Received: 15 November 2020 Revised: 5 April 2021 Accepted: 29 October 2021

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12423

SPECIAL ISSUE

Impacts of Covid-19 pandemic on consumer

behavior in Turkey: A qualitative study

Aybegüm Güngördü Belbag

Department of Business Administration,

Bartın University, Bartın, Turkey Abstract
The current study aims to examine consumer behavior
Correspondence
in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic and how con-
Aybegüm Güngördü Belba
g, Department
of Business Administration, Bartın sumers adapt to this new normal. In this regard, 78 Turkish
University, Bartın, Turkey. consumers were interviewed online. Data were analyzed
Email: [email protected]
through grounded theory with a stimulus-organism-
response framework and constant comparative methods.
This study showed that environmental stimuli affecting
consumer behavior during the pandemic are economic
downturn, partial lockdown regulations, restrictions on
some services, and social media messages. Organism con-
sists of fear, boredom, and perceived risk. Consumers'
behavioral responses to the pandemic are changes in pur-
chasing of consumer goods, avoidance from physical
stores, a decline in leisure activities, a decline in shopping
frequency, planned vs. impulse buying, stockpiling, and
prosumption. Overall, this study provides a more general
framework regarding multiple aspects of the pandemic on
consumer behavior.

KEYWORDS
consumer behavior, consumption, COVID-19, pandemic,
Turkey

1 | INTRODUCTION

Covid-19 was first seen in Wuhan, China in December 2019. It spread to the other parts of the
world at an extraordinary speed. Countries closed their borders, businesses, and carried out full

© 2021 American Council on Consumer Interests.

J Consum Aff. 2022;56:339–358. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca 339

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340 GÜNGÖRDÜ BELBAĞ

or partial lockdowns. Decisions made at national levels have led to the questioning of unions
(e.g., European Union) and globalization (Alon, 2020). For instance, EU member states did not
send protective equipment to Italy, despite Italy's call for help (The Guardian, 2020). There are
ongoing concerns about a more protectionist, nationalist, and localized world. Xenophobic ten-
dencies toward people from Asian ethnicity have increased (BBC, 2020). Many countries have
started to lose their trust in international institutions such as the WHO (Alon, 2020). While the
pandemic was strengthening, countries began to feel economic downfalls. Consumers in differ-
ent countries are mostly pessimistic about the economic conditions (Mckinsey, 2020).
According to the World Bank (2020), advanced economies will probably shrink by 7% and
global GDP will shrink by 5.2%. The pandemic affected international business (Alon, 2020;
Bretas & Alon, 2020; Kerr, 2020) and sectors of tourism (Kaushal & Srivastava, 2021), sports
(Bond et al., 2021; Horky, 2021), hospitality (Alonso et al., 2020; Hall et al., 2020; Huang et al.,
2020), education (Rana et al., 2020), health (Shadmi et al., 2020), food (Hassen et al., 2020; Yu
et al., 2020), energy (Aruga et al., 2020), tobacco (Gaunkar et al., 2020), transportation (espe-
cially, air travel), production and logistics in all over the world. Furthermore, take-outs, alcohol
consumption, even gun-buying increased (Hill, 2020) and online shopping, saving, buying fur-
niture, and home décor will further increase (Belk, 2020). Foreign traveling, going to movies,
sports, and concerts, and buying cars will decrease (Belk, 2020). Consumers mostly miss eating
out, restaurants, and travel (Belk, 2020). Trust to the data coming from authoritarian countries
such as China and Iran decreased, and China may lose its reputation of being the World's work-
shop (Alon, 2020). Although capitalism and neoliberal policies promote especially the middle
classes to consume more, the pandemic resulted in unstable consumption adequacy that relates
to market vulnerability (Hill, 2020). Therefore, Kotler (2020) claims that capitalism will evolve
based on social justice and democracy after the pandemic which will result in a post-
consumerist era.
At the beginning of the pandemic in the world, Turkey was not aware of the global pan-
demic as well as the other countries in the World. The first case was recorded on March
10, 2020, and the first death related to COVID-19 was confirmed on March 15, 2020. As of April
5, 2021, Turkey remains 8th on the Coronovirus Map List due to its total cases
(Worldometers, 2020). The first precautions inside the country were taken in March 2020 by
disinfecting public places and placing sanitizers. Thousands of people were put into quarantine;
schools, universities, and most of the businesses were locked down in line with other parts of
the World. The country closed its borders to tourists. Traveling between cities were banned.
Furthermore, the government declared a partial curfew at weekends until June. By June 2020,
all businesses were opened again, and borders began to accept tourists. Tourism revenues
account for most of the GDP in Turkey, therefore the country was affected deeply, and its econ-
omy is expected to shrink by 3.8% in 2020 (World Bank, 2020). Çakmaklı et al. (2020) indicate
that to face minimum economic costs and save maximum lives, there must be 39 days of full
lockdown. Yet, the Turkish government advises wearing masks, personal hygiene, and social
distancing right now, and instead of a full lockdown, they prefer partial lockdowns from time
to time. Precautions differ by cities due to the severity of the pandemic in that city. While
schools and universities continue online education in all cities, restaurants and coffee shops are
closed on Sundays in risky cities.
Scholars define the COVID-19 pandemic as a traumatic event (Kunimura, 2020). Disruption
in consumption has occurred during the pandemic like the great wars and depressions in his-
tory. Consumers' psychology is affected by the pandemic in general which led them to change
their consumption habits with the pandemic all over the world. The pandemic affected
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GÜNGÖRDÜ BELBAĞ 341

