Relation Between Consumption and Fear AREA: 1 103

of Covid-19: a Brazilian Post-Vaccine TYPE: Application

Perspective
Relación entre Consumo y Miedo al Covid-19 en la Perspectiva de Brasil Post-Vacunación
authors Relação entre o Consumo e o Medo da Covid-19 na Perspectiva do Brasil Pós-Vacinação
Edgard Monforte
Merlo1 Seventeen months after the decree of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a different panorama about the
UFRN – influence of the new Coronavirus and its influence on social and consumption behavior. Thus, this study
Universidade de São aims to verify changes in the feeling of fear of COVID-19 and in consumer relations, comparing the
Paulo, Brazil results of this research with those of others carried out at the beginning of the pandemic. For this research,
[email protected] a self-administered electronic questionnaire was answered by 246 online shoppers. Data were analyzed
by descriptive statistics and a correlation matrix. The results showed an increase in purchases in virtual
Janaina de Moura stores and local markets, but they have not proven to stock food and products for daily use, contrary to the
Engracia Giraldi literature. The survey also found behavioral differences between respondents up to 38 years old (among
USP - Universidade whom there was a strong perception of fear and intense nervousness with news related to COVID-19) and
de São Paulo, Brazil
[email protected]
participants over this age (among whom there was annoyance with the pandemic, but a low sense of fear.
Since we conducted this study 17 months after the declaration of the pandemic, our results reflect not only
how the fear of COVID-19 changed consumer behavior but also how it varied amidst a more optimistic
Matheus Berto scenario resembling pre-pandemic scenarios. As suggestions for future studies, we highlight the analysis of
Instituto Federal de
Educação, Ciência e the role of moderators such as gender and age.
Tecnologia do Sul de
Minas Gerais, Brazil
matheus.silva@
ifsuldeminas.edu.br Diecisiete meses después del decreto de la pandemia del COVID-19, se observa un panorama diferente sobre la influencia
del nuevo coronavirus y su influencia en el comportamiento social y de consumo. Así, este estudio tiene como objetivo
verificar cambios en el sentimiento de miedo al COVID-19 y en las relaciones de consumo, comparando los resultados de
esta investigación con los de otras realizadas al inicio de la Pandemia. Para esta investigación se aplicó un cuestionario
1. Contact author: electrónico autoadministrado a 246 compradores en línea. La interpretación de los datos se realizó mediante estadística
USP - Universidade de descriptiva y el uso de matriz de correlación. Los resultados mostraron un aumento de las compras en las tiendas
São Paulo, Brazil;3900 virtuales y en los mercados locales, pero no se ha comprobado el aprovisionamiento de alimentos y productos de uso
Bandeirantes Avenue,
Ribeirão Preto - SP, Brazil.
diario, contrario a la literatura. La encuesta también encontró diferencias de comportamiento entre los encuestados de
Zip Code 14040-905. hasta 38 años (entre los que había una fuerte percepción de miedo y nerviosismo intenso con las noticias relacionadas con
el COVID-19) y los participantes mayores de esta edad (entre los que había molestia con la pandemia, pero una baja
sensación de miedo. Como se realizó 17 meses después de declarada la pandemia, los resultados reflejan no solo el cambio
de comportamiento producido por el miedo a la COVID-19, sino también la variación de estos hábitos en un escenario
más optimista y más cercano al prepandemia. Como sugerencias para futuros estudios, destacamos el análisis del papel
de los moderadores como el género y la edad.

Dezessete meses após a decretação da pandemia de COVID-19 têm-se um panorama diferente acerca da inflência
do novo coronavírus e sua influência nos comportamentos social e de consumo. Assim, este estudo tem o objetivo de
verificar mudanças no sentimento de medo da COVID-19 e nas relações de consumo, comparando os resultados desta
pesquisa com os de outras realizadas no início da Pandemia. Para essa pesquisa aplicou-se um questionário eletrônico
autoadministrado à 246 consumidores virtuais. A interpretação dos dados foi realizada através de estatística descritiva
e do uso da matriz de correlações. Os resultados apontaram o aumento de compras em lojas virtuais e em mercados
locais, mas não comprovou a estocagem de alimentos e produtos de uso diário, contrariando a literatura. A pesquisa
também encontrou diferenças comportamentais entre respondentes com até 38 anos (entre os quais observou-se uma

