Full Text 01

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic
on consumer buying behavior towards

online shopping in Sweden
Bachelor thesis within: Business Administration
Number of credits: 15 ECTS
Programme of study: Marketing Management
Authors: Payam Assadi Moghaddam & Tobias Fedak
Jönköping 05/2022
Bachelor Thesis Project in Business Administration
Title: The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on consumer buying behavior towards online
shopping in Sweden
Authors: Payam Assadi Moghaddam & Tobias Fedak
Tutor: Nadia Arshad
Date: 2022-05-19
Key terms: Online Purchasing, Consumer Behavior, Coronavirus, Covid-19 Pandemic, Sweden
Online Shopping, Sweden Covid-19, Online Shopping, TPB model
Acknowledgements
First of all, we would like to convey our appreciation to Nadia Arshad's endless help throughout
the entire thesis process. Secondly, we would like to express our thanks to the other bachelor thesis
students for their comments and assistance in seminar sections which we believe, helped us to
write our thesis in good quality. Lastly, it is important to mention that during the writing of the
thesis, equal accountability is shared by both of us for the whole process of writing the thesis.
Payam Assadi Moghaddam Tobias Fedak

Abstract
Background
The covid-19 pandemic has been an inescapable tragedy that affects all countries and their
economic systems. Due to Covid-19, e-commerce has risen and people more and more purchase
goods online. Therefore, it's critical to identify and assess the effects of these behavioral changes
on Swedish customers' online purchase intentions and to evaluate the impact on future intentions
for online shopping.
Purpose
From an online consumers’ perspective, investigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on
customer buying behavior towards online shopping explored through the Theory of Planned
Behavior.
Method
In this thesis qualitative methodology is used by the authors which has been noticed by using an
inductive approach that is based on positivism and it involved 10 semi-structured interviews with
Swedish customers in different cities of various ages.
Conclusion
Based on the results, it is observed that there is a slight increase in Swedish customers' online
shopping levels during the Covid-19 pandemic, but many of our participants' behaviors do not
appear to indicate that the pandemic has had a significant impact on their online shopping habits.
Instead, other components of the TPB model appear to be having a greater impact on our
respondents' future intentions.
Table of Content
1. Introduction 7
1.1 Consumer Behavior During Covid-19 8
1.2 Online Shopping In Sweden 10
1.3 Problem 12
1.4 Purpose 13
1.5 Research Question 14
1.6 Delimitations 14
2. Literature Review/ Theoretical Framework 16
2.1 Online Shopping Advantages and Evolution 16
2.2 Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior 17
2.3 Changes in Product Consumption During a Crisis 21
2.4 Online Consumer Behavior 23
2.5 Theoretical Framework 24
2.6 Components of TPB Theory 25
2.7 Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior 26
2.8 Subjective Norms 27
2.8.1 Family, Friends, and Reference Groups 28
2.9 Attitude Toward the Behavior 28
2.9.1 Price 29
2.9.2 Product Offer and Availability 29
2.10 Perceived Behavioral Control 29
2.10.1 Convenience and Time-saving of Online Shopping 30
2.11 Covid-19 Pandemic 31
3. Research Methodology 32
3.1 Methodology 32
3.2 Research Strategy 34
3.3 Research Approach 34
3.4 Research Paradigm 35
3.5 Research Design 36
3.6 Data Collection 37
3.7 Interview Study 37
3.8 Sample Size 39
3.9 Choice of Respondents 39
3.10 Choice of Analysis Method 41
3.11 Ethical Considerations 44
3.12 Quality of the Study 45
3.13 Limitations of The Methodology 45
4. Empirical findings 47
4.1 Products’ Availability 47
4.2.1 The Influence of Family, Friends, and Reference Groups 48
4.3.1 Price 49
4.4.2 The Participants’ Attitude to Online Shopping 51
4.4.3 Swedish Customers’ Intention for Future Online Shopping 52
5. Analysis 53
5.1 Goods 53
5.3.1 Price 54
5.5 Covid-19 Pandemic 55
5.6 Conclusion of The Analysis 56
6. Discussion and Conclusion 57
6.1 Purpose and Research Question 57
6.2 Social Implications 58
6.3 Limitations 59
6.4 Future Research 59
7. Reference List 60
8. Appendix 73
Graphs
Graph 1 9
Graph 2 12
Graph 3 14
Figures
Figure 1 20
Figure 2 24
Figure 3 26
Figure 4 43
Tables
Table 1 40
Table 2 42
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on consumer buying behavior
towards online shopping in Sweden
Chapter 1
____________________________________________________________________________
This chapter evaluates a broad summary of the research, including background information, to
provide a better comprehension of the research subject. Furthermore, this chapter discusses the
study's motivation and problems. Following that, the purpose and research question are given.
______________________________________________________________________
1. Introduction
Since the Covid-19 outbreak, the entire planet has been forced to change. The coronavirus has
fundamentally changed the way we study, work, purchase, pay, and protect ourselves. In many
nations, social distancing is now an everyday occurrence, resulting in a variety of changes in the
economy, healthcare system, and in general our society for example: among other problems,
schools have been compelled to change their teaching methodologies, and companies have been
forced to close (Verma & Prakash, 2020).
According to Verma and Prakash (2020), the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic has had a
significant impact on communities and economies all around the world, affecting diverse sectors
of society in different ways. This unique scenario has various implications for customers' daily
lives and radically alters how businesses and consumers interact.
The spread of Covid-19 begins to have an economic, social, and psychological impact on
economies worldwide, pushing the development of new habits, lifestyles, and technology
(Inegbedion, 2020). Furthermore, individuals are advised to stay at home and maintain social
distance; as a result, many people began purchasing, communicating, and performing work
obligations from home.
Nonetheless, Sweden earned international notice for their unusual response to the pandemic,
which avoided country-wide lockdowns. Swedes were chastised for what was seen to be a
gentler approach that promoted "herd immunity" and was dubbed "the Swedish Gamble."
(Vogel, 2020, Josefsson, 2021).
According to the Swedish Public Health Agency, public health work should not be based on
regulating measures or punishment, and instead have typically used suggestions and appeals to
trust and volition, which have shown to be beneficial in many circumstances.
During these uncertain economic times, we could have observed that short-term jobs and
unemployment have been on the rise due to the closure of physical retail stores therefore, this
situation has given an opportunity for online stores to grow and attract more consumers than in
the previous years (Koch et al, 2020). During the Covid-19 pandemic, e-commerce has been
predominant and retailers have put much effort into improving, promoting, or even creating their
online websites to adapt to the new situation. Adapting to the new situation has also brought
other activities from the retailers like promoting more on social media, encouraging shopping
online and using online shopping apps, giving discounts, and starting new promotion campaigns
according to the Covid-19 pandemic and these activities conducted by retailers, resulting in an
increase of online shopping among consumers during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Koch et al,
2020).
According to Youn et al. (2021), consumers in order to protect themselves and their families
from contracting Coronavirus have been searching for alternatives on how to acquire goods and
services. The biggest alternative became online shopping and even though prior to the pandemic
it was already a huge substitute, now it plays an even bigger role in our daily lives.
The authors have chosen Sweden as the study's country not because they have lived in Sweden
during the pandemic and witnessed the changes, but because the Swedish Public Health Agency
rules and recommendations emphasize voluntary actions from citizens rather than forcing them
to respect and follow the rules, making this study even more appealing.
1.1 Consumer Behavior During Covid-19
According to Laato et al. (2020), after the appearance of the outbreak we can witness drastic
changes in the reality of the business environment. Moreover, this outbreak not only impacts the
reality of the business environment but also impacts online shopping businesses because of the
changing purchasing behavior of consumers. While some of these new purchasing habits pose
obstacles for online retailers, others provide new opportunities. According to Roggeveen and
Sethuraman (2020), vital products retailers, such as food, grocery, and healthcare, are seeing
rising demand for providing customers at home while non-essential goods shops, such as
garments and footwear, are seeing a dramatic reduction in sales and are being forced to find new
methods to connect and engage clients who are buying from home just to stay afloat (Graph 1).
Graph 1: Most commonly bought products online, Postnord (2021)
The airborne aspect of Coronavirus transmission has caused customers to be concerned about the
safety of the products they buy, resulting in them being unwell as a result of what they have
purchased on the Internet (Roggeveen & Sethuraman, 2020). This is the reason that customers
were wary of purchasing, especially at the start of the pandemic. Moreover, many strange
consumer behaviors such as stockpiling or hoarding rice, pasta, and toilet paper were observed
internationally during the start of the Covid-19 crisis due to the panic/fear that people had (Laato
et al, 2020; Hall, 2020). Kotler and Armstrong (2018) argued that since consumer purchase
decisions are based on information gathered from many sources, social influence has a
substantial impact on the purchasing behavior of individuals, for instance, friends, family, and
colleagues are common reference groups for internet consumer shoppers. Also, young
individuals, in particular, are more likely to be affected by their close friends.
According to Fihartini et al. (2021), perceived health risk was shown to be more influential in
affecting online buying behavior than factors related to online retail ethics, according to the
coefficient value therefore, people are more concerned about their health when purchasing
online. Nevertheless, the consumer believes that purchasing things online is a safer option than
breaching social distancing rules by going to physical shops (Fihartini et al, 2021). As a result,
buyers prioritized important items for their health and deprioritized non-essential goods. This has
mostly impacted luxury products, accessories, gadgets, and other non-essential things. Various
online shopping firms can implement safety security measures to ensure that items are not
possibly infected with viruses to alleviate client concerns during a pandemic.
According to Hesham et al. (2021), food has never been more essential in people's everyday lives
from a physical and psychological standpoint, but the Covid-19 pandemic appears to be
redefining humanity's connection with food. Several dietitians have underlined the need of
making good eating choices, particularly in the event of a pandemic. Protein, carbs, lipids, water,
vitamins, and minerals are among the essential nutrients for people's well-being. Consuming
nutritious food, when paired with physical exercise and keeping a healthy weight, is an excellent
strategy to keep the human body robust and healthy in order to prevent getting coronavirus
(Hesham et al, 2021).
Various online shopping firms can implement safety safeguards to ensure that items are not
possibly infected with viruses to alleviate client concerns during a pandemic. These actions are
promoted by online shopping firms on social media sites so that clients are aware of their actions
and may make purchases without concern (Laato et al., 2020). As a result, the vast majority of
internet firms strive to adhere to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. In order to
alleviate their customers' concerns about the safety of the items, they are purchasing in terms of
Covid-19 infection. (Irwin, 2020).
1.2 Online Shopping In Sweden
Nowadays, the internet is widely used for online shopping. According to MBN (n.d), consumers'
buying activity at an online store or on a website utilized for online purchases is referred to as
online shopping. The consumer-oriented approach to online shopping entails customers'
perceptions of online buying, which we primarily strive to study in our paper. Due to its unique
advantages for both customers and merchants, such as shopping around the clock, reducing
reliance on store visits, saving travel costs, expanding market area, lowering overhead
expenditures, and offering a large choice of items, online shopping has seen significant
development in recent years (Cheema et al., 2013).
Because various interventions are successful at different times, Sweden's reaction to the Covid-
19 pandemic has been about implementing the correct measures at the right time, and also, part
of the country's reaction has been based on volunteer participation (BBC, 2021). For this study,
we need to look at how the virus has influenced each person's online purchase habits, as well as
if the trend we've seen in society is sustainable.
According to Andruetto et al. (2021), and their study, consumers in Sweden considerably
reduced their physical trips to the grocery shops during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic
compared to the situation before the outbreak. The same trend could be observed in consumers
visiting non-grocery shops, where the outcome of a decrease was almost about a third of that
before the pandemic. These results in declining consumers visiting physical shops, both grocery
and non-grocery, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, have resulted in consumers placing
more and more orders online.
Furthermore, online purchases of groceries in Sweden have almost doubled and non-groceries
items purchased online have increased by a third compared to the time before the pandemic
(Andruetto et al, 2021).
According to Postnord statistics (Graph 1), the first three of the most popular products bought by
Swedish consumers through online stores are clothes, groceries, and electrical devices such as
smartphones, televisions, laptops, etc. On the other hand, the three most popular international e-
commerce websites among Swedish consumers were Zalando, Amazon, and Wish (Postnord,
2022). As a result, we would want to explore the reasoning behind the substantial increase in
online shopper consumption of these such things, as well as what has motivated individuals in
Sweden to aim to buy more of these items through online platforms during the Covid-19.
1.3 Problem
The Covid-19 pandemic, and its outbreak in late 2019, has been an unmissable tragedy that
affects the lives of millions of people across the globe (Sharma & Jhamb, 2020). During the time
when the Covid-19 pandemic has been threatening people’s well-being, and it has been
challenging the world economy as well (Bhatti et al, 2020). With the onset Covid-19 pandemic,
related measures to slow down the infection have been applied such as reduction in physical
mobility, quarantining, and the usage of face masks in public spaces.
These shifts in daily life have had an enormous effect on e-commerce and people purchasing
goods online (Bhatti et al, 2020), and according to Postnord (2022), online shopping has been
increasing rapidly during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, e-commerce and online shopping were not unknown terms in
Sweden. From the results of 2019, it was expected that during the next year online shopping
yield will increase by 33%, compared to 2019, however, these predictions were calculated prior
to the pandemic, therefore, during the second quarter of 2020, the number had grown by 49%
(Andruetto et al, 2021), and as Graph 2 represents, in 2021 the number grew by 40%, which
represented 7,6 million people all over Sweden (Postnord, 2022).
Graph 2: European e-commerce market, Postnord, (2021)
Several studies were analyzed to understand and display the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic
has had on consumer behavior and online shopping. The executed studies focused individually
on different countries like Indonesia, Germany, Italy, and particular segments of online
shopping, or they were focusing on motives behind online shopping rather than impact. Further,
while analyzing previous studies from the sources available we found out that there is a lack of
studies that research online shopping during the Covid-19 pandemic in Sweden in general and
had participants across all Swedish cities.
The study of Kurtisi and Alver (2021), proposed in their paper that similar future research should
focus on the extended investigation with participants from across different Swedish cities to
better understand this phenomenon of online shopping behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic
in Sweden and see if the results vary among Swedish consumers.
Therefore, this study paper focuses on the impact of Covid-19 on consumer behavior in the
online sphere in Sweden, where consumers of different Swedish cities are taken into
consideration.
1.4 Purpose
The primary purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on
consumer behavior in different cities in Sweden regarding online purchases and what the actual
impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has changed among consumers since the early months of 2020.
Furthermore, the authors of this study wish to examine consumers' attitudes, intentions, and
behaviors according to Ajzen's (1991) Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) within online
shopping during the Covid-19 pandemic in Sweden using a qualitative approach.
Graph 3: Percentage of people who e-shopped more during the pandemic, Postnord, (2021)
1.5 Research Question
RQ: How has Covid-19 impacted online consumer behavior in Sweden?
1.6 Delimitations
We are still living in a time when the Covid-19 pandemic is playing a huge role in our daily
lives. However, with restrictions slowly disappearing and vaccination coming through there is
still a lack of data about consumer behavior towards online shopping during this time and what
factors were the most influential in people´s changed attitudes. Even when the Covid-19
pandemic is in retreat it is challenging to predict if these behavioral transformations will be
present post-covid or not. It may feel like the Covid-19 pandemic has been with us for ages but it
is still a relatively recent phenomenon and to say whether the Covid-19 pandemic will have a
long-term effect on consumer behavior toward online shopping or not is still unclear. In this
paper, interviews will be conducted with Swedish consumers from different cities ranging from
20 to 41, to gain a better perspective of the different consumers. Our research and focus on
consumer behavior will probably be relevant only in countries where the Covid-19 pandemic
restrictions are severe as in Sweden for instance. Moreover, since our thesis topic is similar to
Kurtisi and Alver's (2021) study, we got inspired by their theoretical framework and to some
extent by their methodology.
Chapter 2
__________________________________________________________________________
This chapter begins with a discussion of the evolution and benefits of online shopping, followed
by a discussion of the factors influencing consumer behavior. Following that, changes in product
consumption during a crisis are justified in accordance with the research goal. Following that,
online consumer behavior is assessed. Finally, a theoretical framework based on the discovered
gap and research topics has been constructed.
______________________________________________________________________
2. Literature Review/ Theoretical Framework
2.1 Online Shopping Advantages and Evolution
Shopping might be explained as an activity in which a consumer evaluates accessible goods and
services offered by a seller with the intention to purchase. According to Kumar & Maan (2014),
with the arrival of the Internet, people’s regular activities have been progressively changing from
physical to virtual environments and it has had an enormous influence on people’s lives. As these
shifts were more and more visible, the way how individuals are shopping has also seen
amendments. A few decades later the Internet plays an essential role in how customers perform
their shopping. Consumer purchasing over the Internet is then referred to as online shopping.
According to Cheema et al. (2013), for both customers and sellers, online shopping comes with
numerous benefits over physical shopping, for example,
● Customers may buy things from the comfort of their own homes. Many customers like
this notion since it saves them money and time by eliminating the need to go to stores to buy
their items.
● Physical shopping can take up a lot of the shopper's time and energy, but online stores
allow the user to choose from a large number of items and services.
● That is why online shopping firms provide a return policy to ensure that customers are
satisfied with their purchases. Customers may buy from home or in a comfortable location with
confidence because they do not need to visit establishments to guarantee the quality of their
acquired items.
Even though online shopping with no doubt comes along with undeniable benefits, and the rise
has been enormous throughout the years, there are yet many people that rather choose to visit
physical stores.
In Sweden, according to Kärrholm & Nylund (2011), there can be observed a shift in recent
decades in how retail shops and shopping malls have been slowly moving from local areas and
neighborhoods to areas on the outskirts or to bigger cities and districts. The average distance to
the store has increased and thus the desire for online shopping as well.
2.2 Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior
Firms must understand the elements that drive consumer purchasing behavior in order to obtain a
competitive edge, sustain and attract new consumers, and keep existing customers in the market.
Marketers may manufacture desirable items and serve customers better than competitors by
knowing their requirements and desires (Gunay & Baker, 2011). Many elements, features, and
qualities impact an individual's desire, who is involved in the decision-making process, shopping
habits, buying behavior, what brands they want to buy, and which stores they visit. Initially, the
consumer attempts to identify which products he wants to consume, and then he selects just those
products that provide the most utility. After selecting the products, the customer determines how
much money they must spend on the goods, assesses the pricing, and decides what to purchase
(Ramya & Ali, 2016). According to Kotler and Armstrong (2018), a consumer's purchasing
behavior is influenced by a variety of external circumstances. While pricing is widely viewed as
the primary motivator of consumer behavior, Kotler and Armstrong's (2018) model and theory
claim that consumer behavior is influenced by external influences and varies based on individual
culture. These are the following factors: (1) culture, (2) social, (3) personal, and (4)
psychological.
Cultural influences are those that have an impact on the behavior of bigger groups of customers.
Reference groups such as family, social role, and consumer status are examples of social
influencing variables. Personal characteristics impacting purchasing behavior include the
consumer's age, occupation, money, lifestyle, and personality or self-image. Psychological
variables include each consumer's own motivation, attitude, perception, and learning behavior
(Kotler & Armstrong, 2018).
Consumer purchasing behavior is influenced by cultural elements, which include culture,

