Pandemic, fear and consumption: vulnerability at the base of the pyramid
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51359/2526-7884.2024.256663Keywords:
consumer vulnerability, covid19 pandemic, bottom of the pyramid consumptionAbstract
This paper analyzed how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the consumer relations of individuals at the base of the pyramid in the interior of Piauí by observing their accounts of experience. Twenty-one consumers were interviewed in the year 2021, of both genders, ten men and eleven women. The findings of this study suggest that consumer behavior suffered a strong impact from the restrictive measures imposed because of the pandemic, causing fear and panic, because the limitations caused financial and psychological damage that persist after the reduction of cases and deaths. However, one finding stands out; respondents state that the same restrictions caused there to be a greater focus on education and household resource management. Such a finding reinforces the originality of the study, along with the context and the subjects interviewed.
References
Antonides, G., & van Leeuwen, E. (2021). Covid-19 crisis in the Netherlands:“Only together we can control Corona”. Mind & Society, 20(2), 201-207.
Anastasiadou, E., Anestis, M. C., Karantza, I., & Vlachakis, S. (2020). The coronavirus' effects on consumer behavior and supermarket activities: insights from Greece and Sweden. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy.
Associação Brasileira de Empresa de Pesquisa (ABEP, 2020). Critério de Classificação Econômica Brasil (CCEB). 2020. www.abep.org.
Balderjahn, I., Lee, M. S., Seegebarth, B., & Peyer, M. (2020). A sustainable pathway to consumer wellbeing. The role of anticonsumption and consumer empowerment. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 54(2), 456-488.
Baker, S. M., Gentry, J. W., & Rittenburg, T. L. (2005). Building understanding of the domain of consumer vulnerability. Journal of macromarketing, 25(2), 128-139.
Baker, S. M., Hunt, D. M., & Rittenburg, T. L. (2007). Consumer vulnerability as a shared experience: Tornado recovery process in Wright, Wyoming. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 26(1), 6-19.
Baker, S. M. (2009). Vulnerability and resilience in natural disasters: a marketing and public policy perspective. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 28(1), 114-123.
Baker, S. M., & LaBarge, M. (2015). Consumer vulnerability: Foundations, phenomena, and future investigations. In Consumer Vulnerability (pp. 27-44). Routledge.
Ben Hassen, T., El Bilali, H., & Allahyari, M. S. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on food behavior and consumption in Qatar. Sustainability, 12(17), 6973.
Butu, A., Brumă, I. S., Tanasă, L., Rodino, S., Dinu Vasiliu, C., Doboș, S., & Butu, M. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 crisis upon the consumer buying behavior of fresh vegetables directly from local producers. Case study: The quarantined area of Suceava.
Chen, T., Jin, Y., Yang, J., & Cong, G. (2022). Identifying emergence process of group panic buying behavior under the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 67, 102970.
Cooper, D. (2013). Changes in US household balance sheet behavior after the housing bust and Great Recession: Evidence from panel data. FRB of Boston Public Policy Discussion Paper, (13-6).
Costa, B. R. L. (2018). Bola de neve virtual: o uso das redes sociais virtuais no processo de coleta de dados de uma pesquisa científica. Revista interdisciplinar de gestão social, 7(1).
Cox, N., Ganong, P., Noel, P., Vavra, J., Wong, A., Farrell, D., ... & Deadman, E. (2020). Initial impacts of the pandemic on consumer behavior: Evidence from linked income, spending, and savings data. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 2020(2), 35-82.
Cruz-Cárdenas, J., Zabelina, E., Guadalupe-Lanas, J., Palacio-Fierro, A., & Ramos-Galarza, C. (2021). COVID-19, consumer behavior, technology, and society: A literature review and bibliometric analysis. Technological forecasting and social change, 173, 121179.
Debevec, K., Schewe, C. D., Madden, T. J., & Diamond, W. D. (2013). Are today's millennials splintering into a new generational cohort? Maybe!. Journal of consumer behaviour, 12(1), 20-31.