DOI Received Accepted

10.58416/GCG.2023.V17.N1.05 18.06.2022 22.10.2022

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104 forte percepção de medo e um nervosismo intenso com notícias relacionadas ao COVID-19) e participantes acima dessa
idade (entre os quais observou-se incômodo com a pandemia, mas um baixo sentimento de medo. Por ter sido conduzida
dezessete meses após a decretação da pandemia, os resultados refletem não apenas a mudança comportamental produzida
pelo medo da COVID-19, mas também a variação desses hábitos em um panorama mais otimista e próximo do cenário
pré-pandemia. Como sugestões para estudos futuros destaca-se a realização da análise do papel de moderadores como
gênero e idade.

Keywords
Consumption,
1. Introduction Fear, COVID-19,
Pandemic, Brazil.

The World Health Organization decreed in May 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic. Still lacking a Palabras clave
clear deadline, it is the most far-reaching and comprehensive humanitarian collapse in recent
Consumo, Miedo,
times. Originating in Wuhan (China), the SARS-CoV-2 virus: COVID-19 spread globally within six
COVID-19,
months (arriving in Brazil in February 2020) and has so far (October 1, 2021) tallied 233.25 million
Pandemia, Brasil.
confirmed cases and 4.77 million deaths worldwide; of which 21.4 million cases and 596,413
deaths took place in Brazil alone. (Our World in Data, 2021).
Palavras-chave
Analyzing changes to consumption patterns due to the pandemic, Kirk and Rifkin (2020) Consumo, Medo,
concluded that borderline situations such as these first shock society, which tries to understand COVID-19,
its predicament, identify exits and control even an uncontrollable situation. With more information, Pandemia, Brasil.
it creates collective solutions toward social well-being, which, over time, become a habit and,
thus, a perennial part of social relations.

Surveys show that 47% of consumers bought more over the internet during 2020 than before the
pandemic, and 36% bought less in smaller stores. The global averages for the same categories
were, respectively, 43% and 30% (IPSOS, 2020). Despite the pandemic acting as its catalyst, this
pattern of consumption points to an upward trend since 74% of Brazilians preferred to make
virtual purchases in 2019, whereas this number increased to 86% in 2020. The categories that
grew the most were hobby & bookstores (up 110%) and drugstores (88.7%), two categories linked
to COVID-19, social isolation, and their long-term effects (Mastercard Spending Pulse, 2021).

Besides increasing sales in conventional virtual stores, the 2020 pandemic incited new applications
and purchase services developed to meet this new demand and forced various enterprises used
only to physical commerce to adapt to the digital world (by opening stores in social networks and
selling their items via phones and messaging applications). A Brazilian Association of Electronic
Commerce (ABCOMM, 2020) survey supports these statements and points to the opening of
more than 150,000 new online sales channels during 2020.

Though fundamental to assess the influence of SARS-CoV-2: COVID-19 on social and consumer
behavior, such studies analyzed the initial panorama of the pandemic, suffering from little
information, few treatments, the ongoing draft and application of coping protocols, and the lack
of accurate and positive prognoses for the end of the pandemic.

JEL Code
M31

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 Edgard Monforte Merlo, Janaina de Moura Engracia Giraldi & Matheus Berto

Based on the shown scenario, this article aims to analyze and discuss the existence of a relationship 105
between the fear of the new Coronavirus and the changes in the purchasing behavior of Brazilians
throughout the SARS-CoV-2: COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. Thus, this study compares studies conducted
at the beginning of the pandemic to current ones to assess changes in the fear of COVID-19 and
consumer relations.

Since this article was written 17 months after the official declaration of the pandemic, while part of the
literature addresses the first months, this investigation also intends to understand the variation of this
behavior in a more optimistic scenario with populations massively receiving other vaccines, governments
offered guidelines for the flexibilization of social distancing and isolation, reduction of severe cases of
the disease and in which the consumers were already better adapted to this new reality.

In this sense, it is expected to offer academic contributions, by illuminating a field still lacking in
investigations and practicals by helping to identify trends and purchase patterns that may continue in a
post-COVID-19 scenario.

