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HOME > EXPERT SPE AK > CHANGING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN POST-COVI D S C ENA RI O

INDIA MATTERS JUL 22 2021

Changing consumer behaviour in post-COVID

scenario
SIDDHARTH SAWHNEY ADITI MADAN

The next big question in modelling consumer behaviour is: Will habits formed during
the crises continue, or will people return to their old routines once conditions change?

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Heiner Engbrocks — Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR CONSUMPTION COVID-19 DIGITAL ADOPTION

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing our lives in multiple ways — ways that we, as a
society, will come to detect, understand, and accept many years from now. It has
transformed the way we work, eat, shop, do business, and even the way we cast our
vote. Previous research has indicated that consumer behaviour changes in times of
crisis. Epidemics in the past, such as SARS and MERS, showed the trend of ‘economic
elastic behaviour’ where people curtailed their spending and focused largely on
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essential goods. Along with curtailed consumption, people also paid more attention to
the price and origin of the product, not only shaping what consumers bought but also
where they bought it from.

Consumption is not only habitual but also contextual. Context matters and ad hoc
disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, wars, and pandemics like the current one fall
into the most important and least predictable category. Along with factors like risk
perception and risk attitude, three major factors lead to the formation of new habits.
These are public policy, technology, and demographics. Public policy tends to shape
the ease with which consumers can buy any particular product and indulge in any
desired transaction. It also determines if there are any alternatives available. One of
the major advantages of air travel — which is its  efficiency — may get offset by the
increased time required to prepare for air travel, security checks, COVID tests etc.,
which then may push people to shift to other means of transport, especially for
shorter distances. Changes in technology continuously transform wants into needs.
The mobile phone and internet have not only become needs by themselves but are
also pushing through a whole set of new behaviours like online shopping, paying bills
online, gaming, GPS navigation, etc. Changing demographics shape consumer
behaviour. For example, the ageing population of advanced economies will have
different patterns for spending on recreation, wealth preservation, and health
compared to a population with a lower mean age.

One of the major advantages of air travel — which is its  efficiency — may
get offset by the increased time required to prepare for air travel, security

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checks, COVID tests etc., which then may push people to shift to other
means of transport, especially for shorter distances.

These new habits and the factors leading to their creation are moderated by
personality characteristics, culture, geography, and time period. The likelihood of a
habit’s retention is determined by the extent to which a person is exposed to that
particular environment. It takes anywhere between 18 to 254 days for a new habit to
form, with 66 days being the average time taken.

Research conducted in this sphere lists some emerging trends of consumer behaviour
caused by the current crisis. One major emerging trend has been the accelerated
rate of digital adoption. There has been a ‘digitalisation of buying’ with greater use of
e-commerce touch points. This looks to increase with the regulations on physical
movement and distancing set to continue. Technology and digital media platforms are
set to play a greater role in reaching out to consumers, creating a buzz, facilitating
transactions and retention of customers. The shortage of goods and the constraints
imposed has unleashed a vast amount of improvisation amongst the consumers, trying
to do their best with what could be sourced. Through such creative solutions, new
ways of consumption are invented and the old traditional ways get discarded. There is
also a shift towards a simpler buying pattern with consumers focusing on basic needs
and essentials rather than on luxury goods. Even the more well-off expressed their
disapproval for excess consumption and went for more sustainable and local offerings.
Pent-up demand is another consumption trend that emerges in times of crises.
Consumers postpone purchases, especially of large durables like automobiles, which

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then gets released whenever conditions become more normal or there is a window of
respite from the crises.

Technology and digital media platforms are set to play a greater role in
reaching out to consumers, creating a buzz, facilitating transactions and
retention of customers.

The pandemic has forced upon all of us new ways of doing things, modifying existing
practices, and transforming entire ecosystems, and that too for a considerable length
of time. Therefore, the next big question in modelling consumer behaviour is: Will
habits formed during the crises continue or will people return to their old routines
once conditions change? Consumers will shift to new ways of doing things if they are
‘more convenient, affordable, and accessible.’ Streaming services like Netflix, Disney,
and Prime are examples of such shifts in consumer behaviour with a better and more
accessible alternative coming along. In a survey done by Numerator Insights Data
(2021), reflecting on food consumption habits in a post-COVID scenario, 32 percent of
the respondents felt that they will visit bars and restaurants more frequently than pre-
COVID times, while 23 percent expected themselves to continue with the habit formed
in the COVID period, i.e., going out for food a lesser number of times. With regards to
modification of habits around ordering or take-out of food, 18 percent felt that they
will continue at a greater frequency, while 19 percent believed that their habits will
change and return to the pattern of pre-COVID times.

An interesting aspect of human behaviour is the coming back of habits or necessities

that are given up as a recreation or a hobby. It is highly likely that day-to-day activities

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of our current world such as in-store shopping, travelling for work, dining at
restaurants, etc. may get converted into recreational one-off activities and hobbies. It
will be interesting as well as critical to identify which of these habits are the modern-
day equivalents of hunting and fishing, to trace the path human society takes in a post-
COVID scenario.

The views expressed above belong to the author(s).

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