A STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF PANDEMIC ON THE CONSUMER BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS IN BANGALORE

Abstract

Introduction: In light of the recent pandemic situation that arose, the entire lifestyle of a common man has changed. It is moved from luxury to convenience, from wants to needs. The government has restricted movement from one place to another, stopped public transport like busses, metro and trains. It also shut down many private and public offices. There are many jobs lost. There was a high chance for the country to face a job recession with the slowdown of the economy. For the jobs that have survived, it comes with heavy pay cuts. The cost of everyday goods has gone above and beyond. The current pandemic has affected the whole world and consumer purchasing behaviour has been affected during this pandemic. This has led to numerous choices that a consumer has to make. To choose a product or to prefer a different product over a previously essential product

Consumer preference is changing overnight in the light of all these events. This study was conducted to determine if there is a change in the consumer purchasing behaviour with the change in their income level, savings percentage and the savings and expenditure ratio and the study also tries to find out if there is a change in the mode of shopping.

Purpose: The purpose of the research is to identify the change in consumer behaviour due to pandemic in the city limits of Bangalore.

Methodology: This study is descriptive as it tries to only analyse the shift in consumer purchasing behaviour and the mode of shopping during the pandemic. The source of the data is from a primary source, through a structured questionnaire. The sample size was drawn from the city limits of Bangalore, convenience sampling was used to select the sample size of two hundred and fifty respondents. The statistical tools used were simple percentage analysis, paired sample t test and the one-way ANOVA. The reliability test was conducted to understand the reliability of the data collected.

Findings: The Cronbach’s alpha test was 0.728 which tells that the responses and acceptable. The demographic analysis showed that majority of the respondents were young adults, with education qualification up to postgraduation with an average monthly income of Rs 30000 to Rs 50000. The paired sample t test provided a result that the savings percentage and the savings and expenditure ratio has not changed from what was before the pandemic to what it is during the pandemic. But the items bought during the pandemic has significantly changed from that which was bought before the pandemic. The one-way ANOVA was used to understand if there is any shift in the mode of purchase and it was seen that the frequency of shopping online has significantly changed during the pandemic but the good bought online has not has a significant change during the pandemic.