Ellison, B., McFadden, B., Rickard, B. J., & Wilson, N. L. (2021). Examining food purchase behavior and food values during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 43(1), 58-72.
Fortin, D., and M. Uncles. 2011. The first decade: Emerging issues of thetwenty-first century in consumer marketing. Journal of Consumer Marketing. 28 (7):472–5. doi: 10.
/07363761111194767.
Füller, J., Mühlbacher, H., Matzler, K., & Jawecki, G. (2009). Consumer empowerment through internet-based co-creation. Journal of management information systems, 26(3), 71-102.
Griffith, R., O'Connell, M., & Smith, K. (2016). Shopping around: how households adjusted food spending over the great recession. Economica, 83(330), 247-280.
Grohol J. (2020). Panic buying: The psychology of hoarding toilet paper, beans and soup PsychCentral Available at: https://psychcentral.com/blog/panic-buying-the-psychology-of-hoarding-toilet-paper-beans-soup/
Hill, R. P., & Sharma, E. (2020). Consumer vulnerability. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 30(3), 551-570.
Hossain, M. M., Tasnim, S., Sultana, A., Faizah, F., Mazumder, H., Zou, L., ... & Ma, P. (2020). Epidemiology of mental health problems in COVID-19: a review. F1000Research, 9.
IRI W.T. COVID-19 Impact: Consumer Spending Tracker for Measured Channels. Information Resources Inc. (2020) Available at: https://www.iriworldwide.com/IRI/media/Library/2020-04-30-IRI-BCG-COVID-Global-Consumer-Spend-Tracker.pdf
Ishida, T., Maruyama, A., & Kurihara, S. (2013). Consumer reaction to the great east Japan earthquake. Journal of Life Sciences, 7(8), 883.
Johnston, K. A. 2013. A guide to educating different generations in South Africa. Informing Science and InformationTechnology. 10 (36):261–73
Kennett-Hensel, P., J. Sneath, and R. Lacey. 2012. Liminality and consumption in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Journal of Consumer Marketing. 29 (1):52–63.
Kourti, A., Stavridou, A., Panagouli, E., Psaltopoulou, T., Spiliopoulou, C., Tsolia, M., ... & Tsitsika, A. (2021). Domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review. Trauma, violence, & abuse, 15248380211038690.
Koschate-Fischer, N., Hoyer, W. D., Stokburger-Sauer, N. E., & Engling, J. (2018). Do life events always lead to change in purchase? The mediating role of change in consumer innovativeness, the variety seeking tendency, and price consciousness. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 46(3), 516-536.
Laguna, L., Fiszman, S., Puerta, P., Chaya, C., & Tárrega, A. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on food priorities. Results from a preliminary study using social media and an online survey with Spanish consumers. Food quality and preference, 86, 104028.
Larson, L., and H. Shin. 2018. Fear during natural disaster: Its impact on perceptions of shopping convenience and shopping behavior. Services Marketing Quarterly. 39 (4):
–309. doi: 10.1080/15332969.2018.1514795
Li, J., Hallsworth, A. G., & Coca‐Stefaniak, J. A. (2020). Changing grocery shopping behaviours among Chinese consumers at the outset of the COVID‐19 outbreak. Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, 111(3), 574-583.
Li, Z., Wang, D., Abbas, J., Hassan, S., & Mubeen, R. (2021). Tourists’ health risk threats amid COVID-19 era: role of technology innovation, Transformation, and recovery implications for sustainable tourism. Frontiers in Psychology, 12.
Lima, J. G., & da Silveira, R. L. L. (2018). Cidades médias brasileiras a partir de um novo olhar denominal e conceitual: cidades de comando regional. Desenvolvimento em Questão, 16(42), 8-41.
