Contact or Contactless Payment: Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Consumer Decision Making in Money Domain

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered consumer behavior. The significant influence of COVID-19 pandemic on consumption has been documented in an increasing amount of literature; however, limited focus has been placed on how consumer spending decisions differ depending on whether they employ contactless or contact payment methods under COVID-19 and normal conditions. The results of this study, which used a laboratory experiment carried out in the northern part of China, demonstrate that: (1) consumers’ intentions to spend more money when using contactless payments than when they use contact payments; (2) disgust and negative contamination act as mediating factors on the relationship between the degree of contact and consumer spending intention; and (3) COVID-19 moderates this mediating effect. This study concludes by discussing its theoretical contributions and managerial implications, alongside limitations and future research directions.