subculture, and social class. According to Faqih (2022), culture is an environment in which
people of society develop a set of values, beliefs, and patterns of conduct. Religions, ethnicities,
geographic locations, and racial groupings are all examples of tiny subcultures that impact
purchasing behavior in every society.
Consumers from various socioeconomic classes have comparable ways of thinking, values, and
behaving. Social class is determined by work, income, education, wealth, and other factors, and
consumer purchasing behavior is also impacted by class (Furaiji et al., 2012). Social variables
such as family and reference groups have a strong impact on consumer purchasing behavior
(Kalotra & Sharma, 2016). According to a study by Kalotra & Sharma 2016), the social variables
of a family can represent two kinds of families: nuclear and joint family. In a joint family, every
member of the family is involved in purchasing decisions and so this has a big impact on buying
behavior however, the nuclear family is tiny and personal decisions are being made, while the
joint family is large and group decisions are preferred (Kalotra & Sharma, 2016). On the other
hand, a reference group is a group of two or more individuals who share a set of beliefs,
conventions, attitudes, and behaviors that are affected directly or indirectly, and into such a
reference group we can put friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc., who have a direct effect, as well
as religious, aspirational, and professional organizations that have an indirect but powerful
influence on individual purchasing behavior (Kalotra & Sharma, 2016).
As Ramya and Ali (2016) illustrate, age, employment, income, and lifestyle are personal
characteristics. People buy various items throughout their life because their preferences, tastes,
and sentiments change with age and their occupation or profession has a significant impact on
both customers and income (Ramya & Ali, 2016). Ramya and Ali also state in their work that
income is a crucial determinant of consumer behavior and consumption habits because
purchasing things is dependent on an individual's income and a person's lifestyle, living
conditions, hobbies, and beliefs all impact customers' decisions to purchase a product.
Furthermore, consumer behavior is also influenced by psychological elements such as
motivation, perception, learning, and memory (Qazzafi, 2020). When a person has a pressing
need that directs them to seek satisfaction, this is referred to as motivation (Qazzafi, 2020).
According to Qazzafi (2020), perception is the result of motivation, and that a positive
perception of a product is formed when a motivated person responds positively to it but on the
other side, a negative perception is formed when a motivated person gives a bad response to a
product. Also, it is important to consider that learning occurs when a person responds to a given
situation, so a person's action indicates what he/she learned in the past (Qazzafi, 2020). Lastly,
as Qazzafi (2020) illustrates, the last psychological element is memory, which is described as a
limited amount of information that may be kept in a retrievable condition and is beneficial for a
variety of tasks.
According to Banks and Xu (2020), a pandemic in which individuals are placed under lockdown
can have a significant influence on their mental health and this is determined by the size of the
subgroup, gender, and age since young individuals and women are more prone to suffer from
mental health concerns during a lockdown.
According to the illustration below by Kotler & Armstrong (2018), apart from the economical
factors, changes in consumer behavior might occur in different aspects as well. In this process,
age, culture, and family are also one of the main elements that might have an influence over the
behavior of the consumer, however, in dramatic situations like pandemics or natural disasters,
some factors can have a more significant impact than the others on consumer behavior (Di
Crosta & et al, 2021).
Figure 1: Factors influencing Buying Behavior (Kotler & Armstrong, 2018)
According to Di Crosta et al. (2021), family income has a remarkable influence on the
determination of people’s expenses and there is a positive association between income and
spending degree.
In addition, Di Crosta & et al. (2021), states that during exceptional situations, such as a
pandemic, the specific part of the human brain becomes more prominent resulting in driving
individuals into the engagement of behaviors that are perceived as necessary to get through it.
Moreover, these changes in behavior can override the rational decision-making process and have
a vast influence over usual consumer behavior. Specifically, fear and anxiety developed from
feelings of insecurity and uncertainty are playing a huge role in these behavioral changes. These
processes of responding to such situations are the results of gaining a sense of security,
consolation, and temporary escape that might serve as a stress reliever. However, these
purchasing changes are often irrelevant to the actual need for purchasing a product or service.
The individuals’ personality traits are also very likely to have an influence on consumer
behavior. Research within these studies has shown that conscientiousness, openness, and
emotional stability (also known as neuroticism) are connected to compulsive buying, impulsive
buying, and utilitarian shopping (Di Crosta & et al, 2021). Several scholars have offered models
that describe the decision-making process of consumers. The decision-making process is usually
shown in five stages: problem detection, information search, alternative evaluation, choosing,
and outcome evaluation. (Netz & Pernald, 2021). The primary difficulties raised by Erasmus et
al. (2001), against these models are the assumptions that every buyer is always rational and that
the models can be generalized to every buying circumstance. The argument is that while not all
customers follow all steps of the decision-making process all of the time, and the models cannot
be applied to all situations, they nonetheless present a simplified picture of how consumers make
decisions (Erasmus et al., 2001).
Furthermore, Adam Smith and other early economic theorists felt that a person's desire for
commodities outweighed his or her financial capabilities (Economic Man Theory). As a
consequence, consumers make purchasing decisions based on a logical process in which they
assign a value to the desired object based on its potential to meet their requirements and desires.
The term "utility" describes this, and because various things have varying amounts of utility,
rational behavior will lead an individual to attempt to maximize utility in order to get the most
profit possible. The cost of the product was considered a crucial factor in calculating utility
maximization, suggesting that lowering the price of a product would boost sales, and rising the
price would decrease sales. To completely comprehend what causes variations in consumer
behavior and how they occur, the assumptions of utility maximization, rational customer
decision-making, and psychological aspects must be explored (Sarmento et al., 2019).
2.3 Changes in Product Consumption During a Crisis
It has become clear that customers respond differently in different situations and certain sorts of
items are preferred by consumers. Semi-durable commodities such as entertainment products and
glassware are reduced during a crisis in order to provide for fundamental requirements such as
vegetables, eggs, and grains (McKenzie, 2006). According to Alimen and Bayraktaroglu (2011),
there are seven consumer modifications related to product consumption during a crisis: (1)
prudent spending, (2) a desire for simplicity in purchasing and distribution, (3) a desire for
product modifications, (4) a desire for a low price, (5) financial worry, (6) promotion
adjustments, and (7) awareness.
Consumer psychology and expectations are influenced by crises. Because of the loss in income
and unemployment, it comes as a surprise to the customer. Consumers utilize their assets for
consumption in times of crisis, such as wealth, liquid assets, or borrowing money, to live.
Unemployed customers can cover their expenses supported by government assistance and
unemployment insurance. A country with well-established financial markets and social insurance
systems may simply provide consumer assistance for consumption and expenditure. People's
thoughts are stressed when employment and wages become uncertain as a result of the crisis.
During the crisis, the Swedish government works hard to help people by giving them valuable
information on covid-19 and also by attempting to give them corrective policies. The crisis is one
of the primary reasons for market transformation since customers' purchasing habits shift during
this period. They are concerned about their work and, as a result, do not like spending their
money on items or anything else. Consumers are reduced to purchasing things connected to
leisure and pleasure, begin purchasing in smaller amounts, and focus on the price of the product.
Also, uncertainty and fear are generated by the new financial position. Consumers tend to change
their consumption in response to the economic slump and unemployment. During a crisis, for
example, consumption of food and basics rises relative to expenditure on clothing.
Consumers are affected not just financially, but also mentally, during a crisis. Consumers have
grown more cost-conscious, and they avoid purchasing high-priced items even if they can afford
them. Their purchasing habits have shifted, and they now make more pre-programmed
purchases. There is always a danger to their employment, which is why they choose to save
money rather than take risk (Sharma & Sonwalkar, 2013). During economic insecurity or a
crisis, pricing decision-making is always one of the most critical elements affecting both
customers and management. During a crisis, there are usually noticeable shifts in price-related
sentiments. Consumers, for instance, hunt for and purchase on-sale items, as well as seek a range
of pricing information. During a crisis, people tend to become more price-conscious and seek for
low-cost items. They prefer to visit more stores in search of lower-priced items and to compare
them. Some customers grow price sensitive and purchase less frequently. When customers
encounter a crisis, they prepare their purchasing and prepare a list before going shopping to
minimize impulse purchases (Hampson & McGoldrick, 2013). In a crisis, some customers
respond to the circumstance and alter their behavior, while others do not. Some people base their
purchasing decisions on price, quantity, and quality (Koos et al., 2017).
2.4 Online Consumer Behavior
It is important to outline whether consumer behavior changes once consumers switch from
physical to online shopping. According to Dennis et al. (2009), one of the first online consumers
was mostly concerned about the functionalities and utilization features of e-commerce websites.
To better illustrate a typical online consumer a few decades later the results have shown that
these early innovators tended to be more educated, younger age, and have a higher social and
economic position within the society. These characteristics imply that the difference between
online consumers and traditional ones occurred in the early stages of e-commerce. However, this
theory was later contradicted by Jayavardhena et al. (2007), when they found strong similitude
between traditional and online consumers.
Consumer-focused research has come with results of psychological characteristics such as

