Case study

Negoita Maria, group 1719D, Faculty of Marketing

1. The pandemic-influenced customer is focused more on products that ensure somewhat

security and safety. Also, price is another key factor when talking about what type of products
will the customer buy, as the pandemic has affected every individual from a financial point of
view. The pandemic customer views buying goods not so much as a necessity anymore and is
more transparent with his shopping behavior. People, in the context of a pandemic, are more
driven to the technological part of the world, as social distancing is now mandatory.

2. One company that faced major losses during the pandemic was Facebook. Even though
Facebook owns Whatsapp and Instagram -that have had major increases during the pandemic-,
the digital attention is mainly focused on monetization due to the fact that the majority of brands
cut off on digital spend during these rough times. Thus, the profit of Facebook will be negative
throughout all these years of the pandemic, as the money made by the app do not overweight the
cost of running Facebook.

3. Regarding trends, I think that a relevant and popular concern that is going around these days is
the customer’s responsibility of shopping sustainable, even in the context of a pandemic. As a
matter of fact, sustainable shopping has only grown more important to consumers in the last 19
months. During the global financial crisis in 2008, the interest in climate change dropped, but
last year, in the context of the pandemic, the interest in sustainability and environmental
degradation rose with 82%. I think that this consumer trend will keep rising, as people recently
started to raise awareness upon this subject on social media. More than that, I think that this is
not only a trend, but a new lifestyle that people adopted when becoming conscious about the
consequences of the climate change.

4. In my opinion, a good business idea would be in the domain of tourism, as today’s restrictions
totally demand social distancing and no travel whatsoever. As of now, I would start working on a
hotel based in the city center of Bucharest that provides an unique view due to the fact that, in
Bucharest, there are little to no hotels like that. Regarding the period after the pandemic, I think
that a hotel would be a good idea based on the fact that people will start traveling more than
before the pandemic when safer times will come. More than that, I think this business would
benefit even when not taking into consideration the pandemic context, as travelling remains a
constant hobby for some people.