2. Theoretical Reference

After the initial selection, a preliminary analysis of the texts was carried out, eliminating those belonging
to subareas that were not interesting to this study, such as the medical area, for example, keeping only
those published in the subareas Social Sciences, Psychology, Business, Management, and Accounting
and Economics, Econometrics and Finance, resulting in a total of 92 articles.

Finally, texts that did not essentially address the topic of this research (relation between fear of COV-
ID-19 and changes in purchasing behavior) were removed from this total, resulting in a final quantitative
of 77 articles, used as a basis for this research.

2.1. Consumption and fear of the COVID-19

At the beginning of the pandemic, there was poor information (almost none conclusive) about
COVID-19, and this scenario made people start to make variations in their consumption patterns for
fear of contracting this disease, which aroused the interest of different researchers (Silva; Gomes Neto;
Grangeiro & Nadae, 2021). This phenomenon was observed in different countries: Viswanathan, Aly,
Duncan, Mandhan (2020), Côte d'Ivoire, Honduras, Uganda, Tanzania, India, and the United States;
Hakim, Zanetta, and Cunha (2021), Brazil; Tran (2021), Vietnam.

To understand how this fear affects human behavior, Ahorsu et al. (2020) developed the Fear of
COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S). They interviewed 717 Iranians and analyzed the collected responses by
different psychometric tests to assess their reliability and validity. The result created a scale with seven
reliable and valid items to determine the fear of COVID-19 among the general population.

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 Relation Between Consumption and Fear of Covid-19: a Brazilian Post-Vaccine Perspective

106 Martínez-Lorca et al. (2020) proposed translating and validating the FCV-19S scale with Spanish
university students. The study had the participation of 606 Spanish university students and found the
FCV-19S dependable and valid to assess the fear of COVID-19 among Spanish university students.

Similarly, Lins & Aquino (2020) proposed a scale to evaluate the relationship between purchases and the
fear of contracting COVID-19, dubbed the Panic Buying Scale with 393 Brazilians (251 women and 142
men), all applied remotely. Their results show their scale to be psychometrically acceptable.

Negative feelings toward COVID-19 affected the mental health of several people by bringing up feelings
of fear and anxiety (Lina; Janssen & Geigl, 2022) which led many consumers to gradually change their
purchasing behavior, moving them away from physical stores and closer to virtual sale platforms and
delivery services (He et al., 2021). Prognoses indicate that such behavior will tend to remain after the
pandemic.

Tran (2021) proposed a conceptual model to analyze the relation between fear and consumption
changes, adding "pandemic fear" as a limit to uses and gratifications theory. Based on a sample of 617
online consumers analyzed by Partial least squares regression, the study showed pandemic fear had
a positive moderating effect on the relation between perceived effectiveness of e-commerce platforms
(PEEP), economic benefits, and sustainable consumption; and age, gender, educational stage, and
income. Results suggest that fear during a pandemic increases the positive effect of PEEP on economic
benefits, strongly affecting sustainable consumption and indicating that age was the only significant
control variable.

The relation between the fear of contamination and consumer behavior during the pandemic also inspired
a study by Nguyen et al. (2021). The study concluded that 80% of participants claimed having bought
more on digital platforms than before the pandemic and that variables such as gender and behavior,
such as deciding to social distance, increased overall digital sales. Moreover, fear of contamination
drove the sales of pharmaceuticals and food.

The same pattern of behavior could be seen in the purchase of different categories of products, as
pointed out by a study carried out by PWC (2020) which compared purchasing behaviors before
and after the pandemic in 27 countries (including Brazil) and pointed out that COVID-19 led 63% of
respondents to increase their volume of purchases through phone and digital platforms and that 86% of
these interviewed, were likely to maintain such behavior even after the end of social distancing. Despite
not giving specific emphasis to fear, this survey is interesting because it was conducted in different
territories taking into account the influence of the new Coronavirus on sales.

Other studies investigated fear as the moderator of consumer behavior during the pandemic from
different perspectives to assess how it influenced consumption patterns (Raza & Khan, 2021; Tran, 2021;
Wang et al., 2021; Ahorsu et al., 2020; Goolsbee & Syverson, 2021; Laato et al., 2020; Lins & Aquino, 2020;
Sheth, 2020 & Verma & Gustafsson, 2020)

Studies indicate that the fear of the new Coronavirus caused even people reluctant to buy online to enjoy
the services of virtual stores - once faced with a choice between problems with digital platforms or
getting sick, they realized e-commerce was less risky (Raza & Khan, 2021).