demographics, consumers´ shopping motivation, shopping orientation, and risk assessment of the
website. From the technical side of an online store, design, navigation interface, payment, and
ease of use were included in the influence of online consumer behavior (Dennis et al., 2009).
In addition, Dennis et al. (2009) argue that online consumer behavior is also affected by attitudes
and situational factors. The research outlines that a huge role plays a strong brand image in the
online consumer decision-making process. This suggests that a positive brand image among
traditional consumers is "transferable" when shoppers shop online and have a positive impact on
online consumer behavior.
2.5 Theoretical Framework
One of the most popular theories that have been used to describe and analyze online purchasing
habits is the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) which is associated with and developed from
the extension of the Theory of Reasoned Action that was first discovered by Fishbein in 1979
and the TPB model was made by Ajzen for the first time in 1985 to predict individual decisions
and it is made up of three major components (Kurtisi & Alver, 2021). Subjective norms, attitude
toward behavior, and perceived behavior control are the main components that all together have
a direct impact on consumers’ desires to engage in a behavior (Ajzen, 1985). The Theory of
Planned Behavior must be the model that fits this study of online purchasing the best, according
to the purpose of this paper.
In this study, authors employed this model because it contains the idea of perceived behavior
control in addition to offering better insight into a consumer's motivations. Ajzen (1991), claims
that this model also accurately predicts the intention to engage in a particular behavior.
Furthermore, Limayem et al. (2000), show that the model can measure the different outside
elements that affect a customer's purchasing choice.
The authors of the study believe that by using Ajzen's planned behavior theory as a framework
and developing the questionnaire constructed around the TPB model, we can better understand
how customers expect to shop and buy after Covid-19. We also expect that this paradigm will
work for situations like the Covid-19 epidemic.
Figure 2: The Theory of Planned Behavior model by Ajzen (1985)

