Abstract

The study of online consumer behavior is especially pertinent today given the development of the COVID-19 epidemic and the growing significance of e-commerce. The goal of this study was to provide a systematic framework for evaluating the linkages and degree of influence of the elements influencing online consumers\' purchase behavior against the backdrop of the COVID-19 epidemic. The Cattell questionnaire was modified, and correlation analysis was used, as the foundation of the research approach. This study employed the questionnaire approach to ascertain the tendency of online consumer behavior at the moment of making a purchase choice. The proposed methodological toolkit to assess online consumers\' purchasing behavior is the scientific contribution; it identifies the most important variables that affect this behavior and offers a chance to evaluate the dynamics of their activity over the course of the study, to spot important trends and assess behavioral changes. The study identified the expected alterations in online consumer purchasing patterns during the COVID-19 epidemic. Consumer experience and awareness have a bigger impact now. Consumers who shop online are now more seasoned, which has changed the activity of their purchasing habit. This study demonstrated the shifting impact of pandemic-related online consumer purchasing behavior determinants. When making online purchases of products and services, consumers\' decision-making speed is becoming more and more crucial.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

The entire planet has been forced to change since the Covid-19 breakout. The coronavirus has significantly altered the way we learn, work, shop, pay, and take care of ourselves. Social distance is now a common occurrence in many countries, which has had a variety of effects on the economy, healthcare system, and society at large. As an example, among other issues, schools have been forced to alter their teaching strategies, and businesses have been forced to close. The global Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted local economies and communities around the world, having an impact on various facets of society in various ways. This unusual situation has numerous effects on customers' day-to-day lives and fundamentally changes how companies and customers interact [1].

Global economies start to experience the effects of Covid-19's proliferation on an economic, social, and psychological level, which encourages the creation of new customs, ways of life, and technologies. A lot of people started shopping, talking, and carrying out work duties from home as a result of the advice to stay at home and preserve social distancing. Due to the closing of physical retail locations during these tumultuous economic times, we have seen an increase in temporary employment and unemployment. As a result, this circumstance has allowed internet retailers to flourish and draw in more customers than in past years [2, 3].

E-commerce has dominated during the Covid-19 pandemic, and shops have made significant investments in enhancing, advertising, or even developing their online websites in order to respond to the new environment. Retailers' efforts to adapt to the new situation have also resulted in additional activities such as increased social media promotion, encouragement of online shopping and the use of online shopping apps, discounts, and the launch of new promotion campaigns in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. These activities by retailers have led to an increase in online shopping among consumers during the Covid-19 pandemic [4].

Consumers have been looking for alternate methods of acquiring goods and services in order to safeguard themselves and their families from contracting the coronavirus. Online shopping emerged as the most significant substitution, and while it was already a significant alternative before the epidemic, it now plays an even larger part in our daily life [5].

To allay customer fears during a pandemic, several internet shopping companies can employ safety measures to make sure that products are not possibly tainted with viruses. Online retailers advertise these measures on social media platforms so that customers are aware of them and may make purchases without worry. Because of this, the vast majority of internet businesses try to follow World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. They are buying in terms of Covid-19 infection to allay the worries of their clients regarding the security of the goods [6].

The objectives of the current study are to evaluate these changes. In order to accomplish this, the study assessed how the pandemic affected e-commerce across businesses in order to discover the priorities of online shoppers. As the pandemic progressed, it also determined the key elements impacting online shoppers' purchasing decisions via a multi-stage survey. The direction of their alterations against the backdrop of the pandemic was analyzed based on the presence of correlations between the studied elements and the complex indicator of activation of online consumer activity. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the suggested method for analyzing online shoppers' spending patterns in order to help identify trends and patterns. As a result, it can be a part of a comprehensive toolkit used to build an e-commerce strategy for both individual businesses and states [7].

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Kumar & Maan (2014), the introduction of the Internet has had a significant impact on people's lives by gradually shifting people's daily activities from physical to virtual worlds. The way that people shop has changed as these changes have become more apparent. Several decades later, the Internet is still crucial to how consumers conduct their purchasing. Online shopping is the term used to describe consumer purchases made via the Internet [8].