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 Edgard Monforte Merlo, Janaina de Moura Engracia Giraldi & Matheus Berto

However, despite an increase in virtual purchases, consumption in physical stores remained a reality for 107
varied reasons. Studies investigating these purchases showed a predilection for small establishments
due to their proximity to consumers' residences, smaller clientele, and faster traffic (Goolsbee & Syverson,
2021). In Brazil, this predilection reached 75%. (Kantar Thermometer, 2020).

Fear of contracting Covid-19 also increased self-services. (Wang et al., 2021). Electronic totems, drive-
throughs, and other purchasing processes requiring no human interaction give consumers the feeling
of a traditional shopping experience with little or no human contact. (Diebner et al., 2020 & Kemp; Bui &
Porter, 2021).

In the same vein, the substantial increase in demand for the delivery and take-out format also boosted
the growth of delivery companies (which were already used by some consumers in the pre-pandemic
scenario and began to receive attention from other customers during the COVID-19 health crisis), widely
used by companies that did not have their distribution fleet. (Güney & Sangün, 2021 & Palau-Saumell,
2021). This habit, of accessing these apps to purchase the most different categories of products, despite
having been instituted by necessity throughout the pandemic, must remain for convenience even with
the flexibilization of the rules to combat the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus.

Moreover, Lins & Aquino (2020) showed that Brazilian consumers have sought to store food and daily life
products, often without any specific need, to avoid contamination by COVID-19.

In the same direction, Lehberger et al. (2021) analyzed stockpiling during the pandemic, showing the
reasons that triggered it (environmental uncertainty; reduced purchases; fear of supply shortage; group
influences; absence of restaurants) or failed to (lack of need or the perception of need; absence of fear
of scarcity; pre-pandemic habit of accumulation; altruism).

Though the pandemic is currently better controlled, we believe consumers are still afraid of the new
Coronavirus, maintaining the interdependence between this fear and changes to Brazilian consumption
patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic. To validate this statement, we elaborated three hypotheses
(Table 1).

Table 1. - Relation between hypotheses and assumptions

Hypotheses Assumptions
H1: Brazilians store food and daily life products to avoid going to Lins & Aquino (2020)
markets and exposing themselves to COVID-19
H2: Brazilians shop in virtual stores more often than in the pre- Tran (2021)
pandemic period
H3: Brazilians visit smaller stores more often than in the pre- Goolsbee & Syverson,
pandemic period to avoid agglomerations (2021)

Source: Prepared by the authors.

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 Relation Between Consumption and Fear of Covid-19: a Brazilian Post-Vaccine Perspective

108 3. Methodological Aspects

This is an exploratory, descriptive study that aims to investigate changes to consumer patterns due to
COVID-19 by a simple cross-sectional method based on a single collection of information from a given
sample.

A non-probabilistic method was adopted in which participants were selected by convenience criteria.
Our research universe was composed of people over 18 years of age with frequent online and offline
consumption habits. A survey was proposed with 12 sentences extracted from the literature; nine
evaluate the fear of COVID-19 among Brazilians, and three, the relation between it and consumer
behavior during the pandemic.

The answers given to the sentences were measured by the seven-point Likert scale with anchors of 1.
Strongly Disagree and 7. Strongly Agree. How questions and authors are correlated in the construction
of the instrument used for data collection is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. - Relation between questions and authors

Questions on the fear of COVID-19 Authors

I am afraid of COVID-19 Ahorsu et al. (2020) & Martínez-Lorca et al. (2020)
I feel discomfort thinking about COVID-19 Ahorsu et al. (2020) & Martínez-Lorca et al. (2020)
My hands start sweating when thinking about COVID-19 Ahorsu et al. (2020) & Martínez-Lorca et al. (2020)
I am afraid to die of COVID-19 Ahorsu et al. (2020) & Martínez-Lorca et al. (2020)
I get nervous and anxious when hearing the news about Ahorsu et al. (2020) & Martínez-Lorca et al. (2020)
COVID-19
I have trouble sleeping because I am worried about contracting Ahorsu et al. (2020) & Martínez-Lorca et al. (2020)
COVID-19
My heart palpitates and accelerates when I think of contracting Ahorsu et al. (2020) & Martínez-Lorca et al. (2020)
COVID-19
I have adhered to social isolation for fear of contracting Laato et al. (2020)
COVID-19
I have avoided agglomerations due to COVID-19 Lins & Aquino (2020)
Questions on the relationship between consumption and fear Authors
I have performed internet purchases more often for fear of Tran (2020)
contracting COVID-19
I have stocked food at home, so I do not have to leave it for Lins & Aquino (2020)
fear of contracting COVID-19
I have performed my purchases in smaller stores for fear of Goolsbee & Syverson (2021)
contracting COVID-19

