Shopping Safety Practices Mutate Consumer Buying Behaviour during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic presents the greatest test the world has faced. On 24 March 2020, the Government of India announced a 21-days national lockdown that had been extended to 3 May 2020. In this pandemic, the consumer faced unforeseen challenges to deal with the abrupt change in shopping practices. A safety measure is one of the key elements in consumer shopping behaviour across the world and today consumers are more conscious towards healthiness. The current work aspires to identify the factors of safety measures by consumers and shopkeepers. Twenty-eight variables were identified from the extensive literature review and a total of 751 questionnaires were administered from consumers regarding safety measures from 1 April to 31 May 2020 in India. Exploratory factors analysis and multiple regression analysis are conducted to identify the factors which are prominent for shopping safety practices. The results obtained can be useful to consumers and shopkeepers in the decision-making process during pandemic.