To gain a competitive edge, maintain and attract new consumers, and retain existing customers in the market, businesses need to understand the factors that influence consumer purchase behavior. By understanding customers' needs and preferences, marketers may produce desired products and provide customers with superior service versus rivals. A person's desire, the people engaged in the decision-making process, their shopping habits, their purchasing behavior, the brands they wish to buy, and the stores they visit are all influenced by a variety of factors, features, and traits. The consumer first makes an effort to decide which things he wants to buy and only chooses those that are most useful. The buyer chooses the goods, decides how much they can afford to spend on them, evaluates the prices, and then makes their purchase [9, 10].

It is now obvious that clients react differently depending on the situation, and that some products are more popular than others. During a crisis, prices are decreased for semi-durable goods like glassware and amusement items in order to meet demands for basic foods like vegetables, eggs, and grains. The seven consumer modifications listed in relation to product consumption during a crisis are: (1) prudent spending; (2) a desire for simplicity in purchasing and distribution; (3) a desire for product modifications; (4) a desire for a low price; (5) financial worry; (6) promotion adjustments; and (7) awareness [11].

According to Dennis et al. (2009), attitudes and environmental factors also have an impact on online customer behavior. According to the research, a solid brand image is extremely important when consumers are making decisions online. This implies that consumers' good brand perceptions from traditional consumers are "transferable" to online purchases and have a beneficial influence on online consumer behavior. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), which is linked to and evolved from the extension of the Theory of Reasoned Action that was first discovered by Fishbein in 1979, is one of the most well-known theories that have been used to describe and analyze online purchasing habits. The TPB model was created by Ajzen for the first time in 1985 to predict individual decisions, and it is made up of three major components. The key elements that together have a direct influence on consumers' wants to engage in a behavior are subjective standards, attitude toward behavior, and perceived behavior control [12, 13].

The influence of close relationships with one's family, friends, and reference groups is one of the variables that affects a person's subjective norms. These factors have a strong relationship with subjective norms, and numerous earlier studies have demonstrated that these factors have an impact on subjective norms. If someone decides to buy something, they can trust their friends, and this trust is closely related to the subjective standards that affect the decision to buy something. Social influence has a significant influence on people's purchasing behavior because consumer purchase decisions are based on information acquired from a variety of sources. For instance, friends, family, and coworkers are frequent reference sources for internet shoppers. Additionally, young people in particular are more susceptible to the effects of their close friends [14].

First off the term attitude refers to a psychological propensity that is represented by evaluating specific items favorably or unfavorably. The three essential components of attitudes—tendency, entity, and evaluation—are included in this definition. This definition of attitude makes a distinction between the internal tendency that constitutes attitude and the evaluations that serve as attitudes' expressions. Therefore, if consumers are sufficiently motivated and have the mental capacity to do so, they will alter their actual behavior regardless of how they perceive changing their consumer behavior. Additionally, as new information is received, attitudes change as well, and the person must take these recent changes into account [15].

During a crisis, prices have a significant impact on attitude, and customers' decisions are influenced by how those prices are perceived.

Setiawan & Achyar (2013) claim that the price has an impact on people's purchasing decisions, which influences their inclination to shop online. Consumers consider prices very carefully before deciding whether or not to buy a product. We were able to witness how difficult it was to locate and gain access to certain items during the Covid-19 outbreak. It was impossible to do traditional shopping without access to the items in actual stores [16].

The ability or difficulty a person has engaging in a certain behavior, as well as his or her capacity to see the advantages of changing it, can be used to define perceived behavioral control. Stores and retailers are working hard to improve their e-commerce and develop the best shopping websites from the consumer's point of view in order to take advantage of the scenario and consumer movements. To determine the significance and value that customers attach to online purchasing during the COVID-19 epidemic, this element has been included to the TPB model [17].

