The Positive Effects of Unneeded Consumption Behaviour on Consumers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Jianjia He, Shengmin Liu, Tingting Li and Thi Hoai Thuong Mai
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Jianjia He: Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
Shengmin Liu: Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
Tingting Li: Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
Thi Hoai Thuong Mai: Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has become an important global contagion that requires workers to implement necessary behaviours to cope. Based on the conservation of resources theory, the present studies explore the effects of unneeded consumption behaviour on consumers’ recovery level and work engagement and the moderated mediating process of such relationships. Using a purchasing experiment, study 1 examined the positive effect of unneeded consumption behaviour on recovery among 100 MBA students. Using the experience sampling method, the data in study 2 were collected from 115 consumers (employees) using ten iterations of 2-day continual questionnaires (Sunday and the following Monday) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results from multilevel structural equation modelling indicate that unneeded consumption behaviour positively impacts work engagement in a moderated mediating mode. Consumer indulgence positively moderates the mediating effect of recovery level on the relationship between indulgent consumption behaviour and work engagement, while perceived consumer effectiveness negatively moderates the mediating effect of recovery level. This paper also identifies the value of transformation from consumption to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: unneeded consumption behaviour; work engagement; recovery level; indulgence; perceived consumer effectiveness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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