Source: Prepared by the authors.

The questions were originally written in English and translated into Portuguese by the authors. Before
the application of the questionnaire, the pre-test stage of the questionnaire was carried out with 25
people to assess the quality of the translations and the general construction.

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 Edgard Monforte Merlo, Janaina de Moura Engracia Giraldi & Matheus Berto

The data were collected by a self-administered electronic questionnaire. Choosing this method is 109
justified by how easily it accesses interviewees, low costs, quick collection of information, and minimizes
typographical errors since answers are sent directly to the database.

The questionnaire was made available by Google Forms sent to respondents via email and WhatsApp
message alongside an invitation letter. The survey was conducted between August 10 and 31, 2021,
and had 246 respondents. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and a correlation matrix using,
respectively, Microsoft Excell® and IBM® SPSS Statistics software.

As a sample selection methodology, a non-probabilistic method was adopted with participants being
selected through the snowball method. This methodology was chosen since the objective of this work
is to investigate the relationship between consumption and fear of COVID-19 in general and not among
a specific group.

3.1. Sample Caracterization

The survey was carried out with people who indicated having done purchases in virtual stores in the 30
days before the survey and were over 18 years old. The research sample is made up of 246 respondents,
131 (53.25%) female and 115 (46.75%) male, aged between 18 and 89 years. The identification of the
respondentes profile was based on the answers to two questions:" How old are you?" and "What is your
gender?"

The sample characterization is similar to the researched universe (Brazilian population) for both variables,
gender and age, as seen in table 3. Such data allow the results found in the sample to be extrapolated to
the research universe.

Table 3. - Sample Characterization

Sample Universe Sample

Characterization Male Female Total Male Female Total
(years) n % n % n % n % n % n %
15 - 19 1,767,792 2.80 1,599,380 2.36 3,367,172 2.58 4 3.48 3 2.29 7 2.85
20 - 24 8,630,229 13.68 8,614,963 12.73 17,245,192 13.19 16 13.91 17 12.98 33 13.41
25 - 29 8,460,995 13.41 8,643,419 12.78 17,104,414 13.08 12 10.43 16 12.21 28 11.38
30 - 34 7,717,658 12.23 8,026,854 11.86 15,744,512 12.04 17 14.78 12 9.16 29 11.79
35 - 39 6,766,664 10.72 7,121,915 10.53 13,888,579 10.62 13 11.30 16 12.21 29 11.79
40 - 44 6,320,568 10.02 6,688,796 9.89 13,009,364 9.95 10 8.70 17 12.98 27 10.98
45 - 49 5,692,014 9.02 6,141,338 9.08 11,833,352 9.05 11 9.57 13 9.92 24 9.76
50 - 54 4,834,995 7.66 5,305,407 7.84 10,140,402 7.76 8 6.96 15 11.45 23 9.35
55 a 59 3,902,344 6.18 4,373,877 6.46 8,276,221 6.33 8 6.96 5 3.82 13 5.28
60 - 64 3,041,035 4.82 3,468,085 5.13 6,509,120 4.98 3 2.61 7 5.34 10 4.07
65 - 69 2,224,065 3.52 2,616,745 3.87 4,840,810 3.70 6 5.22 5 3.82 11 4.47
70 - 74 1,667,372 2.64 2,074,264 3.07 3,741,636 2.86 3 2.61 3 2.29 6 2.44

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 Relation Between Consumption and Fear of Covid-19: a Brazilian Post-Vaccine Perspective

110 75 - 79 1,090,517 1.73 1,472,930 2.18 2,563,447 1.96 2 1.74 1 0.76 3 1,22
80 - 89 979,382 1.55 1,507,073 2.23 2,486,455 1.90 2 1.74 1 0.76 3 1,22
Total 63,095,630 100 67,655,046 100 130,750,676 100 115 100 131 100 246 100

Source: Prepared by the authors.

