Leveraging COVID-19 Outbreak for Shaping a More Sustainable Consumer Behavior

Andreea Orîndaru, Maria-Floriana Popescu, Ștefan-Claudiu Căescu, Florina Botezatu, Margareta Stela Florescu and Carmen-Cristina Runceanu-Albu
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Andreea Orîndaru: Marketing Department, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010404 Bucharest, Romania
Maria-Floriana Popescu: International Business and Economics Department, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010404 Bucharest, Romania
Ștefan-Claudiu Căescu: Marketing Department, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010404 Bucharest, Romania
Florina Botezatu: Marketing Department, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010404 Bucharest, Romania
Margareta Stela Florescu: Administration and Public Management Department, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010404 Bucharest, Romania
Carmen-Cristina Runceanu-Albu: Food and Tourism Engineering and Management Department, Transylvania University of Brașov, 500036 Brașov, Romania

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: Consumption has lately been under the microscope facing pressure from all stakeholders as principles of sustainability have gained more popularity. In this context, a new sustainable consumer model was born, referring to major shifts in buying and consumption habits. Nevertheless, these shifts were lagging as consumers resisted change in the comfort of old habits. This comfort was shaken up by the COVID-19 outbreak that forced us to rethink every aspect of our lives. Therefore, this crisis context seems the perfect opportunity to shift towards the sustainable consumer model. People’s openness towards embracing new consumption habits was evaluated in a quantitative study where data was collected in two different moments: May 2020 and December 2020. Major results of our research show that people’s lives were dominated in 2020 by uncertainty, especially when referring to their financial situation. Further on, consumers have already started to bring major shifts in their consumption habits because of this uncertainty. Among the most important shifts, there were more prudent purchase decisions, rising interest for discounted prices, increased likelihood of buying local and enhanced preference in buy fresh products instead of processed or semi-processed ones.

Keywords: covid-19; domestic consumption; consumer behavior; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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