2.6 Components of TPB Theory
By considering how Covid-19 impacted people’s lives over the past year, it makes sense to
assume that internet users’ behavior has altered since the launch of this pandemic. So, we believe
that The TPB approach will serve as a viable framework in the Covid-19 pandemic.
The TPB model tries to explain how particular elements are connected to participating in
particular activities. Attitudes toward behavior reflect how everyone around an individual feels
about certain conduct, and how they are impacted by the intensity of behavioral beliefs and the
judgment of probable outcomes. Understanding people's motivations behind prospective
repercussions of conduct is possible due to behavioral beliefs. Subjective norms refer to how
other people's opinions of you can influence how you conduct an activity.
Normative views may be created to assess if a social group's conduct is acceptable or not, and
the person's motive will then determine whether the individual will conform to the social circle's
ideas and attitudes.
Perceived behavioral control defines an individual's intention to engage in a particular activity,

but the behavior is disrupted by subjective and objective factors such as beliefs (Ajzen, 1985).
This model will be utilized as inspiration to construct an own modified version of changing
purchasing behavior in the Covid-19 pandemic by analyzing what affects buying behavior to
change. In this study, we will base our theoretical framework on three main components of the
TPB model that we clarified earlier.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Theory of the planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985) gave a suitable
framework for understanding customers' intentions and behavior surrounding their purchases and
shopping behavior. Moreover, all 3 components of TPB are significant in order to understanding
and estimate if people would participate in preventative activities or not. For instance, the
widespread use of masks during the pandemic demonstrates that people believe this precaution is
simple to follow (highly perceived behavior) and beneficial (positive attitude), as everyone uses
them to avoid contracting the COVID-19 virus (High subjective norms). On the other hand, some
people could believe that social limits and distance in public places are difficult to keep (poor
perceived conduct), useless (negative attitude), and that few people actually do so (low
subjective norms). Generally, as shown in Figure 3 below, according to Ajzen (1991), the more
positive attitude and subjective norm, as well as the higher the perceived control results the
stronger a person's willingness to engage in the desired conduct will be.
Figure 3: Graphical description of TPB (Ajzen, 1991)
2.7 Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior
Fishbein and Ajzen's Theory of Reasoned Action has received undeniable attention throughout
the years and has been used for numerous research (Sheppard et al., 1988). The model predicts
consumer intentions and behavior quite sufficiently and besides that, it also provides a relatively
straightforward foundation to identify where and how to target consumers´ behavioral change
strives. In 1985, Ajzen provided an additional factor within the Theory of Reasoned Action when
he published the Theory of Planned Behavior, which seeks to direct the seeming over-reliance on
intentions to predict behaviors (Ajzen, 1991). Since the publication of the TPB model, it has
become the dominant expectancy-value theory and has been put into application in a broad
variety of behavioral research. Empirical tests have also found that the TPB model has notably
improved predictive ability over the previous TRA.
After the TPB model was introduced, many researchers investigated the problem using the TPB
model in their studies. For instance, Liang (2014), study about online food shopping used the
TPB model to explore factors influencing the intention. Ham et al. (2015), investigated in their
research on the consequences of family and friends on consumer behavior. Furthermore, there
have been numerous studies on consumer behavior toward online shopping where the TPB
model has been used.
According to Bosnjak et al. (2020), in order to determine human behavior, three types of
considerations are taken into account: beliefs regarding the expected consequences (behavioral
beliefs), beliefs regarding normative expectations of others (normative beliefs), and beliefs
regarding factors that may facilitate or impede behavior (control beliefs). By contrast, influence
beliefs concern variables that ease or prevent the performance of a particular behavior. The data
that we will be collecting from the participants in our qualitative study will include these beliefs.
Ajzen (2006), describes in his work how to operationalize these steps and provides clarification
on this method.
Selecting the relevant behavior and explaining it in terms of action constitutes the first stage in
this procedure. Determining the relevant behavioral goal is the next stage. The definition of 3
main components of TPB is the third phase. Since the fourth and fifth procedures include
obtaining the interviewee's perceived control beliefs, the final stage necessitates involvement
from the selected sample.
2.8 Subjective Norms
Subjective norms can be described as the person´s approach to one specific behavior presented
by a group, which in turn has an influence on the individual compliance with the behavior that is
performed by others in the group or how much this particular individual wants to comply with
these people that are within this group (Ajzen, 1991). An individual's subjective norm is
composed of two explanatory norms: the pressure they feel to conform to the norms and their
view on the prevailing nature of such behavior in a group (Ajzen, 1991). These factors play a
huge role in influencing an individual's behavior.
In another study performed by Limayem et al. (2000), it is argued that subjective norms have an
encouraging effect on an individual's intention to purchase goods online. This is supported by the
study of Clemes et al. (2014), which found that the intention for purchasing goods online might
be affected by the positive opinions of peers and family members.
2.8.1 Family, Friends, and Reference Groups
One of the factors that have an impact on an individual’s subjective norms is the role of family,
friends, and reference groups within an individual’s close environment. These elements are
strongly connected with subjective norms and many previous studies have shown that there is an
influence on subjective norms (Pasick et al., 2009). If a person decides to make a purchase, he or
she can trust friends, and this trust is strongly connected to subjective norms that influence the
intention to make a purchase (Alharbi et al., 2016). Kotler & Armstrong (2018) stated that since
consumer purchase decisions are based on information gathered from many sources, social
influence has an essential impact on purchasing behavior of individuals. For example, friends,
family, and colleagues are usual reference groups for online consumer purchasers. Also, young
individuals, in particular, are more likely to be affected by their close friends.
2.9 Attitude Toward the Behavior
First of all, the term attitude describes a psychological tendency that is expressed by assessing
particular entities with some level of favor or disfavor (Eagly & Chaiken, 2007). This definition
contains the key aspects of attitudes: tendency, entity, and evaluation. This conception of attitude
distinguishes between the inner tendency that is attitude and the evaluative responses that
express attitudes. Thus, with sufficient motivation and cognitive capacity, consumers will change
their actual behavior if they have a positive or negative perception about changing their
consumer behavior. Furthermore, the attitude changes as well with the arrival of new
information, and the individual must consider these recent changes (Ajzen, 1991).
According to Clemes et al. (2014), online marketplaces can be identified by their Product
Variety, Service Quality, and Price. These factors are also considered the main factors that have
an effect on the online consumer attitude. The external factors and their effects on consumer
purchasing decisions researched by Smith et al. (2008), includes product placement,
advertisements, and direct selling. The scope where people assess and compare these products is
called attitudes.
2.9.1 Price
Prices have a huge impact on attitude during a crisis and decision-making within the perceived
prices affects customers and their decision-making. According to Setiawan & Achyar (2013), the
price has influenced the buying behavior of individuals which affects their intention to shop
online. Prices play a huge role in the decision-making process of whether or not consumers
should purchase a product.
2.9.2 Product Offer and Availability
During the Covid-19 pandemic, we could have seen that it was impossible to find specific
products and have access to them. Without having access to the products in physical stores it was
impossible to conduct traditional shopping. Furthermore, according to Clemes et al. (2014),
availability has a direct effect on consumer behavior. Previous studies have shown that the
availability of the products and product offers can be related to attitude. When we focus on how
attitude affects consumer behavior, we see that availability impacts it because if the product is
not available, a consumer is unable to continue the process (Kisielius & Roedder, 1983).
2.10 Perceived Behavioral Control
It is possible to define perceived behavioral control as the ability or difficulty of a person to carry
out a certain behavior as well as his ability or inability to recognize the benefits associated with
changing it (Ajzen, 2002). Additionally, according to Ajzen (2002), the Perceived Behavioral
Control in connection to the Theory of Planned Behavior describes the perceived capability of
performing a behavior and its self-efficacy. Perceived behavioral control within the Theory of
Planned Behavior model can be used to debate if people's buying patterns are changing as a
result of their perceptions. Perceived Behavioral Control is linked to constraints that either
restrict or enhance behavior execution. According to Noor et al.(2020), the concept of perceived
behavior control encompasses all consumer activities related to purchasing, using, and disposing
of objects and services, as well as the emotional, mental, and behavioral responses that precede,
determine, or follow them. Furthermore, Ajzen (2002) states that perceived behavior control
influences both intentions and behavior. From a consumer behavior standpoint, the elements
indicated to influence perceived behavior control are the consumers' knowledge of the online
buying process and the utility they derive from it.
2.10.1 Convenience and Time-saving of Online Shopping
The process of switching to online shopping and e-commerce has been rising even before the
Covid-19 pandemic because to many consumers it brings undeniable benefits of convenience and
time-saving. The authors are acknowledged that other factors could be mentioned too within
influences of Perceived Behavioral Control, however, we think that convenience and time-saving
are significant factors affecting consumer behavior not only during the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Koch & et al, (2020), stores and retailers are well-aware of the situation and
consumer shifts that they are trying to put even more effort into their e-commerce and to create
the best shopping sites from the perspective of convenience and time-saving for the consumer.
This factor has been added to the TPB model to find the meaning and value that customers see in
online shopping during the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors think that convenience and time-
saving factors are something that could affect Perceived Behavior Control and consumer
behavior towards online shopping.
2.11 Covid-19 Pandemic
From our point of view, probably the main external element is the Covid-19 because it affects
Subjective Norms, Attitude Toward the Behavior, and Perceived Behavioral Control which has a
great influence on online shopping and consumer behavior during and after the Covid-19
pandemic. This external element will first outline how family, friends, and reference groups have
an impact on consumer purchasing behavior and if these factors might have an influence on
online shopping during the Covid-19 pandemic. Secondly, if the elements like price, restrictions,
and potential contagion can have any effect on online consumer behavior. As explained earlier in
this study, events such as the Covid-19 pandemic can change consumers´ minds and what they
actually do during difficult times. With the pandemic taking over we have been witnessing
drastic changes not only in daily life but also in the business environment (Laato et al., 2020).
These sudden changes were observed in online shopping too because of the changing purchasing
behavior of consumers. The airborne aspect of the Covid-19 conversion has caused customers to
be concerned about the safety of the products they buy, resulting in them being unwell as a result
of what they have purchased on the Internet (Roggeveen & Sethuraman, 2020).
Chapter 3
____________________________________________________________________________
This chapter begins with the research strategy, which discusses the scientific and methodical
approach to this research. This chapter then describes the research approach, Research paradigm,
Research Design, and Data collection. Following that, the interview study, including the sample
size, choice of respondents, and the choice of analysis method. Finally, the ethical consideration,
trustworthiness, and limitations of the methodology are examined.
______________________________________________________________________
3. Research Methodology
3.1 Methodology
The authors' decision to adopt the qualitative technique was influenced by the research's topic
since it enables them to look into a large amount of information they collected from their
interviewees and helps them better understand the study's subject matter. As the primary focus of
this research is based on online consumer behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic in Sweden,
the authors first chose to look at relevant studies about the Covid-19 pandemic and Swedish
online consumer behavior to obtain a better understanding of this phenomenon and other terms to
outline sufficient background within this topic.
The majority of relevant papers were chosen from reliable sources, such as the digital library of
Jönköping University, Google Scholar, and Primo. The main emphasis was on studies on how
the Covid pandemic alters Swedish consumers' online activity; this is how the writers narrowed
their focus on certain papers. The authors chose these sources because they were already
acknowledged how to use and work with these sites since they have used them from the
beginning of the bachelor programme and believed that they can find the best and most useful
resources there that would help them to acquire the most efficient data and information.
Furthermore, the authors chose to collect the secondary data only from the Internet because of
