Determining the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumers' online shopping behaviour

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly disrupted the world. The pandemic caused severe impacts on consumers’ and businesses’ activities. In order to curb the spread of the virus, governments across the world implemented lockdown rules, regulations and harsh restrictions. Individuals were prevented from leaving their homes or crossing borders and were only permitted to purchase essential items. This caused many businesses to close their doors, severely impacting consumers’ daily routines. The disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic caused fear among consumers. In response to the crises and regulations, consumers changed their behaviour by shopping online. This caused an unexpectedly sharp rise in online shopping. Knowledge of consumer behaviour is considered an essential factor for business success. A broader understanding of consumers and their behaviour will enable marketing managers to customise their marketing strategies in such a way as to increase consumer spending by providing consumers with products and services that effectively satisfy their needs and also to increase customer loyalty in the long term. A descriptive research design with a quantitative research approach was utilised in this study. The target population was individuals 18 and older who engaged in online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic. A non-probability snowball sampling method was used with a self-administered online questionnaire to collect the data for the research study. The constructs included in the questionnaire to measure consumers’ online shopping behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic were measured against a four-point Likert scale. Thirty-two items from six constructs were included in the online questionnaire. The constructs included pandemic fear (PF), online shopping intentions (OSI), perceived ease of use (PEU), perceived usefulness (PU), privacy and trust (P&T) and e-loyalty (E-L). The link to the online questionnaire was distributed on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, by posting an advertisement explaining the purpose of the study to respondents. In total, 280 questionnaires were completed and valuable for inclusion in data analysis. Consumers’ online shopping behaviour was recorded on a four-point Likert scale which measured 32 items concerning influences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The collected data was statistically analysed using SPSS version 26 (descriptive statistics, reliability, validity, exploratory factor analysis, correlation analysis) and Mplus statistical software analysis (structural equation modelling). Results of this research study revealed that from the original six constructs included in the questionnaire, some items from the online shopping intentions construct were grouped with items from PF, PEU, PU and E-L, in the exploratory factor

analysis (EFA), based on similar characteristics. Similarly, the items from PEU and PU were grouped in one construct: perceived ease of use and usefulness (PEU&U). This is considered a novel contribution from this research study. As such, this resulted in four constructs from the EFA: PEU&U, PF, P&T and E-L. From the EFA, it was clear that PEU&U had the highest mean value. Easy-to-use and practical online shopping platforms would satisfy consumers' needs in their quest for goods and services during and after the pandemic. Furthermore, the correlation analysis revealed that the only practically significant relationships exist between PEU&U and PF, PEU&U and P&T, and P&T and E-L. This implies that consumers will perceive online shopping as easy and useful if it helps them to feel less fearful of the pandemic. As this happens, any concerns they might have regarding their privacy and trust when shopping online will also decrease. Lastly, structural equation modelling (SEM) was conducted to determine the effect of PEU&U, PF, and P&T on E-L. From the SEM, it was evident that PEU&U has the most significant effect on E-L. As such, if marketing managers and business owners want to increase consumers’ online shopping behaviour after the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to ensure that their PEU&U of online stores is high. Consumers want online stores that are easy to navigate and that provide various products to satisfy their needs. The results of this study assist marketing managers and business owners in understanding consumers’ online shopping behaviour during the COVID-19 epidemic. In addition, the results also contribute to the literature in the field of research. Furthermore, the recommendations can assist online businesses in creating online stores that not only satisfy consumers’ needs effectively but also provide insight into the factors that influence consumers’ e-loyalty toward the online store.