COVID-19 INSIGHTS: Consumer Behaviour
Businesses that understand and react to changing consumer needs and habits will emerge stronger from a crisis situation. Thus, we have just finished a large national representative research among 1,000 Danes, which will allow you and your company to act according to the changing needs and behaviour of tomorrow’s consumers.
We are creatures of habit bound by necessity. When necessity dictates, our behaviors and purchasing patterns will adapt to the situation, yet in the long term our habits and priorities are less amenable to change. So, how do you tell temporary adaptations from persistent behavioral change?
Discover the full report and its insights.
Temporary adaptations abound during a crisis, as 53% of us visit shops and grocery stores less frequently than before, more than 13% purchase more products with longer shelf life, over 9% have reduced expenditure on durables and other non-essentials, 43% purchase greater quantities, 14% conduct more purchases online, and proximity to home has become a key determinant when we decide where to shop. But nothing would indicate that these changes are likely to remain in the long term.
Persistent behavioral change occurs when temporary adaptations lead consumers to experience a service or product that either outperforms existing offerings or allows the consumer to derive new types of benefits.
As an illustration of the first point, the current pandemic nudges most segments to rely increasingly on e-commerce. While a majority of more than 85% were already engaged in e-commerce prior to the pandemic, older segments in particular are being exposed to a potentially superior alternative to physical shopping, meaning this is where a change in behavior is most likely to manifest in the aftermath of the crisis.
As an illustration of the second point, deriving new benefits, the emphasis on health and personal preservation has spurred emerging trends of conscientious consumption. Priorities are shifting with 31% planning to purchase more organic goods after the crisis, 42% planning to purchase more local, and 21-26% planning to purchase either more natural or sustainable products. Similarly, awareness of how products are procured and produced matters more now than before for more than 17% of consumers. As an example, plant-based and protein-enriched alternatives to dairy are increasingly popular (an expected uptick of 8-10%). Such consumption enables the consumer to feel conscientious and be enabled by relevant product alternatives.
Seizing the momentum and changing currents produced by the pandemic is not merely a question of aligning your business model with crisis behavior, but instead identifying persistent behavioral shifts and – by understanding the mechanisms that drive long term change – work with consumers to help forge novel behavior and consumption.
