Business situations are usually controversial, considering several perspectives on critical issues. The COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on business are among the most relevant topics that influenced the global economy in recent years. Its negative consequences are evident even nowadays despite the successful end of the most acute phase. The lockdowns in most countries had a significant impact on the production of goods and their logistics and consumer buying power. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that extreme circumstances are dangerous to the economy (Gu et al. 2264). At the same time, this period gave economists valuable insights into avoiding making the same mistakes. This issue is essential for businesses and clients because it shows how to deal with a crisis and prepare for it to minimize potential harm. It is possible to hypothesize that despite the negative impact of lockdowns and the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer buying power, businesses learned how to cope with critical situations and avoid essential losses.
The causes of the issue are essential in understanding the discussed situation with COVID-19. Lockdowns were the measure that the governments used globally to minimize the spread of the infection and stop people’s rapid contamination. The first year of the COVID-19 pandemic was marked by the absence of vaccines that would make the virus less morbid (Gu et al. 2263). As a result, millions of people died from this infection, and others could not receive adequate medical help because healthcare institutions were overloaded. In other words, the absence of the vaccine and the high level of morbidity from the virus leads to the need to start lockdowns. It helped to reduce the number of people who were contaminated, and the spread of COVID-19 was less quick.
The interest in the consequences of the lockdowns and their effect on consumer buying power is determined by the need to analyze the situation from the business point of view. The lockdown is an unpredictable critical situation, reflecting how individuals behave during this type of crisis. Attention to this situation allows businesses to create the scenario for the lockdowns that might happen future. For instance, the business can improve its online representation and delivery to facilitate functioning in similar critical situations.
There are different views on the ongoing conversation because several sides are interested in the discussion of this issue. The first perspective is economic due to the financial recession. According to Sheth’s point of view on this topic, the changes in consumer power buying power due to mass lockdowns are dramatic (280). He writes that most people experienced a lack of money, which led to a significant decrease in their buying potential, and they started to buy only the things they needed (Sheth 280). The market should adapt to these economic requirements of the market to increase its profitability.
The second perspective is social, and it marks the change in the views and attitudes of people. Sheth supposes that new consumer buying habits lead to technological advancement (280). For instance, the changes connected with how people started to choose and buy products online and to use online educational services. Therefore, most people’s finances are restricted in the context of the lockdown, but the individuals acquire new consuming habits and master new technological ways to satisfy their needs.
The third perspective on the changes in consumer buying behavior during the lockdown is the increased level of awareness of clients. It is possible to define it as the technological change. Gu et al. write that most consumers learned how to choose goods and services optimally using various online selling platforms (2263). As a result, businesses should make their propositions more attractive to online clients. Gu et al. (2263) writes that that new criteria for evaluating consumer buying power, including the speed of making decisions, appeared during the lockdowns. This change represents the perspective of the client who improved the ways of shopping online.
The fourth perspective on the effect of lockdowns during the pandemic on consumer buying power is connected with the change in the consumer’s perception of this situation. It can be regarded as the worldview change that is represented in marketing. Vázquez-Martínez et al. (1) state that the practical effects of the economic crisis caused by the lockdown and the COVID-19 spread are less critical than the consumer’s attitude to this situation. For instance, the decision of many people to shop online can be regarded as the desire to preserve social distancing and to stop the spread of the virus. In other words, the motivation of the particular consumer is the essential component that affects their buying behavior.
Therefore, the past and present interest in the effect of lockdowns on the consuming power is determined by the need to find optimal solutions for businesses in similar situations. Social, economic, technological, and worldview changes influenced the consumer buying power during the pandemic. The chances that problems with epidemics and manufacturing will happen in the future are high due to the international economic recession. As a result, the business that managed to elaborate an excellent strategy to satisfy clients’ needs during lockdowns can hope to succeed even in a situation of the financial crisis.
Works Cited
Vázquez-Martínez, Ulpiano J., Morales-Mediano, Javier, Leal-Rodríguez, Antonio L. “The Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on Consumer Purchasing Motivation and Behavior.” European Research on Management and Business Economics, vol. 27, no. 3, 2021, pp. 1-18.
Gu, Shengyu, Beata Ślusarczyk, Sevda Hajizada, Irina Kovalyova, and Amina Sakhbieva. “Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Online Consumer Purchasing Behavior.” Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, vol. 16, no. 6, 2021, pp. 2263-2281.
Sheth, Jagdish. “Impact of Covid-19 on Consumer Behavior: Will the Old Habits return or die?.” Journal of Business Research, vol. 117, 2020, pp. 280-283.