Government regulations as well as the COVID-19 pandemic itself had an impact on consumer behavior. During the COVID-19 crisis, consumers of all generations were more likely to make digital purchases of goods and services [30]. Overall, there was a considerable movement in favor of online shopping. Additionally, shopping became more frequent [31]. Strong and continuous expansion in the number of Internet users, increased awareness of online purchasing, an increase in the activity of online product releases, low pricing as a result of mass purchases, etc. are factors that influence online consumer behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic [18]. It is anticipated that the COVID-19 pandemic, social withdrawal, and staying in will encourage customers to shop online. The e-commerce sector, however, may be impacted by supply chain problems and ambiguous consumer demand. The COVID-19 pandemic issue may also have an impact on large retailers, which are seeing a decline in casual shopping, a disturbance in the supply chain, and an increase in purchases of necessary groceries, hygiene and disinfection goods, and other products [19].

The loading of Consumer Awareness and Experience significantly increased in the second survey, which was conducted in December 2020. Another strong link between decision-making speed and online shopping was found. In comparison to earlier studies, the contributing factors were often more highly correlated with one another. Introversion and Constancy of Online Purchasing Behavior and Promptness in Decision Making were the only two factor pairings that did not fall into these categories. These factor pairs exhibited a tenuous relationship. This can be explained by the fact that during the epidemic, consumers stopped avoiding internet shopping because of the shutdown and instead sped up their decision-making. The majority of the consumers who participated in the poll had a lot of experience shopping online, which had an impact on their decision-making.

Table 3 displays the findings of the correlation analysis for the time frame under consideration.

Table 3: 2020 correlation of the research's key performance indicators

In the second half of 2020, Consumer Awareness and Experience surpassed Introversion as the primary factor affecting online buyers' purchasing decisions. Online shoppers' actions in the face of the epidemic were influenced by their decision-making speed and experience. Online shoppers became more engaged and swifter when making purchasing decisions as consumers' experiences improved, which enhanced the importance of promptness in decision making.

The results can help establish an effective strategy for the growth of e-commerce in the economic context, both at the level of specific businesses and at the state level. Based on these findings, businesses can alter how they conduct marketing campaigns, engage consumers in new ways, and implement effective online marketing strategies. Financially speaking, the findings showed a rise in online consumer activity and, as a result, an increase in the cash flow from online sales. E-commerce representatives can modify the management mechanism of their customers' behavior and reduce marketing expenses by taking into account the experience of their regular customers, the opportunities of potential customers, as well as the peculiarities of their changing behavior based on the findings of this study. The study's findings demonstrated how consumers' priorities changed when they made online purchases during the pandemic in a social context. The study's findings suggest that since the epidemic, online buying has been ingrained in people's consumer culture.

Conclusion

A study of web traffic during the coronavirus outbreak revealed an increase in people visiting online supermarkets. This result demonstrated how dedicated daily internet buyers are. Thus, the pandemic encouraged online customers to exhibit consistent purchasing behavior. The correlation research showed a growing correlation between online buying behavior and reflexive consumer characteristics. Additionally, there was a tendency for the association between the parameters under investigation to strengthen. Consumer Awareness, Experience, and Introversion initially influenced online purchase behavior, and other factors had little effect. But when the COVID-19 pandemic spread, the circumstances changed. Its influence grew along with consumer knowledge, experience, and decision-making speed. On the other side, introversion lost its significance. Promptness in Decision Making and Constancy of Online Purchasing Behavior were two characteristics that showed a weak correlation with introversion. Consumers became less e-commerce-averse and more hesitant when making judgments, which reduced the link between these elements. Additionally, online users gained more knowledge. This study brought attention to a change in the variables affecting online shoppers\' purchasing decisions during the COVID-19 era. Overall, it indicated that promptness in decision-making was becoming more crucial when making purchases online. The proposed methodological toolset for analyzing online shoppers\' purchasing patterns, which includes an upgraded Cattell\'s technique and correlation analysis, is the study\'s scholarly contribution. It enables the identification of the key elements influencing online shoppers\' purchasing decisions. These include decision-making speed, introversion, adaptability, customer awareness and experience, and consistency of online purchase habit. The suggested method enables researchers to pinpoint the major trends at the global, regional, and national levels by dynamically assessing online purchase behavior. Companies in the e-commerce industry will have the chance to modify their rules and tactics in the event of a pandemic in order to boost sales.

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Copyright

Copyright © 2023 Krish Gundarania. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.