the efficiency and better control over the vast amount of information using notes with links to the
sources. Sorting filters on the digital library, Google Scholar, and Primo helped the authors to
obtain the secondary data more precisely and delimit the huge amount of articles that did not suit
the research focus. Additionally, the majority of the statistics and data came from the websites of
logistic businesses like Postnord and online Swedish news. In general, both authors have agreed
that these techniques with the help of specific keywords have brought an undeniable advantage
in the process and facilitated the whole search process. Of course, during the research process,
there were some discussions and uncertainties as well about the correctness of the data that the
authors found, however, after a more thorough investigation, the authors believe that they always
managed to obtain the most relevant articles supporting the research question.
In the search process for the literature, keywords were discussed prior to the research process
between the authors. The search process included keywords Consumer Behavior, Covid-19
Pandemic, Coronavirus, Online Shopping, Sweden Online Shopping, Sweden Covid-19, Online
Purchasing, TPB model, and multiple combinations of the above. The reason behind choosing
these keywords is that the authors believed that these keywords will lead to the best results of the
secondary data due to their efficiency and clarity of what the meaning carries. Also, when
deciding on the keywords between the authors of this study, other studies similar to this topic
were analyzed to spot the gap and find something useful that the authors were not able to realize
during the primary process. These particular keywords that the authors mention have led to a
number of helpful publications.
Lastly, the authors created a research question by taking into account both existing and
undiscovered areas. Additionally, they found an appropriate theoretical framework based on the
research topic. The authors also discovered that this study was constrained because we are all
living in a time when Covid-19 is still active and nobody knows when this pandemic will end. As
a result, they decided that the impact of Covid-19 on online Swedish consumer behavior could be
a novel topic.
3.2 Research Strategy
According to Bell et al. (2019), there are two sorts of research strategies: quantitative research
and qualitative research although, we will do qualitative research in this project. Qualitative
research is an understanding inquiry process based on various methodological steps to
investigate a social or human problem. It is mostly based on observations and interpretations of
people's perceptions of various events, with the goal of capturing a natural picture of people's
perceptions. The qualitative researcher intends to conduct the study spontaneously by examining
the participants' statements in order to develop a complete picture.
We may not have a perfectly scientific explanation of the human world, but knowing the truth
allows us to distinguish between things that may serve to open up new avenues of understanding
(Khan, 2014a).
According to Khan (2014), qualitative research is the best strategy for doing exploratory
research. The goal of this study is to describe the scenario and comprehend the phenomena by
researching and recording respondents' experiences in their own words via interview and
observation (Yilmaz, 2013).
So, this research is a qualitative study. This strategy was chosen because it allows researchers to
examine the phenomena at a deeper level. Also, another reason for employing a qualitative
technique is that the research intends to explore human behavior in a setting, especially how
Covid-19 impacts product choices and extensive information will be acquired to help in the
analysis of the phenomena through semi-structured interviews.
3.3 Research Approach
There are two ways to consider: inductive and deductive (Gioia et al., 2013). According to
Thomas (2006), the inductive technique derives a general assertion from empirical results or an
individual situation. Furthermore, Liu (2016) proposed that the inductive technique necessitates
the development of a theoretical framework prior to beginning the research process.
According to Moen (2006), the inductive technique requires the researcher to illustrate and focus
on the context based on the events and sample size. Besides, Alase (2017), suggested that the
inductive approach concludes the general public through the observed event.
According to Bell et al. (2018, p. 149), in order to collect data, the researcher should hunt for
past studies and establish one or more hypotheses that will be tested empirically. This research
mainly focuses on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on customers purchasing behavior
towards online shopping. Furthermore, it will aid in capturing the truth of the current situation.
Also, Teherani et al. (2015) proposed that positivism is associated with the inductive technique,
which seeks the overall condition. The influence of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis on customer
purchase behavior may be assessed using the inductive technique. This study also aims to adjust
online services during the pandemic, which may be evaluated using an inductive method.
Moreover, unlike the deductive technique, inductive investigations rely heavily on practical
reality observation as the basis for the theory. They start with data collection and proceed on to
theoretic understanding (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Also, the authors of this study use an inductive
approach because they are looking for similarities and distinctions while analyzing the data.
Additionally, this study's target is to be inductive as it progresses from actual factual data
findings to generalizing the participant's perception and comprehension of the study. As a result,
the inductive approach is ideal for this study because it provides readers with the knowledge they
need to conduct further research on how online shopping has changed in Sweden during the
pandemic situations.
3.4 Research Paradigm
The two sorts of research paradigm concerns are ontological and epistemological (Ormston et al.,
2014).
Furthermore, Smith (2012, p. 48) suggested that the ontological investigation analyzes the nature
of existence, whereas the epistemological study considers how to assess validity. Ontology is
primarily concerned with the nature of social entities and their existence, whether they are
objective entities or social creations (Guarino et al., 2009).
Epistemology integrates the validity, breadth, and procedures that aid in the acquisition of
knowledge and the development of understanding (Klakegg, 2016). Furthermore, Hathcoat et al.
(2019) proposed dividing epistemology into positivism, realism, and interpretivism.
Positivism is an epistemological perspective that advocates for the use of scientific means to
explore social reality (Goertz et al., 2012). Themes are produced to assist analyze the
explanations of the topics in order to comprehend the information. Furthermore, this research is
obtained by defining objectives and examining facts that give essential knowledge.
In light of several research paradigms, positivism epistemology was chosen for this thesis. The
reason for this is that positivism searches for social reality and describes the truth as it is.
Furthermore, positivism indicates objective actuality, and this study investigates the effect of the
Covid-19 pandemic on consumer purchase behavior. Furthermore, by employing the positivism
technique, this study may assess online purchasing behavior as a result of the Covid-19
pandemic.
3.5 Research Design
There are two types of study design methods: exploratory and explanatory. The goal of
exploratory research is to get clarity and see the phenomena in a new light by asking questions.
This type of investigation is carried out using the qualitative technique in order to acquire a new
perspective on current circumstances and concerns (Rahi, 2017).
Explanatory research is beneficial when developing a problem for specialized investigations or
when attempting to formulate research. This research is largely focused on finding the causes or
reasons why certain occurrences occur (Akhtar, 2016).
We will utilize an exploratory, with an inquiry focused on gaining information by analyzing
patterns in the acquired data, which might provide recommendations for future research in the
chosen field. The study is classed as exploratory since there has been little existing research on
the topic to which this study may refer (Collis & Hussey, 2014).
3.6 Data Collection
As Bar-Ilan (2001) illustrates, with the development of the Internet, many people use it to get the
information they need and it becomes one of the main sources of knowledge. Therefore, as a
result, the internet becomes the most important source to find secondary data for researchers.
The authors of this study have used the online library of Jönköping university, Google scholar
and Primo for finding their secondary data. Moreover, we gathered our primary data via
interview face-to-face and via zoom meeting due to the efficiency and accuracy of the data.
3.7 Interview Study
Data collection methods like interviews are commonly used in qualitative studies and mixed or
multi-method research, whether they are used alone or in combination with other data collection
methods (Peters & Halcomb, 2015). Further, Peters & Halcomb (2015), state that interviews that
are semi-structured, where the researcher has some predetermined questions but then probes
further as the participant responds, can yield valuable insights into the participants' experiences
and opinions. According to Cachia and Millward (2011), there are three sorts of interviews based
on the research questions and methodologies.
The first is structured interviews, which consist of a preplanned collection of questions with
various predefined replies from which the interviewee must pick and cannot answer on their
own, and for which you cannot acquire an extra answer. Except for an interviewer who assists
with any questions, these interviews are more or less exactly the same to the self-governing
questionnaire (Cachia & Millard, 2011). The second type of interview is unstructured, in this
type of interview questions change as the session progresses. The purpose of this kind of
interview is to ask detailed questions in order to achieve more accurate data (Cachia & Millard,
2011).
The third form of interviews is Semi-structured. This type of interview includes both organized
and unstructured questions (Cachia & Millard, 2011). There are also predefined questions to
serve as an interview guide. If the interviewer needs to cover a topic with a controlled discourse,
more questions might be asked to stimulate further discussion (Cachia & Millard, 2011). The
authors of this study have used Semi-structured interviews for their research.
The reason why the third type of interview is conducted in this study is that in structured
interviews participants must select from a small number of options that interviewers offer, and
since the interviewers already know all the available answers, it is impossible for them to gain
in-depth information from the participants' responses. Furthermore, unstructured interviews are
also insufficient for this study because they just include asking open-ended questions, and since
there are many factors to take into account in a qualitative study, this style of interviewing is not
the best option.
The authors of this study are seeking additional detailed data that might be obtained using both
approaches; thus, a great choice for this research is a Semi-structured interview. The primary
goal of using a semi-structured interview is to obtain more in-depth and accurate information
from the respondent through the use of a combination of planned and unplanned questions,
which produces more precise data.
10 semi-structured interviews with Swedes ranging in age from 20 to 41 who were working or
studying in various cities were done by the authors. Due to the participants' varied ages,
occupations, and places of residence, this would aid authors in more precisely examining the
original data. Face-to-face interviews were used since this way of conducting interviews is more
accurate and helped avoid misunderstandings.
Before the interview begins, authors give participants the information they need to know about
the interview's format and process. Additionally, the authors ask the interviewees if they have
any questions before beginning the interviews.
The interview begins with open-ended questions to allow interviewees to express their ideas
regarding a particular question. Afterward, the interviewer asks open follow-up questions if the
participant's answers were not clear in order to obtain more precise information from them.
Moreover, our interviews were performed anonymously therefore, we did not utilize names in
this study. Prior to every interview, the authors kindly asked each participant if they could record
the audio in order to analyze it even more efficiently afterward and to avoid possible
misunderstandings. On the other hand, there was also an option for participants to choose not to
be recorded, however, none of our participants have had any problem being recorded
anonymously. When participants remain anonymous, a safe environment is created, and the
reliability of the data and obtained participants´ answers rise.
3.8 Sample Size
Prior to anything related to the research, the sample size must be clearly discussed between the
authors. A sample is essentially a subset or subset of a larger population (Fink, 2003). We
needed to analyze a sample to predict internet buying behaviors in Sweden. It is impossible to
study the entire country due to time and budget constraints. Furthermore, those who are a part of
the sample are referred to as participants (Alvi, 2016). According to Coppola (2022), people
aged 20 to 41 do the most online shopping in Sweden, thus we selected our sample from this age
group. Our sample size of ten participants is sufficient to grasp the dynamics of changes in
online buying behavior.
After 10 interviews, we could have observed enough repeats from the participants and fewer
additional insights, so we agreed to stop with interviews there. Multiple academic authors
(Bowling 2002; Strauss & Corbin, 1990) state if the authors feel that the participants’ answers
are repetitive and they can not get any more new information from interviews, they can stop the
number of interviews.
3.9 Choice of Respondents
We used the non-probability sampling approach to pick a sample for the investigation. Non-
probability sampling, according to Vehovar et al. (2016), aids in the selection of units from the
specified population.
Furthermore, we employed the purposive sampling approach to answer questions related to the
study goals. According to Gray et al. (2020), the purposive sampling approach is a selected
procedure of the researcher's judgment when selecting participants.
As a consequence, during the Covid-19 outbreak, we recruited and interviewed 10 young adults
to middle-aged people from Stockholm, Jönköping, Gothenburg, Linköping, and Umeå.
Participants’ Gender Age Country City Years of Monthly Duration of

