Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Online Shopping and Travel Behaviour: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

Mostafa Ghodsi, Mahdad Pourmadadkar, Ali Ardestani, Seyednaser Ghadamgahi and Hao Yang ()
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Mostafa Ghodsi: Department of Transportation Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14896-84511, Iran
Mahdad Pourmadadkar: Department of Industrial Engineering, Semnan University, Semnan 35131-19111, Iran
Ali Ardestani: Civil Engineering Department, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada
Seyednaser Ghadamgahi: Department of Informatics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal
Hao Yang: Civil Engineering Department, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 20, 1-18

Abstract: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant alterations in people’s social and economic behaviour. This paper aims to study the pandemic’s influence on online shopping and travel behaviour and discover how these phenomena are related. To this end, eight variables were identified that describe socio-demographic status, COVID-19 variables, online shopping variables, and travel behaviour. The structural equation modelling (SEM) approach was adopted to analyse the relationships between these variables. A conceptual model was formed by devising hypothetical relationships, and then the validity and reliability of the model were evaluated using SEM tools. Among the 19 theoretical relationships, 17 were verified. It was found that socio-demographic status directly affects the COVID-19 variables, influencing online shopping variables. As a result, it was inferred that during the pandemic, people’s daily travel habits had been affected by their inclinations toward online shopping, and the more people are aware of COVID-19 and feel responsible about the pandemic, the more they are persuaded to shop online rather than in-person shopping. Policymakers can use the findings of this study to change the public’s travel and shopping behaviour to tackle the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; online shopping; travel behaviour; structural equation modelling; economic aspects of sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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