Liu, N., Chen, Z., Bao, G., 2021. Role of media coverage in mitigating COVID-19 transmission: evidence from China. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change. 163, 120435
Mainardes, E. W., Espanhol, C. A., & Cruz, P. B. D. (2021). Green consumption: consumer behavior after an environmental tragedy. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 64(7), 1156-1183.
Madnani, D., Fernandes, S., & Madnani, N. (2020). Analysing the impact of COVID-19 on over-the-top media platforms in India. International Journal of Pervasive Computing and Communications.
Mathur, A., G. P. Moschis, and E. Lee. 2003. Life events and brand preference changes. Journal of Consumer Behaviour. 3(2):129–41. doi: 10.1002/cb.128
Marinković, V., & Lazarević, J. (2021). Eating habits and consumer food shopping behaviour during COVID-19 virus pandemic: insights from Serbia. British Food Journal.
Mason, A., Narcum, J., & Mason, K. (2020). Changes in consumer decision-making resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Customer Behaviour, 19(4), 299-321.
Moore, R. S., Cunradi, C. B., & Ames, G. M. (2004). Did substance use change after September 11th? An analysis of a military cohort. Military medicine, 169(10), 829-832.
Ng, S. W., Slining, M. M., & Popkin, B. M. (2014). Turning point for US diets? Recessionary effects or behavioral shifts in foods purchased and consumed. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 99(3), 609-616.
Petrescu-Mag, R. M., Vermeir, I., Petrescu, D. C., Crista, F. L., & Banatean-Dunea, I. (2020). Traditional foods at the click of a button: the preference for the online purchase of Romanian traditional foods during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainability, 12(23), 9956.
Pew Research Center. 2010. Millennials A portrait of generation next: Confident, connected, open to change. February 2010. Retrieved from www.PewResearch.org/Millennials. Taylor P, Keeter S (eds.)
Prentice, C., Chen, J., & Stantic, B. (2020). Timed intervention in COVID-19 and panic buying. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 57, 102203.
Principato, L., Secondi, L., Cicatiello, C., & Mattia, G. (2020). Caring more about food: The unexpected positive effect of the Covid-19 lockdown on household food management and waste. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 100953.
Seiler, P. (2020). Weighting bias and inflation in the time of COVID-19: evidence from Swiss transaction data. Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, 156(1), 1-11.
Sheth, J. (2020). Business of business is more than business: Managing during the Covid crisis. Industrial Marketing Management, 88, 261-264.
Sneath, J. Z., Lacey, R., & Kennett-Hensel, P. A. (2009). Coping with a natural disaster: Losses, emotions, and impulsive and compulsive buying. Marketing letters, 20(1), 45-60.
Steenkamp, J. B. E., & Maydeu-Olivares, A. (2015). Stability and change in consumer traits: evidence from a 12-year longitudinal study, 2002–2013. Journal of Marketing Research, 52(3), 287-308.
Vanapalli, K. R., Sharma, H. B., Ranjan, V. P., Samal, B., Bhattacharya, J., Dubey, B. K., & Goel, S. (2021). Challenges and strategies for effective plastic waste management during and post COVID-19 pandemic. Science of The Total Environment, 750, 141514.
Wathieu, L., Brenner, L., Carmon, Z., Chattopadhyay, A., Wertenbroch, K., Drolet, A., ... & Wu, G. (2002). Consumer control and empowerment: a primer. Marketing Letters, 13(3), 297-305.
Zwanka, R. J., & Buff, C. (2021). COVID-19 generation: A conceptual framework of the consumer behavioral shifts to be caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 33(1), 58-67.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 CBR - Consumer Behavior Review

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright Statement
- The authors authorize the publication of the article in the journal.
- The opinions and ideas expressed in articles are the authors' sole responsibility.
- The authors guarantee that the article is not the result of plagiarism. Failure to do so may result in penalties for the situation.
- Editors can adjust the text and formatting to fit the article according to the journal's publication standards.
- The articles published are the property of CBR and are protected by copyright. However, authors can disclose and make their articles available for free.