Changes in Shopping Behavior Under the Aspect of Sustainability and the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Abstract

Since the beginning of 2020, governments around the world have taken measures to contain the novel COVID 19 pandemic. These measures have changed many aspects of public life. The introduction of mask requirement in points of sale and the call for social distancing raises the question of how these conditions affect the shopping behavior of consumers. As part of this study, a written online survey was carried out with students from the Schwäbisch Hall campus of Heilbronn University. The aim is to research the adapted purchasing behavior under the new situation towards increased online shopping as well as the inclusion of sustainability aspects in the purchase decision. In summary, it can be stated that consumers mainly order clothing, electronics and books online. Since the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic, more and more online purchases have been made across all product groups, with those articles that were previously in greater demand online recorded the greatest relative growth in the pandemic situation. The main reasons for this are the fact that shopping is simple and uncomplicated as a hybrid between the advantages of online trading and COVID 19 related measures. The willingness to support the local brick-and-mortar retailers who switched to online sales in the wake of the pandemic is only present to a limited extent.  Key Words: Sustainability, COVID 19, retailer, costumer behavior, empirical study