrošači postali osvješteniji po pitanju zdravlja (Sehgal et al, 2021). Osim što je, na globalnoj razini, promijenila kupovno ponašanje potrošača, Khanna et al (2022) ističu kako je kriza COVID-19 utjecala i na promjenu ponašanja i preispitivanje stavova potrošača prema zdravlju, financijskom i društvenom blagostanju. Kriza može razotkriti pravu prirodu ljudi, a to je jednako primjenjivo i na potrošače i njihovo ponašanje u kriznim uvjetima.…”