Numbers Activity Usage of Interviews/
in Online Online Date
Shopping Shopping
1 Female 36 Sweden Stockholm 2 years 1 2022.04.03/

23 min
2 Male 39 Sweden Stockholm 4 years 2 2022.04.03/

27 min
3 Male 28 Sweden Jönköping 12 years 2-3 2022.04.12/

19 min
4 Female 22 Sweden Jönköping 6 years 3-4 2022.04.12/

26 min
5 Male 32 Sweden Gothenburg 10 years 4-5 2022.04.13/

21 min
6 Male 23 Sweden Umeå 8 years 1-2 2022.04.15/

16 min
7 Male 28 Sweden Jönköping 11 years 1 2022.04.11/

31 min
8 Female 31 Sweden Linköping 14 years 1 2022.04.11/

18 min
9 Male 25 Sweden Jönköping 10 years 1 2022.04.09/

26 min
10 Male 22 Sweden Jönköping 6-7 years 2-3 2022.04.09/
15 min
Table 1: Overview of the interview participants
(Our interview questions are listed in the Appendix)
3.10 Choice of Analysis Method
Data analysis, according to Alhojailan (2012), primarily gives a clear understanding of the data.
Furthermore, Vaismoradi et al. (2016) proposed that data analysis aids in the right display of
data. As a result, for this study, we employed the theme analysis technique. Thematic analysis is
most commonly used to examine qualitative data from interview transcripts or writings
(Saunders et al., 2009).
Furthermore, this research's data was examined by finding themes from existing work.
According to Williams (2007), theme analysis aids in identifying the perspectives and ideas of
many participants and gaining a thorough understanding of the study issue. As a result, we
transcribed the respondents' interviews and examined them using theme analysis. Furthermore,
as part of the theme analysis, we coded the acquired data. Crowther and Lancaster (2012) stated
that classifying the data allowed them to emphasize distinct portions of text phrases or sentences
while also shortening the context. Moreover, we evaluated the topics and gathered data for the
analysis and discussion chapter.
According to Braun & Clarke (2012), an inductive approach is a bottom-up strategy that is based
on the information obtained from interviewees' responses; therefore, the authors of this study
code the data by using an inductive approach.
So, in the first step, the authors examined every interview response in order to identify concepts
that the respondents frequently expressed so that they could categorize them and then, the
authors’ discoveries and observations become their codes and in the next step, the authors
complete the coding and fit them into the distinct themes and sub-themes (Bradley et al., 2007).
Braun and Clarke's (2006)'s six-step procedure was employed to apply this chosen thematic
strategy for data analysis. Table 2 explains the model's actions taken by the researchers.
Face Description
1. Get acquainted with your data. The first stage is to immerse oneself in the
data and become comfortable with it by re-
reading, transcribing, and so on.
2. Initial code generation Initial code generation, data collection over

the complete data set, and theoretical
assumptions
Gather data pertinent to each code based on

theoretical assumptions.
3. Searching for themes Here, we organize the codes into prospective

topics and collect all of the data related to
each potential subject.
4. Reviewing themes In this phase, we go over steps 2 and 3 to

determine if the themes fit with the code
extracts to build a thematic map of our
research.
5. Defining and naming themes In this section, we continue the analysis by