4. Results

As the scale has seven points, the maximum possible value for the set of behavior toward COVID-19 is
63 points – top behavior level – and its minimum nine points – minimum behavior level (since seven
questions were asked to assess this point). In turn, the maximum possible value for the set of behavior
toward consumption during the pandemic is 21 points – maximum attitude level – and its minimum,
three points – minimum behavior level (since three questions were asked to assess this point).

The results indicate respondents' great fear and discomfort toward COVID-19 caused significant
changes in their consumer habits during the current pandemic. This conclusion is similar to other
studies that also pointed out that the fear of a COVID-19 infection accelerated the search for purchases
in a digital environment and with as little human interaction as possible, such as withdrawals in the drive-
thru format, self-checkout, payment cashless or door-to-door delivery and the search for markets with
low traffic and flexible hours (Kirk & Rifkin, 2020).

Though the pandemic affected respondents psychologically, it failed to do so physically, since 189 of
them (76.23%) reported not feeling sweat on their hands when thinking about COVID-19, 183 (74.39%)
had no trouble sleeping after considering the possibility of contracting COVID-19, and 146 (59.35%), no
tachycardia when thinking about the same option.

At the end of the analyses, in total, 120 (48.78%) respondents claimed to buy more online for fear of
contracting the virus against 107 (43.50%) who failed to make it a habit, and 102 (41.46%) reported
having made purchases in smaller stores for fear of the new Coronavirus against 107 (43.50%) who
failed to.

To analyze the relationship between fear and consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic more
thoroughly, we elaborated a correlation matrix (table 4).

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 Edgard Monforte Merlo, Janaina de Moura Engracia Giraldi & Matheus Berto

Table 4. - Correlation matrix: the relationship between fear and consumption in the COVID-19 pandemic 111

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1 - Fear of COVID-19 1
2 - Discomfort when
thinking about .758*** 1
COVID-19
3 - Sweaty hands
when thinking about .391*** .463*** 1
COVID-19
4 - Fear of dying from
.748*** .618*** .436*** 1
COVID-19
5 - Nervousness and
Anxiety upon hearing .566*** .666*** .457*** 607*** 1
about COVID-19
6 - Problems sleeping
for fear of contracting .336*** .437*** .588*** .379*** .486*** 1
COVID-19
7 - Palpitation when
thinking about .492*** .447*** .640*** .549*** .527*** .653*** 1
contracting COVID-19
8 - Social isolation for
fear of contracting .492*** .395*** .196*** .431*** .378*** .286*** .282*** 1
COVID-19
9 - Avoidance of
agglomerations due .364*** .249*** .132** .257*** .207*** .171*** .192*** .592*** 1
to COVID-19
10 - Food storage for
fear of contracting .223*** .195*** .359*** .173*** .227*** .415*** .365*** .358*** .226*** 1
COVID-19
11 - Online shopping
for fear of contracting .425*** .334*** .229*** .369*** .381*** .314*** .331*** .589*** .406*** .405*** 1
COVID-19
12 - Shopping in
smaller stores for
.387*** .328*** .312*** .325*** .324*** .317*** .438*** .437*** .358*** .392*** .401*** 1
fear of contracting
COVID-19

(**) for P < 0.05; (***) for < 0.01.

Source: Prepared by the authors

Despite the significance of our results, we observed a large number of weak (0.2 ≤ρ ≤0.39) or moderate
(0.4 ≤ρ ≤0.69) correlations, especially in questions on attitudes toward consumption during the pandemic.

Despite the many weak positive correlations, two of them corroborate the studies seen so far: the
relationship between social isolation due to fear of the pandemic and avoidance of agglomerations (ρ =
0.592) and between social isolation for fear of the pandemic and increased online shopping (ρ = 0.589),
leading us to believe that the fear of the pandemic mediated behavioral changes, especially toward
digital purchases and crowded environments.

