engleski

Consumer Behaviour During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Importance of Collectivist Orientation

Purpose – The COVID-19 pandemic substantially changed people’s patterns of work and consumption. This paper examines how cultural orientations and personality traits relate to adjustments in consumer behaviour during COVID-19. Specifically, it considers whether individualism/collectivism, neuroticism, and collective self-esteem can help explain local food buying and stockpiling behaviour. Design/methodology/approach –187 consumers participated in this research. Data collection took 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 behaviour. 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 how socio- cultural and personality-related psychological constructs relate to local food buying and stockpiling behaviour, and it highlights the importance of cultural orientation for explaining consumer behaviour during a major crisis.

collectivism, neuroticism, stockpiling, local food buying, COVID-19

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