Consumers’ perception of their utilitarian purchase behavior during the first wave of Covid-19 in Finland
Arola, Ella (2022)
Arola, Ella
2022
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022123031703
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022123031703
Tiivistelmä
Research often focuses on economical influence of pandemics but effects on consumption on a more individual scale are often overlooked.
Following precautionary regulations and adjusting to social distancing required conscious change of behavior in the beginning of the pandemic. Consequently, a predictive hypothesis was formed proposing that utilitarian consumption might increase as a result of the cognitive focus on behavior. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is to discuss whether there is a positive correlation between the precautionary regulations and utilitarian consumption.
An oral survey was conducted in fall 2020 where consumers were asked to reflect on their purchasing behavior during the first wave of the pandemic in Spring 2020. Quantitative analysis was performed to test the hypothesis and statistical correlation between precautionary regulations and logical purchasing process. Also, social psychological and behavioral theories, such as Theory of Planned Behavior, are applied to examine whether the conscious change of behavior influences purchasing decisions in terms of utilitarian consumption and to identify possible changes in consumer behavior due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The research was unable to detect significant statistical correlation between precautionary regulations and logical purchasing process suggesting that the precautionary regulations are not associated with utilitarian consumption. The results also show an increase in online purchases which aligns with information that was later collected throughout the corona virus pandemic.
Following precautionary regulations and adjusting to social distancing required conscious change of behavior in the beginning of the pandemic. Consequently, a predictive hypothesis was formed proposing that utilitarian consumption might increase as a result of the cognitive focus on behavior. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is to discuss whether there is a positive correlation between the precautionary regulations and utilitarian consumption.
An oral survey was conducted in fall 2020 where consumers were asked to reflect on their purchasing behavior during the first wave of the pandemic in Spring 2020. Quantitative analysis was performed to test the hypothesis and statistical correlation between precautionary regulations and logical purchasing process. Also, social psychological and behavioral theories, such as Theory of Planned Behavior, are applied to examine whether the conscious change of behavior influences purchasing decisions in terms of utilitarian consumption and to identify possible changes in consumer behavior due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The research was unable to detect significant statistical correlation between precautionary regulations and logical purchasing process suggesting that the precautionary regulations are not associated with utilitarian consumption. The results also show an increase in online purchases which aligns with information that was later collected throughout the corona virus pandemic.