UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACTS OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

COVID-19 has further exacerbated food insecurity especially among low-income households and forced many low-income families to adopt less healthy diets, thereby threatening to further exacerbate Malaysia’s worsening child malnutrition crisis. The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious impact on societies and economies around the world and has hit various sectors of society in different ways. The unprecedented situation has several consequences to the daily lives of consumers and has dramatically changed the way consumer behavior. Even though there are several past studies focusing on the impacts of COVID-19 on consumer behavior, however, very few studies have been done to understand how health factors and economic factors may influence consumer behavior especially in making purchases. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to determine the impacts of COVID-19 on consumer behavior, specifically to understand the health and economic impacts towards consumer behaviour post-outbreak of COVID-19. To fullfill the research gap, a qualitative study was conducted. Specifically, seven (7) in-depth semi-structured interviews were performed, in which data saturation was achieved, with company representatives of different business types in Malaysia. Based on the research findings there are health impact (i.e., Anxiety and Social Isolation) and economic impact (Reduced Income and Control Purchases) of pandemic COVID-19 towards Consumer Behavior in Malaysia. The findings of this qualitative study are important in understanding changes in consumer behavior after the COVID-19 outbreak, since consumer behavior has evolved and may not return to the pre COVID-19 era.