defining detailed specifications to each subject
in order to build the overarching story for the
analysis. The topics will be defined and
named in this section.
6. Creating the report The final analysis of the selected data extracts
will be published here, with references to our
study topic, theory, and literature.
Table 2: - Braun and Clarke (2006)
Figure 4: Themes, sub-themes, and concepts from data
Figure 4 displays the three primary themes for this study based on the TPB model and their sub-
themes based on the information we collected from our interviews. Family and friends are
affecting some respondents' online buying behaviors, as seen in Figure 4 above, which is directly
related to subjective norms, one of the components of the TPB model. This conclusion was
reached based on our participants' responses. Furthermore, the respondents' buying behavior is
strongly influenced by the pricing, product offers, and availability that are part of the second
component, attitude towards the behavior. The third component of our model is also driven by
convenience and time savings because, according to our participants, these factors are very
significant to them.
3.11 Ethical Considerations
Ethical issues are regarded as an important aspect of the study and are maintained from the start
(Bell and Bryman, 2007). The author went on to say that study participants should be respected,
their ideas should be valued, they should not be harmed, and their privacy should be protected.
As a result, we have always respected our interview participants, appreciated their alternatives,
and protected their privacy.
According to Connelly (2014), ethical issues include confidentiality, the anonymity of interview
participants, and research clarity. As a result, we safeguarded the confidentiality and identity of
all interview participants. Furthermore, we followed through on the clarity by outlining our study
aim, purpose, and interview questions. We have also verified that no other parties or
organizations will be able to steal or get information in the future. Furthermore, all sensitive
information, such as names and personal information, has been kept completely discreet.
Furthermore, Bell and Bryman (2007) argued that another aspect of ethical concern is avoiding
primary results while retaining research accuracy. To do this, we accurately and appropriately
understood the interview participants. As a result, we have supplied unbiased primary facts in
this study without offering our own view. Furthermore, Moon et al. (2019) said that the
researcher should retain honesty and privacy during the interview process by avoiding any
personal suggestions. We did not reveal any personal thoughts throughout the interview process
and instead allowed the participants to express themselves freely.
3.12 Quality of the Study
According to Connelly (2016), one of the most important aspects of research justification is
credibility. As a result, it is necessary to analyze and validate the most relevant data for the
investigation. Furthermore, Moon et al. (2019) said that trustworthiness assists a researcher in
justifying the study on the basis of authenticity and attentiveness. As a result, we followed the
appropriate procedures to ensure the research's reliability and correctness.
Credibility, reliability, transferability, and conformability are important components of
trustworthiness (Gunawan, J., 2015; Shenton, 2004). Connelly (2014) defines credibility as "the
data representation and experiences in the research." Furthermore, trustworthiness guarantees
that participants correctly check supplied interview transcripts. As a result, we followed up on
the research's trustworthiness by checking transcripts with interview participants. Dependability
assures that future researchers will be able to depend on the data supplied and make appropriate
conclusions (Shenton, 2004). To increase the integrity of our research, we have maintained
adequate explanations of the findings by interview participants.
According to Bell and Bryman (2007), transferability assures that the approach employed in the
study may be used in future investigations. As a result, we have proven the study's transferability
because all of the methodologies and data obtained may be transmitted or used by other
researchers. Furthermore, confirmability assures that the study's reliability and veracity are
justified in any case (Connelly, 2016). As a result, we have confirmed interview participants
regarding transcripts and sufficiently justified them.
3.13 Limitations of The Methodology
The data gathering method was hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic, which is one of the study's
shortcomings. As a result, we had to maintain social distance and take adequate safety
precautions during the data-gathering procedure. Furthermore, we have solely focused on young
adults to middle-aged customers whose purchase behavior has been influenced by Covid-19.
Also, it is important to consider that we are back to normal in the spring of 2022 however, some
people may wish to keep social distance, but this is not very prevalent nowadays. Moreover,
addressing a larger demographic may provide mixed results as well, and also, following the
study, we can make recommendations for further research if necessary.
Chapter 4
____________________________________________________________________________
The fourth chapter explains the data collection outcomes and delivers insights from the defined
categories and aggregated dimensions, which are shown through interview quotations to increase
trust.
______________________________________________________________________
4. Empirical findings
The authors of this study intended to research to what extent the Covid-19 pandemic has had an
impact on consumer behavior towards online shopping and how it affects consumer tendency to
buy online among Swedish people. Therefore, the authors attempted to find contributing
elements that lead to the online shopping behaviors of people living in Sweden and their future
purchasing intentions.
In addition, the element of products and services that have been most commonly bought during
the Covid-19 pandemic by our participants has been added to better understand their online
shopping behavior.
4.1 Products’ Availability
The reason that authors include this section is to determine whether or not the availability of the
products will encourage users to make purchases online and if so, how they feel about that
influence. The majority of our respondents agreed that products’ availability is better online and
almost every time they can find everything that they are looking for, as one of our participants
mentions: “ I don't really recall such an experience. I think there should not be a problem finding
anything or that I have never had any problem buying anything online. For 99% I would find
everything” (RN 7, 2022). Further, our participants have been mentioning quite often in our
interviews that when you like something in a physical store but they do not have the right size or
color you can always look up on the Internet and order it from there as one of our participants
mentions particularly: “ It has a greater range of items than physical stores, which means that
when I go to physical stores, for example, I may find less various colors of the same clothes,
however when I go to online stores, I have access to many different colors ” (RN 1, 2022).
Additionally, one of the participants during the interview shared an interesting thought on the
question about the availability of the products online that online shopping may bring discounts
and better options in the end: “The variety of items is greater in online buying, it is more
appealing, you can get more discounts, and you feel like you can buy better options, and I feel
like I can find most of what I want from online shopping” (RN 2, 2022).
In the theoretical framework, we identified one theme that could tremendously influence
subjective norms. We can spot that family, friends, and reference groups play a huge role in
influencing the behavior of online consumers. For example, in our interviews, it was derived that
our respondents purchased more stuff online during the pandemic because they were cautious of
not getting infected and partially to protect their relatives and not to spread the virus to their
closest. Additionally, some of the respondents also mentioned that their relatives suggested they
do more online shopping and avoid physical stores if not necessary.
4.2.1 The Influence of Family, Friends, and Reference Groups
Subjective Norms, as mentioned before in our theoretical framework, are influenced and formed
by social groups. Our respondents were asked questions if they were to any extent influenced by
their family or friends to shop online during the pandemic. Most of our respondents provided
answers where they stated that to some extent they were influenced, or they might have some
influence on others. One of our participants answered the question if he has been influenced by
his family or friends to shop online during the pandemic “ Yes my friends and family encouraged
me” (Participant 2). Later on, during the interview, she also added “ I now shop online three
times more than I did previously” (Participant 2).
The risk of contracting the Covid-19 virus and spreading it was one of the main elements that
formed online shopping. Even if some of our respondents were not directly suggested to do
online shopping and avoid physical shops, they were still indirectly influenced. Also, most of our
participants think that online shopping keeps them safe from contracting the virus and helps to
reduce the spread.
The influence of friends and reference groups in developing an intention to make people behave
a certain way was also spotted among our respondents. Some of our respondents described how
the positive experience of online shopping by their friends has been promoted and actually
recommended. One participant mentioned “I think whenever I speak to my friends they would
show me some products that would look good to me and show me the website and recommend it.
Friends and family can influence me mainly to shop online when there is no physical store
available and I trust their judgment” (participant 8). This also shows that even when the person
does not have any experience with the online store or the product, they still trust the person and
their experience may contribute as an affecting element within a person's behavior.
We can infer from the answers of our participants that family, friends, and reference groups to
some extent affected their shopping behavior during the COVID-19 epidemic but this component
is not the main reason they conduct online shopping. Also, we could observe that positive
experiences may influence the behavior even without the pandemic to perform a particular
behavior.
4.3.1 Price
The interview questions that our participants were asked contained also questions like if they
think online shopping is cheaper than traditional shopping or not, which provided our study with
data on what the respondents think about prices on online shopping websites. Our respondents
find the prices online cheaper, which makes one of the main points for our respondents why they
search for products online. This element of prices cannot be overlooked in consumer behavior
because as we could have observed, many times during the decision-making process it plays a
huge role. All the respondents from our study believe that online shopping offers better prices
than the actual stores. They agree that you can find more discounted products and sales
campaigns.
Prices, in combination with product offer range and availability, are the primary factors for
choosing an online store instead of a physical store. “ Much cheaper, as Swede we have better
salaries than in other countries and we can buy products from other countries where it is cheaper.
And you can wait for the sale and search for it and you can put a notification if there is
something on sale. But even without a sale, it is much cheaper” (participant 9). Many of our
respondents were mentioning that they experienced various discounts when shopping online and
even if they did not find a cheaper version they made use of signing up for notifications when a
particular product will be on sale.
When there is a desire from the customer's side and he really wants the specific product, he can
be almost hundred percent sure he or she will find it online. Therefore, the authors of this study
wanted to investigate the influence product offer and availability have on the respondents. The
majority of our respondents have positive feelings about product offers and availability “the
variety of items is greater in online buying, it is more appealing, you can get more discounts, and
you feel like you can buy better options, and I feel like I can find most of what I want from
online shopping” (participant 2). However, two of our respondents experienced slightly negative
feelings when one of them found an offering of vegetables in an online grocery store and
received vegetables that were almost expired. The other respondent sometimes feels online
shopping is difficult as he says “yes, I believe there are too many things in online shopping since
it is often difficult to locate what you want because there are thousands of items on the websites”
(participant 4).
The general feeling among the respondents is overwhelmingly positive about the product offer
and the availability of the products. The negative aspects occurred rarely, more explicitly only in
the two of our respondents.
Most of our respondents mentioned that convenience together with time-efficient plays a big role
in whether to purchase goods online or not. They agreed that it makes their life easier as they can
compare lots of products whenever they have time. Additionally, the convenience of just turning
on the laptop and browsing the Internet is what makes it undoubtedly a strong factor. One of our
participants stated that “Saving time is essential to me. For example, I do not have to drive to
another city or country to purchase anything when I can order it online. It also depends, for
instance, if I'm going to buy a sofa and I have the availability to get it home and someone can
help me set it up, I will buy it online. For example, I would rather pay extra to have the product
delivered to my home” (participant 4). Almost all of our respondents shared the same thoughts
and mentioned exactly time-saving and convenience. When asked about what made them start
online shopping, the majority of them said these particular elements of changing their consumer
behavior.
4.4.2 The Participants’ Attitude to Online Shopping
The external element of the Covid-19 pandemic was described in the theoretical framework, and
we mentioned that during the pandemic online shopping increased more than expected. From the
answers provided by our respondents, we could have observed that they did not start online
shopping during the pandemic. The authors would like to discover if these changes that occurred
during the pandemic in consumer behavior will be the same once the pandemic is over. Most of
our respondents mentioned that the Covid-19 pandemic enhanced their usage of online shopping
and three of them stated that it was roughly the same.
Participant 4 told us “no, I believe we will never return to the way things were before, and to be
honest, if I relocate to a larger city like Stockholm and they have all of the stores, I will buy
everything online to save time. However, I believe that even if I went to physical stores, I would
still do more online shopping because I could want to buy a shirt that I saw in the store but in a
different color that they haven’t had it in their physical store, so I would go to their website and
get it”.
Some of our respondents mentioned that during the pandemic they tried to avoid crowds in the
physical stores to protect themselves and to avoid waiting in queues where there is a necessity.
“Maybe, because I think especially during the holidays like Christmas it is very crowded and it is
more convenient to order it. And you can simply avoid it and save time waiting in queues''
(participant 8).
4.4.3 Swedish Customers’ Intention for Future Online Shopping
When conducting this research, it seems like the Covid-19 pandemic is on its end and the
majority of the population is vaccinated. Therefore, we asked our respondents, what way of
shopping our participants will choose now.
Most of our respondents said that they will continue with online shopping even after the
pandemic, with optional purchases in physical stores. They were all in agreement that online
shopping will only rise in the future from their side because they have got more used to it.
“No, I'll keep doing internet shopping since I've become used to it and it's become a habit for
me'' (Participant 1).
When we analyzed our respondents, and their intentions to combine online shopping with
physical stores, we could observe that some products are simply preferred to purchase physically
like shoes and groceries since customers want to try them and be sure of the quality and right
choice.
Chapter 5
____________________________________________________________________________
This chapter is dedicated to presenting the empirical findings' analysis in connection to the
gathered literature.
______________________________________________________________________
5. Analysis
The main themes in this research are constructed on the TPB model: subjective norms, attitude
toward the behavior, perceived behavioral control, and intention for the future. A detailed
analysis of the components of the TPB model presented in this paper is provided in this section.
5.1 Goods
From the interviews that have been executed in this study, we found out the most common goods
that our respondents were purchasing online during the Covid-19 pandemic were clothes and
electronics that almost all of our respondents purchased during the pandemic. Investigating
goods within our study, the authors were interested in determining if respondents' purchasing
patterns had changed before and after the Covid-19 outbreak. These results presented in this
study are consistent with Postnord (2021), which outlines that these two product categories were
most commonly bought even in general. However, the purchasing of apparel and electronics
from our respondents was done even before the pandemic suggesting that the pandemic did not
have a huge influence on buying this stuff online. Hesham & et al. (2021), states that food
appeared to be even more essential during the pandemic than before, and from our respondents,
we could observe that purchasing groceries and food deliveries increased. Our respondents who
were purchasing food stated that during the pandemic it was very beneficial and some of them
were influenced by their relatives and friends, although, most concerns about shopping online
come from this sector. Additionally, beauty and health products were also common goods
purchased online by our respondents.
Subjective norms, as stated before in this study, are mainly connected to family and friends. This
statement is supported by the literature that says the intention for purchasing products online may
be influenced by the opinions of family and friends (Clemes et al., 2014). From our respondents,
we have seen that their families and friends have influenced them to some extent to shop online
during the pandemic, or that they have had an influence on others, but in the end, this element is
insignificant, and they are making their own choices. Moreover, subjective norms only slightly
influence our respondents to shop online, and if so it is mostly because of the recommendation of
good websites or products.
5.3.1 Price
Prices are one of the most important elements of deciding to shop online, and it affects the
consumer behavior of individuals which influences their intention to shop online (Setiawan &
Achyar, 2013). Most of our respondents agreed that they find online shopping cheaper than the
traditional one. Our findings from interviews outline that better prices are one of the main points
why they are searching for products online. Price is perceived as a very important element when
it comes to shopping and together with the availability of the products it brings undeniable
benefits over physical shopping (Cheema & et al., 2013). Furthermore, our respondents find it
very appealing that even if they do not find the best price they can sign-up for newsletters and
wait for the discounts.
From the findings that we gathered through interviews with our respondents, we observed that
the availability of products does affect the intention to online shopping and our respondents
stated that it is a huge element that makes them more prone to online shopping. They see bigger
product offers on the Internet that provides them with more possibilities. Additionally, their
perception of the availability of products online are moreover positive and most of the time they
can find everything they are searching for.
For our respondents, we can see that online shopping is considered a more convenient and time-
saving activity than regular shopping. Kärrholm & Nylund (2011), described how shopping
districts have been shifting more to outskirts areas and thus most of our respondents admitted
that convenience is an important element that also makes online shopping more favorable and
that they can place orders whenever they have time. During the pandemic, there were physical
stores that our respondents were avoiding more than usual which resulted in searching stuff
online. The authors of this study are quite confident in stating that convenience and time-saving
are the most essential determinants within Perceived Behavioral Control. For some of our
respondents, convenience and time-saving are very important which makes for them difficult to
go back to traditional shopping. However, there are some products that are preferred to buy
physically (Cheema & et al., 2013), as it is more convenient to see and try them and our
respondents will not stop visiting physical stores.
5.5 Covid-19 Pandemic
This element was connected to our research purpose therefore the interviews were also
associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. As we could observe, online shopping behavior during
the pandemic was not exactly the same among our respondents, however, it possesses similarities
in some cases. Element of the Covid-19 pandemic has influenced each dimension of the TPB
model. The authors thought that Covid-19 might drastically change online shopping behaviors.
Nonetheless, based on our respondents' responses, it does not appear that online buying will alter
much because they are already accustomed to it, and other factors influencing this behavior
appear to be more important.
5.6 Conclusion of The Analysis
Analyzing the empirical findings from our interviews with our respondents, we found many
similarities in answers in many of the answers, despite the fact that we had both younger and
older participants from various regions of Sweden. The majority of our participants were men
but we also had some women to draw upon. In our empirical findings, we could observe that
most of our findings can be supported by our literature review and theoretical framework. The
authors think that the chosen TPB model was the right choice to understand respondents’ current
and future online consumer behavior.
To conclude the analysis part, online shopping behavior among our respondents during the
pandemic has slightly risen to some extent in some particular goods. From the thoroughly
analyzed data that we gathered during our interviews, we are able to say that the reason behind
this increase in online shopping behavior is due to Perceived Behavioral Control and Attitude
Toward online shopping. Subjective Norms of family, friends and reference groups did not
notably affect their behavior, even if some respondents did state they were influenced by their
relatives to not contract Covid-19.
We think that respondents’ future plans for online shopping will increase even more in the long
term because of the benefits that are linked with online shopping, more specific benefits like
cheaper prices, better offer and availability of products, and time-saving feature. These factors
will still be relevant also after the pandemic.
Chapter 6
____________________________________________________________________________
In this chapter the purpose of this study is fulfilled and the implications are highlighted. In
addition, limitations and future research are discussed.
______________________________________________________________________
6. Discussion and Conclusion
6.1 Purpose and Research Question
Our main goal as mentioned in the study's purpose has been to investigate the impact of the
Covid-19 pandemic on consumer behavior toward online shopping across different Swedish
cities. So, in order to understand Swedish consumers' propensity to purchase online in the future,
we needed to investigate the factors motivating them to do so. It was feasible to study what
impacts present online consumer behavior and determine what elements may influence intention
for future online purchasing by conducting interviews with 10 online customers and analyzing
the data with the use of the Theory of Planned Behaviour.
RQ: How has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted online consumer behavior in Sweden?
This was the main research question of this study. The short explanation is that the Covid-19
pandemic is responsible for the shifts in online customer behavior. However, as noted before in
the analytical section, the Covid-19 pandemic is not the primary reason that has impacted the
drastic change on online consumer behavior in Sweden. This rise is mostly attributable to their
Perceived Behavioral Control and Attitude Toward Online Shopping. As noted by the majority
of respondents, they had been performing online shopping before the Covid-19 pandemic and
were accustomed to it due to time savings, convenience, availability, price, etc.
Nonetheless, among all participants, some indicated that they performed more online shopping
during the pandemic than they had previously. This little increase among our participants has
been attributed in part to customers who have been socially isolating themselves by respecting
and listening to the government’s recommendations and roles regarding Covid-19.
The Covid-19 pandemic provided a boost to enterprises like home delivery services. However, in
comparison to reasons such as convenience and time savings, it has not had a significant
influence on Swedish consumers' online buying habits. Aside from Covid-19 influencing online
shopping behavior to some extent, the authors hypothesized in the TPB model various
components that affected consumer behavior during the pandemic. Price, product offer and
availability, convenience, and time savings are all important considerations. Furthermore,
variables such as family and friends have no discernible influence on consumers' attitudes toward
online shopping. As a result of analyzing the empirical data, the authors of this study can claim
that Attitude and Perceived Behavioral Control are the main elements regarding the change in
online shopping behavior during the covid pandemic, but subjective norms are a less effective
factor in controlling the customer's purchasing behavior.
To summarize, online shopping will continue to grow year after year, just like it did before the
pandemic. Long-term, more customers will be attracted to the benefits that online shopping
delivers but subjective norms in comparison with two other components of the TPB are less
likely to affect consumers' behavior to do more online shopping than physical.
6.2 Social Implications
Once the Covid-19 pandemic is passed, another international disaster may occur, affecting
consumer internet purchasing behavior. Once again, the pandemic has confirmed to the entire
globe that the human world is vulnerable, and in these unforeseen conditions, many things in the
world can be beyond human control. Since we are almost the period of time that Covid-19 has
passed, the authors believe that the readers of this study fully understand how the pandemic
impacted consumer behavior toward online shopping and how online shopping behavior in
Sweden might look in the future. However, with an increasing number of individuals being
vaccinated every day, we will soon reach the finish line. Furthermore, from the standpoint of
marketing associations, it may be quite useful to be aware of how consumers behave when
purchasing online in order to understand that consumers' motivations for doing so have not
altered since before the pandemic.
6.3 Limitations
Because this study is confined to Swedish consumers and their online purchasing habits, other
nations' online shopping habits may differ from Sweden's. As a result, generalizing the
conclusions of this study to other nations would be incorrect. Furthermore, given their monthly
usage, our participants were already well-experienced online shoppers, which might lead to
distortion when compared to consumers that do not use online shopping so often.
Despite the fact that our participants ranged in age, even the older ones had experience using
internet shopping, therefore there was no noticeable difference in their responses. Lastly, the
interviews were conducted both online and personally which might result in differences between
these two techniques.
6.4 Future Research
The authors advise using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods in future
research because future researchers can collect more data and do so in greater depth. In addition,
since this study did not concentrate on a particular business, it would be wonderful to see future
studies in Sweden in that area, such as the apparel industry. Lastly, this study was carried out in
Sweden, where the government's roles in controlling the Covid-19 virus were very different from
those of many other nations. As a result, research on other European nations or even nations on
other continents would be ideal.
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8. Appendix
Interview questions
Due to the same interview study methodology and theoretical framework, the authors of this
study got inspired by Kurtisi and Alver's (2021) interview questions to obtain primary data. So,
each of the interview questions listed here is written in accordance with Kurtisi and Alver's
(2021).
According to Kurtisi and Alver's (2021):