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 Relation Between Consumption and Fear of Covid-19: a Brazilian Post-Vaccine Perspective

112 We conducted some additional data analysis following some procedures (using the statistical package
SPSS): in the first moment, it was interpreted the kurtosis of every variable, and after this, the question
related to avoiding crowding was eliminated. Using cluster analysis, it was seen that the variable ageas
a suitable parameter for dataset classification (gender does not seem like an appropriate parameter).
Analyzing the data, 38 years of age is the median, and two groups were created.

We obtained the two equations for the groups and the results are shown in table 5.

Table 5. - Discriminant analysis (function coefficients)

Groups
1 (until 38 years) 2 (more than 38 years)
1 - Fear of COVID-19 1,278 1,179
2 - Discomfort when thinking about COVID-19 0,366 0,402
3 - Sweaty hands when thinking about COVID-19 0,240 0,171
4 - Fear of dying from COVID-19 -0,519 -0,339
5 - Nervousness and Anxiety upon hearing about COVID-19 0,301 0,002
6 - Problems sleeping for fear of contracting COVID-19 -0,092 0,001
7 - Palpitation when thinking about contracting COVID-19 -0,198 -0,036
8 - Social isolation for fear of contracting COVID-19 1,120 1,168
9 - Food storage for fear of contracting COVID-19 0,090 0,071
10 - Online shopping for fear of contracting COVID-19 -0,242 -0,240
11 - Shopping in smaller stores for fear of contracting COVID-19 0,108 0,062
Constant -7,306 -7,082

Source: Prepared by the authors

We can notice some differences between the two groups: in group one (youngest respondents), there is
a strong perception of fear and an intense nervousness with news related to COVID. On the other hand,
the second group (more than 38 years-old) became more bothered by the situation but showed less fear
during the pandemic. Both segments changed consumption habits and became concerned with this
new situation. It was seen that 62% of the cases were classified correctly, and some indicators were: the
eigenvalue was 0,64 and significance 0,190.

Therefore, data showed respondents changed their social habits, highlighted by their preference for
attending places with fewer people and social distancing: 71.54 adhered to social isolation, and 84.55%
avoided agglomerations, both for fear of contracting the new Coronavirus. When asked about stockpiling
food to reduce purchase frequency, 82.52% claimed not making it a habit.

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 Edgard Monforte Merlo, Janaina de Moura Engracia Giraldi & Matheus Berto

5. Discussion 113

The collected data suggest that the pandemic and the news surrounding it have produced negative
feelings and psychological discomfort in respondents since 136 (55.28%) indicated being nervous or
anxious when hearing news about COVID-19, and of this total 106 (77.94% of the total) are afraid of
contracting COVID-19, 96 (70.58%) feel uncomfortable when thinking about COVID-19 and 145 (58.94%)
are afraid of dying from COVID-19.

These values agreed with the results of other studies, such as Mertens et al. (2020) and Hart et al.
(2022). They indicated that the frequency of media use in the search for information about COVID-19
significantly affected daily tasks and increased negative emotions of fear, worry, and anxiety and that
digital platforms exerted a more significant influence on the construction of this feeling compared to
other media.

Concerning the psychological effect of the pandemic, the results were compatible with those observed
by other studies, such as those by Ahorsu et al. (2020) and Martínez-Lorca et al. (2020) who also showed
a favorable statistical relationship in the questions presented, Szymkowiak et al. (2021), who identified
changes in social and shopping behaviors due to fear of infection by this disease, such as social isolation,
avoidance of visiting high-traffic stores and increased purchases in virtual stores. The studies of Sheth
(2020) & Zwanka & Buff (2021) who also identified similar behaviors, such as staying at home, shopping
online, avoiding eating in restaurants, visiting cinemas, traveling and public transport, and preferring
open and well-ventilated places and the assistance of robotics assistants instead of humans.

As for the stockpiling, the non-identification of this behavior corresponds to an original contribution of
this research because it contradicts the analyzed literature, which observed an increase in this practice
throughout the pandemic. Kim (2020), for example, proved the relationship between the fear of COVID-19
and the increase in storage behavior. In the same sense, other studies indicated that the fear of the
new Coronavirus resulted in different changes in consumption patterns, such as storage of food and
other essential products, in addition to the expansion of hygiene and cleaning products and personal
protection, increase in online shopping and growth of home delivery services (Tran, 2021), a similar
effect to that observed by Lins & Aquino (2020) in their research with Brazilian consumers.

