Pandemic Consumer €“ How The Pandemic Changed Our Buying Habits: Romanian Example

Romanian economy has been, for almost two decades now, based on consumption. Thus, private consumption has become a vital element in supporting national economy and everyday life, with peaks and lows. Numerous studies have documented the Romanian consumer’s behaviour and purchasing trends, concluding that Romanians are more than just customers, rather patients. Big retail chains have become the main cause for their illness, called consumerism. Before the pandemic, Romanian customers chose to acquire goods that they did not need, just because they were trending or because it brought them a boost of image within their social group. On the other hand, from the point of view of sales targets and other economic indicators, that retailers use to build their strategies upon, it can be understood how this disease is increasing, transforming consumerism into a real national (with international reach) pandemic. The profit of large retail companies has shown that in peacetime (without war, cataclysms, or other adverse events), retail companies know how to manage their business and, above all, understand how to influence buyer behaviour. Under Covid pandemic threats potential customers’ access to physical premises had been restricted, therefore retail companies swiftly adapted to the Governmentally influenced change of buying patterns by increasing online accessibility. We have investigated through a quantitative analysis how pandemic procurement and consumption trends varied under these circumstances. Our research showed results that we found easy to predict, but difficult to explain from an economic point of view, mainly due to the psychological impact external factors played in general economy.