1. How old are you?
2. What’s your occupation?
3. What is your salary per month? (personal)
4. Have you ever conducted online shopping?
5. For how long have you online shopped?
6. Are you active in online shopping?
7. What made you start online shopping? (Can you name some factors?)
8. How many times a week do you online shop? (month)
9. What is your experience with online shopping? Is it more positive or negative?
10. What type of products do you shop online?
11. Are there any products that you prefer to buy from a physical store? If yes what and why?
12. What item’s do you find more suitable to shop online compared to traditional shopping
during covid-19?
13. How do you feel when you are conducting online shopping? Can you describe the feeling
you receive from online shopping?
14. Do you believe that online shopping keeps you safe from contracting Covid?
15. Do you believe that online shopping instead of traditional shopping serves a good purpose
during the covid pandemic?
16. Do you find online shopping cheaper than the traditional one?
17. What do you think about availability of products compared to traditional shopping? Can you
find anything that you want?
18. Have you been influenced by your peers to shop online during the pandemic? ( friends and
family) or Did your friends or family encourage you to buy something online?
19. Do you believe that without the pandemic there would be less online shopping? (from your
side)
20. Have you shopped online more during the pandemic or less? (How much more? /How much
less?)
21. What is the primary driver for continuing with online shopping? (Can you name some
factors?)
22. What factors are the most important to you when it comes to shopping in general?
23. Do you believe you could go back to traditional shopping if anything is changed in the
pandemic (like mass vaccinations)? Or the issue is not with the pandemic but on other factors, if
yes what factors?
24. What are you going to buy more from traditional shopping after the pandemic?
25. Do you think covid will have an impact on your future online shopping?
26. Do you feel your consumer behavior was changing frequently during the pandemic with
restrictions going on and off?
27. What do you feel when shopping? Do you feel some stress relief or fulfilling a specific goal?
28. Do you believe that the media encourages you to shop online during the pandemic?
29. Do you think now, when the pandemic is over you will continue shopping online or you will
get back to the physical shopping?
30. Do you suggest online shopping to your friends/family?

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The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic

on consumer buying behavior towards

Bachelor thesis within: Business Administration

Number of credits: 15 ECTS

Programme of study: Marketing Management

Authors: Payam Assadi Moghaddam & Tobias Fedak

Authors: Payam Assadi Moghaddam & Tobias Fedak

Tutor: Nadia Arshad

Payam Assadi Moghaddam Tobias Fedak

1.1 Consumer Behavior During Covid-19

Graph 1: Most commonly bought products online, Postnord (2021)

1.2 Online Shopping In Sweden

1.5 Research Question

RQ: How has Covid-19 impacted online consumer behavior in Sweden?

2. Literature Review/ Theoretical Framework

2.1 Online Shopping Advantages and Evolution

2.2 Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior

Consumer purchasing behavior is influenced by cultural elements, which include culture,

2.3 Changes in Product Consumption During a Crisis

2.4 Online Consumer Behavior

Consumer-focused research has come with results of psychological characteristics such as

Figure 2: The Theory of Planned Behavior model by Ajzen (1985)

Perceived behavioral control defines an individual's intention to engage in a particular activity,

Figure 3: Graphical description of TPB (Ajzen, 1991)

2.7 Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

2.8 Subjective Norms

2.8.1 Family, Friends, and Reference Groups

2.9 Attitude Toward the Behavior

2.9.2 Product Offer and Availability

2.10 Perceived Behavioral Control

2.10.1 Convenience and Time-saving of Online Shopping

3.3 Research Approach

3.4 Research Paradigm

3.5 Research Design

3.7 Interview Study

3.8 Sample Size

3.9 Choice of Respondents

Participants’ Gender Age Country City Years of Monthly Duration of

1 Female 36 Sweden Stockholm 2 years 1 2022.04.03/

2 Male 39 Sweden Stockholm 4 years 2 2022.04.03/

3 Male 28 Sweden Jönköping 12 years 2-3 2022.04.12/

4 Female 22 Sweden Jönköping 6 years 3-4 2022.04.12/

5 Male 32 Sweden Gothenburg 10 years 4-5 2022.04.13/

6 Male 23 Sweden Umeå 8 years 1-2 2022.04.15/

7 Male 28 Sweden Jönköping 11 years 1 2022.04.11/

8 Female 31 Sweden Linköping 14 years 1 2022.04.11/

9 Male 25 Sweden Jönköping 10 years 1 2022.04.09/

Table 1: Overview of the interview participants

(Our interview questions are listed in the Appendix)

3.10 Choice of Analysis Method

2. Initial code generation Initial code generation, data collection over

Gather data pertinent to each code based on

3. Searching for themes Here, we organize the codes into prospective

4. Reviewing themes In this phase, we go over steps 2 and 3 to

5. Defining and naming themes In this section, we continue the analysis by

Table 2: - Braun and Clarke (2006)

Figure 4: Themes, sub-themes, and concepts from data

3.11 Ethical Considerations

3.13 Limitations of The Methodology

4.1 Products’ Availability

4.2 Subjective Norms

4.2.1 The Influence of Family, Friends, and Reference Groups

4.3 Attitude Toward the Behavior

4.3.2 Product Offer and Availability