We may have found these divergent results for several reasons; the first concerns the national political-
economic environment. The increasing rate of unemployment and reduced purchasing power hinder
purchases in large volumes and in smaller local stores, which tend to have higher prices than large
retailers, although other studies have observed an increase in storage behavior even among low-income
populations (Viswanathan; Aly; Duncan; Mandhan, 2020).

The second reason for the characterization of our sample is that the population is already used to online
shopping. Moreover, the pandemic affected this population's leisure and work less severely. An ANRPN
survey (National Association of Registrars of Natural Persons) shows that only 6.38% of the total victims
of the pandemic up to March 2021 were Brazilians below 38 years old (ANRPN, 2021).

Finally, the third reason for our results is the temporal space separating this study from previous ones.
The studies that inspired our hypotheses took place at the beginning of the pandemic, in which people
were beginning to understand a scenario still lacking any glimpse of solution or improvement, whereas

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 Relation Between Consumption and Fear of Covid-19: a Brazilian Post-Vaccine Perspective

114 our study took place 17 months after the beginning of the pandemic; a scenario in which a large part of
the population is fully immunized, living a life close to the pre-pandemic period, directly interfering with
respondents' answers.

This justification finds support in the work of Kim (2020), who states that this behavior is more common
in situations of uncertainty and insufficient knowledge.

Finally, concerning online shopping behavior, these results are in agreement with the academic literature
that indicated an increase in online sales in response to consumer demands and the need to mitigate the
negative effects of government-imposed lockdown restrictions and the reduction in high-traffic stores at
peak times. (Sheth, 2020 & Zwanka & Buff , 2021).

Almost all the results corroborate the findings in the literature showing that, in general, the fear of COVID-19
led people to isolate themselves (Laato et al., 2020 & Szymkowiak et al.,2021), avoid agglomerations
(Sheth, 2020 & Zwanka & Buff, 2021.) and bought more from virtual stores (Raza & Khan, 2021; Tran,
2021; Wang et al.,2021; Ahorsu et al., 2020; Goolsbee & Syverson, 2021; He et al. 2020, Laato et al.,2020;
Lins & Aquino, 2020; Martínez-Lorca et al., 2020) and local shops (Goolsbee & Syverson, (2021) than
before the pandemic.

Our study only disagrees with the literature on food stockpiling (Kim, 2020; Tran, 2021 & Viswanathan;
Aly; Duncan & Mandhan, 2020) since respondents failed to make that a habit. Such evidence points to
the fact that consumers are afraid of contamination from the SARS-CoV-2 virus: COVID-19, changing
their consumption habits, though less markedly than in other studies.

Thus, based on the collected and analyzed data, we could confirm two of our three hypotheses table 6.

Table 6. - Status of the proposed hypotheses

Hypotheses Status
H1: Brazilians store food and daily life products to avoid going to markets and exposing
Rejected
themselves to COVID-19
H2: Brazilians shop in virtual stores more often than in the pre-pandemic period Confirmed
H3: Brazilians visit smaller stores more often than in the pre-pandemic period to avoid
Confirmed
agglomerations

Source: Prepared by the authors

6. Final Considerations

This study aimed to analyze the changes in fear of COVID-19 and consumer behavior in studies conduc-
ted at the beginning of the pandemic and current ones. We conclude that this variation occurred since,
unlike previous studies, our interviewees claimed not to stockpile food, a rejection of hypothesis 1.

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 Edgard Monforte Merlo, Janaina de Moura Engracia Giraldi & Matheus Berto

Our data also shows that the relation between the fear of infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus: COVID-19 115
and changes in purchasing habits of Brazilian consumers is still real, mainly due to the higher preva-
lence of e-commerce and visits to local stores during the pandemic, though less markedly than studies
conducted at the beginning of the pandemic show.

It is impossible to claim which recent social and consumer changes will remain after the pandemic. Still,
we can suppose that the adaptation of markets and the habituation of consumers to this new form of
sale and delivery will perpetuate what we found in this study.

The limitation of this study is the division of questions by product categories to find the most expressive
changes were most expressive. Moreover, a study from the sales perspective could evaluate how the
pandemic affected businesses, especially among those used to making sales exclusively in physical
stores. As suggestions for future studies, we highlight the analysis of the role of moderators such as
gender and age.

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