The New Normal In Consumer Perception And Behaviour In The Wake Of Covid 19: An Exploratory Study

Abstract:
The novel Corona virus later renamed as SARS CoV-2 is the causative agent for the pandemic Covid 19, which was first reported in a wholesale at Wuhan city of China in December 2019. In the onset of March 2020, the virus had reached almost all corners of globe and had affected around 19 million people. By the end of July 2020 it claimed 6, 75,000. The declaration of the pandemic by the WHO has led to an unprecedented disruption of trade around the globe and global economies as a whole due to the scaling down of production and distribution. Markets in all parts of the world became a victim to the radical and fundamental changes in customer perception and buying behavior, marking a devastating transition from the pre-Covid era to the post Covid era. Consumer attitude, habit and consumption behavior have changed a lot with purchases being limited to the most basic needs and customers started spending thriftily. In most nations, people resorted to local purchases; e-commerce and digital payments to sustain themselves during lockdown. People faced life or death situation and were panic. The people around the globe had to take extreme steps to safeguard their health and wealth from the impact of the pandemic. As soon as the lockdown was declared, people were in the grip of fear that the resources would run out. This caused a surge to buy consumer goods and hygiene products which were storable. This surplus surge for goods eventually eased down. In this paper the researchers try to capture the transformation in the consumer sentiments as a direct impact of the global pandemic

Keywords: Pandemic SARS Cov-2, Buying behavior, Panic buying, Radical change, Self-isolation, Social life, Spending habit

https://doi.org/10.37948/ensemble-2021-sp1-a022