CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
How Consumer Behavior
Will Change Post
Covid-19
By Dr. Catherine Ngahu
Topmost in our minds these days
is the question as to when this
Covid-19 pandemic will end, and
we go back to our ‘normal’ lives. People are
wondering when they will we be able to
enjoy social life and interact freely with
family and friends, go to work, visit malls
and restaurants, or even go to weddings
again.
The surprising thing is that even those
who used to hate going to work are now
yearning for the opportunity to return
to office so they can get to interact with
colleagues. This pandemic has caused great
apprehension, uneasiness and uncertainty
in society. It has destabilized our lives and
created a new mode of operation. Given
what we already know, it appears that
this Coronavirus may become the basis
of a new world order, at least in terms of
behavior.
Brand managers are required to
understand their consumers in order to
generate and deliver significant brand
promises. When the consumers’ world
changes, as it has in recent times under
Covid-19, then the brand manager must
go back to the drawing board. Brands are
expected to determine what actions they
can take to build trust in line with their
authentic values and capabilities during
this crisis.
From a consumer behavior perspective,
we have to look at the main factors that
influence buying decisions in order to
approximate the likely changes post
pandemic. Consumer behavior focuses
on the activities people undertake when
planning, selecting, buying and using
goods and services to fulfill their needs.
It includes all the choices that consumers
make in the process of deciding to
purchase a product that satisfies a specific
need.
The importance of understanding
consumer behavior is grounded in the
acknowledgement that consumers are
important to business success. It was the
famous professor Peter Drucker who
stated that ‘the true purpose of a business
to exist is to find a customer’. This basically
highlights the view that a business cannot
succeed unless it successfully produces
value for a customer.
To understand the likely buying behavior
changes post Covid-19, we need to
refocus on understanding the changing
consumer behavior. It was William
Bernback who said that “Nothing is so
powerful as an insight into human nature,
what compulsions drive a man, what
The need for togetherness is one of the most
important drivers of consumer behavior.
It creates a ‘sense of belonging’. Therefore
the requirement for social distancing for the
prevention of Covid-19 is one of the most
frustrating for the majority.
instincts dominate his action; if you know
these things about a man you can touch
him at the core of his being”. William
Bernback was an American advertising
creative director who is credited with
revolutionizing the way advertising was
executed in the 1950s.
The new rules of social distancing and the
emphasis, and sometimes enforcement
of provision of what has been defined
as essential services by the government
has supported an orientation to basic
needs. The fear and anxiety caused by the
pandemic has prompted many people to
revert to a basic needs focus by buying
only what is essential at the moment.
Furthermore, numerous measures taken
to control the pandemic, including
lockdown, curfew, quarantine, contact
tracing and isolation; have caused serious
disruption of production, distribution
and retail operations, greatly impacting
consumption.
This is therefore a good time to examine
and consider how consumer behavior is
likely to change post Covid-19 pandemic.
Health officials are advising that this
pandemic may be with us for a sometime.
Some say it may take longer to control
than was initially expected. However,
due the risk of collapsing economies if
lockdown strategies are sustained, many
countries including Kenya are considering
new methods of operation after ‘flattening
the Curve’.
In this article, I share my view as a marketing
research and consumer behavior expert.
Research on how consumers buy, indicates
that the buying decision is influenced by
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