How Offline Shopping Safety Practices Affect Consumer Buying Behaviour during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Countries all around the world are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and are taking urgent measures to stop the virus from spreading by introducing new policies. The consumer was confronted with unexpected issues as a result of the abrupt shift in shopping habits. One of the most important aspects of customer shopping behaviour around the world is safety, and today's consumers are more health conscious. The systematic review aims to uncover the elements that influence consumer safety measures. This research study aims to demonstrate how offline safety shopping practices affect consumer buying behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research study had four independent variables: safety measures, physical distance, convenience, and hygiene practices. The online questionnaire was conducted to collect data from offline shopping consumers in Sri Lanka. This research questionnaire used a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). The self-administered questionnaire was distributed through an online platform due to the social distance and collected data from 120 respondents using a convenience sampling method of non-probability. The research questionnaire was shared from 1^st of June to 31^st of July during a period when social distancing was practised in Sri Lanka. The collected data were interpreted and analysed using SPSS version 3.2.9. Reliability analysis was used to check for internal consistency between the collected data. Correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to test the hypothesis of this research study. This research study provided a deeper understanding of safety practices and changes in consumer buying behaviour within this unforeseen situation. Finally, this research study found that offline shopping safety practices have influenced consumer buying behaviour directly during this COVID pandemic situation, as well as how marketers can recognise those safety practices used in offline shopping. Consumers may find the findings valuable in making decisions during a pandemic.

Keywords: Offline Shopping, Safety Practices, Consumer Buying Behaviour