Impacts of the pandemic COVID-19 towards the consumers' purchasing attitudes and behaviors

The epidemic, which has global consequences, has had an impact on all facets of society, including consumer attitudes toward and actions related to buying. To maintain current customers, draw in new ones, and adopt plans and tactics, firms, marketers, business leaders, and public politicians must fully comprehend the effects of the epidemic and the repercussions of these effects. The purpose of this thesis is to ascertain the kind of influences the Covid-19 epidemic has on customer attitudes and actions. To measure these behaviors throughout the Covid-19 period, studies on panic buying, internet buying, consumer buying, and consumer buying have been conducted, but no study has evaluated all of these behaviors simultaneously. In this thesis, the connections between these consumer behaviors and buying patterns as well as the pandemic's effects on cultural norms and shopping behaviors were investigated. The study is distinctive in that both the purchase patterns that have spread with the epidemic and their consequences on consumer behavior and culture have been thoroughly investigated. In order to compare and contrast the scales used in this thesis with those used in research looking at how the Covid-19 epidemic affected consumer purchase patterns, the scales used in those studies were investigated. A questionnaire form was used as a data collection tool in the study. The questionnaire consists of three sections. In the first part, there is a ready-made scale to measure the attitudes of consumers regarding the effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on consumers' purchasing attitudes and behaviors. In this framework, firstly, the Covid-19 Stress Scale, which has been adapted into Turkish and has six dimensions consisting of 36 items, namely "contagion, danger, economic and social consequences, traumatic stress, reservation against strangers and compulsory control", was used. Afterward, the "online buying scale" consisting of five items, the "panic buying scale" consisting of seven items, and finally, the "consumer buying scale" consisting of 10 items were utilized. The second part of the questionnaire consists of 12 multiple-choice questions to determine the impact of Covid-19 on shopping habits and culture. This section also includes 42 questions (statements) scaled as "increased", "decreased", "did not change" to determine consumers' attitudes towards the impact of the pandemic on their attitudes and behaviors towards purchasing various goods and services. In the last section, there are eight multiple-choice questions to determine the demographic characteristics of the subjects. Consumers who were shopping in Turkey during the Covid-19 pandemic comprise the study's population. 1040 authentic questionnaires were examined for this thesis study. Between January and April 2022, the surveys were gathered using a combination of in-person and online approaches. Programs from the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) package and Smart-PLS were used to conduct the analyses. Important discoveries were made in the evaluation of the pertinent literature, including widespread stockpiling tendencies, internet shopping, fast purchase, and panic buying during the pandemic. In other words, there are indications that the Covid-19 epidemic has numerous repercussions on social life, including stockpiling, blurring of work and personal life, stores closing their doors, increasing use of technology, repressed demands, and the emergence of new interests or abilities. The dread of the epidemic drove consumers to shop online, and as a result, the range of goods available for purchase online expanded. Consumer demand for nutritious foods grew throughout the pandemic, and bakery goods, cleaning and hygiene products, and health products, in that order, were the most popular items bought. The criteria that were effective in purchasing were determined as price, brand, and experience, respectively. According to the research results, as the level of education increases, the view that Covid-19 is dangerous also increases. As income and purchasing power decrease, reservations against foreigners also increase. Within the scope of panic buying, the price variable is the most important purchasing criterion. Consumers who go to shopping places twice a week and once every 15 days have higher panic buying tendencies. Consumers who do their shopping in physical places during the pandemic see the risk of contagion more likely; consumers who are more controlling against the disease and feel more traumatic stress are more likely to purchase housing, commercial vehicles, and two-wheeled motor vehicles. Consumers whose demand for organic and local products increased during the pandemic were found to have a high tendency to buy online and to be more controlling towards the disease, while consumers who preferred packaged products had high reservations towards strangers. The study's conclusions can add to the body of knowledge on consumers' panic, internet and impulse buying habits, and shifting shopping customs during a pandemic. The study outlined how the variables influencing consumer behavior were assessed throughout the pandemic process and how the situational and emotional changes brought on by the pandemic were mirrored in purchase patterns. These justifications and study ramifications are probably going to help organizations comprehend, interpret, and make quick decisions regarding consumer behavior during times of global problem. Also, the scales and results of this study may offer a new angle for academics looking at consumer purchase patterns during times of economic crisis. The strategies that should be devised for consumer purchasing attitudes and behaviors that emerge during such health emergencies can be the subject of future research. As a result, the attitudes of companies toward updating their sales and marketing strategy during crisis situations can be the subject of a distinct study. Consumer views around topics including the supply chain, distribution, and cost of the goods and services they buy can be studied during the pandemic era. Research can be done to determine what steps businesses and government agencies can take to boost consumer confidence in the face of panic and impulsive purchases during pandemic periods. Keywords: Attitude scale, pandemic, consumer, buying behavior, panic buying, impulse buying, online shopping, shopping habits and culture, Tekirdağ.