Global consumers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: What aspects characterize digital consumer behavior?

Luz Elena Barrantes-Aguilar; Luis Ricardo Solís-Rivera; Alexis Villalobos

doi:10.5585/remark.v22i4.23468

Autores

Luz Elena Barrantes-Aguilar Universidade da Costa Rica, Escola de Economia Agrícola e Agronegócios – UCR https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5691-6657
Luis Ricardo Solís-Rivera Universidade da Costa Rica, Escola de Economia Agrícola e Agronegócios – UCR https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1855-4250
Alexis Villalobos Universidad de Costa Rica https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6308-0608

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5585/remark.v22i4.23468

Palavras-chave:

Market situation information, E-commerce, Pandemics

Resumo

Purpose: Our work assessed patterns of intra and inter-regional e-commerce behavior ex-ante and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach: The research was conducted under a quantitative approach, using a non-experimental longitudinal design focusing on the evolution of groups. Initially, relevant variables were selected from the Passport Euromonitor International Lifestyle survey database for the 2019–2021 period, in a sample of forty countries, for which a cluster analysis and the subsequent parametric and non-parametric tests of comparison between groups were performed, considering socioeconomic, demographic, cultural and e-commerce related variables.

Findings: The patterns of digital consumer behavior in the countries under analysis showed changes during the pandemic, moving from characteristics of greater heterogeneity before COVID-19 to a more homogeneous scenario among consumers in different countries.

Theoretical and methodological implications: This work delve into digital consumer patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the methodological contribution of the research highlights the use of data clustering techniques for behavioural segmentation, being a replicable example for other researchers.

Originality/value: There is a new term proposed to specific characteristics of the e-commerce consumer where socioeconomic, demographic, and cultural variables are added as a complement to the characterization of the Level of Sophistication by the Digital Consumer.

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Biografia do Autor

Luz Elena Barrantes-Aguilar, Universidade da Costa Rica, Escola de Economia Agrícola e Agronegócios – UCR

Mestrado

Luis Ricardo Solís-Rivera, Universidade da Costa Rica, Escola de Economia Agrícola e Agronegócios – UCR

Mestrado

Alexis Villalobos, Universidad de Costa Rica

Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Fabio Baudrit Moreno, Universidad de Costa RicaUCR

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