INFLUENCE OF PANDEMIC COVID-19 ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR : Postgraduate final paper

Jedan od vrlo zabrinjavajućih globalnih događaja u svijetu, okarakteriziran prema Svjetskoj zdravstvenoj organizaciji (WHO) kao pandemija jest pojava koronavirusa ili COVID-a 19. Dakle, riječ je o bolesti koja se velikom brzinom proširila cijelim svijetom, pa tako nije zaobišla niti Hrvatsku. Taj događaj je promijenio navike u svakodnevnom životu ljudi na načine koji su do tada bili nezamislivi. Ovaj rad se bazira na istraživanjima onog dijela života ljudi koji se odnosi na njihove potrošačke, odnosno kupovne navike tijekom pandemije uzrokovane koronavirusom. Da bi se uočile i razumjele promjene navika kod potrošača, završni rad obrađuje temu „Utjecaja pandemije COVID-19 na ponašanje potrošača“ iz dvije perspektive – ponašanje potrošača prije pojave koronavirusa i ponašanje potrošača za tijekom pandemije uzrokovane koronavirusom. Ponašanje potrošača u normalnim životnim uvjetima razmatra se kroz pregled stručne literature koja definira sam pojam i navike potrošača, a s druge strane, istraživački aspekt ponašanja potrošača u vrijeme pandemije analizira pojavu „novih“ potrošača. Istraživački aspekt se odnosi na istraživanje i analiziranje potrošača u ranim fazama pojave pandemije, te daljnji tijek ponašanja potrošača tijekom prilagodbe na novi način življenja u izvanrednim uvjetima. Provedeno istraživanje na uzorku od 97 ispitanika pokazalo je da su se potrošačke navike u ranim fazama pojave koronavirusa drastično promijenile, najviše su se kupovale osnovne prehrambene namirnice i dezinfekcijska sredstva, te da su potrošači u to vrijeme impulzivno kupovali. Istraživanje je pokazalo da su u tim ranim fazama pandemije potrošači bili iznimno zabrinuti za zdravlje svojih obitelji, kao i za mogućnost odlaska u kupovinu po namirnice. Rezultati istraživanja također pokazuju da faza impulzivnog kupovanja nije trajala duže od prvih par mjeseci, te da su se potrošači vrlo brzo navikli na novi oblik življenja uz strogo pridržavanje epidemioloških mjera.One of the most consirning things in the world, characterized by the World Health Organization (WHO) like pandemic is appearance of the coronavirus also called Covid-19. We are talking about disease that spread the world in high speed, also it did not pass the Croatia. That event changed the habits in every day life of the people in unthinkable way. This paper work is based on exploring the part of life of the people which refers to the their consuming and shopping habits during the pandemic caused by coronavirus. To spot and understand consumer habit changes, this final paper work processes the theme “Influence of pandemic COVID-19 on consumer behavior” from two point of views- behaving of consumers before coronavirus came and behaving the consumers during the pandemic. Behavior of the consumers in normal life terms is considered through examing professional literature that defines term and habits of the consumers, on the other hand, research aspect of consumers behavior in the time of pandemic analyzes appearance of the “new” consumers. Research aspect refers to exploring and analyzing the consumers in the early stages of pandemic, also on their behavior during the adjustment to the new way of living in these extraordinary terms. Conducted research on sample of 97 respondents showed that consumers ways of doing things dramatically changed in the early stages of coronavirus. Food products and disinfectants were on the top list. Also the buyers were impulsively buying things. In those early stages of pandemic consumers were exceptionally worried for their families health and also the ability of shopping groceries. The results of the research also showed that stage of impulsively shopping didn`t last longer than first few months and also that consumers very quickly adjusted to new way of life with strictly adherence to epidemiological measures