Market-Tržište, Vol. 34 No. 2, 2022.
Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.22598/mt/2022.34.2.175
Consumer Behavior During the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Importance of Collectivist Orientation
Dora Gaćeša
orcid.org/0000-0002-0975-5069
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics & Business
Ružica Brečić
orcid.org/0000-0003-3327-2187
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics & Business
Matthew Gorton
; Newcastle University, Newcastle University Business School
Abstract
Purpose – The COVID-19 pandemic changed people’s patterns of work and consumption substantially. This paper examines how cultural orientations and personality traits relate to adjustments in consumer behavior during COVID-19. Specifically, it considers whether individualism/collectivism, neuroticism, and collective self-esteem can help explain local food buying and stockpiling behavior.
Design/Methodology/Approach – A total of 187 consumers participated in this research, with data collection taking place during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Croatia from March to May 2020.
Findings and implications – Consumers with higher horizontal collectivism engaged in local food buying more than those with lower horizontal collectivism. Horizontal collectivism and, to a lesser extent, neuroticism predicted stockpiling behavior. Collective self-esteem moderated the relationship between horizontal collectivism and stockpiling, and between neuroticism and local food buying. Fostering a sense of collective identity and emphasizing collectivist values may be a fruitful marketing strategy as a response to marketplace disruptions during a crisis.
Limitations – The study draws on a convenience sample of students and their household members, thereby limiting the generalizability of the study.
Originality – This paper uncovers the ways in which socio-cultural and personality-related psychological constructs relate to local food buying and stockpiling behavior while also highlighting the importance of cultural orientation for explaining consumer behavior during a major crisis.
Keywords
collectivism; neuroticism; stockpiling; local food buying; COVID-19;
Hrčak ID:
287445
URI
Publication date:
19.12.2022.
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