consumer behavior in different countries to change in different ways. People most fear the
possibility of their relatives' catching the virus rather than themselves (Akdeniz et al., 2020).
Furthermore, global consumers fear of scarcity related to consumer goods (Islam et al., 2021).
At the beginning of the pandemic, consumers from all over the world such as the United States,
China (Islam et al., 2021), India (Islam et al., 2021) and Canada (Iyer et al., 2020) stockpiled or
hoarded (Prentice et al., 2020; Sheth, 2020) some goods such as toilet papers, hand sanitizers,
and so on out of fear. Stockpiled goods differed by country due to the economic development
status of the countries. For instance, while consumers stockpiled flour, cooking oil, and rice in
Pakistan; goods except for food such as sanitizers, masks, and toiletries were stockpiled in
United States (Islam et al., 2021). Consumer spending (especially retail, food, and credit card
spending) increased at first and after a while, overall spending declined in United States (Baker
et al., 2020). Consumers in Qatar began to healthier diets, increased their consumption of local
products, online shopping, home-cooking, and did not stockpile food (Hassen et al., 2020).
Impulse buying, online buying, grocery spending, and prosumption also increased throughout
the world (Belk, 2020; Deng et al., 2020; Hall et al., 2020; Lang et al., 2020; Li et al., 2020;
Sheth, 2020). The increase in online shopping forced older consumers to adopt e-commerce
(NPD, 2021). Furthermore, prior research (Ahmed et al., 2020; Baker et al., 2020; Deng
et al., 2020; Grashuis et al., 2020; Islam et al., 2021; Kemp et al., 2021; Kim, 2020; Laato
et al., 2020; Li et al., 2020; Naeem & Ozuem, 2021; Szymkowiak et al., 2021) posits that fear,
anxiety, uncertainty, stress, depression, boredom, perceived threat, perceived risk, and per-
ceived severity of COVID-19 affect consumers' consumption during the pandemic. Fear may
stem from a complete lockdown (Ahmed et al., 2020) and scarcity of goods and time (Islam
et al., 2021). Priorities of consumers shifted to essentials and value (Mckinsey, 2020;
NPD, 2021). Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to examine consumer behavior in
Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is expected to make contributions as fol-
lows. First, the current study benefits from grounded theory with the help of a stimulus-
organism-response framework to explain consumer behavior during the pandemic. That is,
the study differentiates itself from earlier qualitative studies (e.g., Belk, 2020; Naeem, 2020;
Naeem & Ozuem, 2021). Second, the current study is qualitative compared to the studies in
the literature which are mostly quantitative (e.g., Ahmed et al., 2020; Prentice et al., 2020).
Qualitative studies give deeper understanding of the human nature and are also flexible
compared to quantitative studies (Charmaz, 2006). Therefore, the current study provides
detailed conclusions that quantitative studies may overlook. Third, while the literature
mostly focuses on developed markets (e.g., Ahmed et al., 2020; Kim, 2020), the current study
focuses on Turkey which is an emerging market. Emerging markets tend to grow faster than
developed markets. Fourth, prior studies (Ahmed et al., 2020; Deng et al., 2020; Grashuis
et al., 2020; Islam et al., 2021; Kemp et al., 2021; Kim, 2020; Laato et al., 2020; Li
et al., 2020; Naeem & Ozuem, 2021) mostly focused on effects of consumers' psychology on
their consumption. The current study provides a more general framework regarding multi-
ple aspects of the pandemic on consumer behavior. Therefore, the study seeks answers to
questions such as (1) Do people stockpile like other countries' citizens? (2) Which consump-
tion groups are up or down? (3) What are the differences in consumer behavior with the
pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic era?
The rest of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2 examines the literature on COVID-
19 and consumer behavior. Section 3 defines the sample, procedure, and analysis of the study.
Section 4 demonstrates the findings of the study. The last section discusses the findings,
managerial implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research.
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342 GÜNGÖRDÜ BELBAĞ

2 | LITERATURE R EVIEW: COVID-19 AND C ONSUMER

BEHAVIOR

While the vaccination in different countries and the studies on the possible effects of the disease carry
on, the effects of COVID-19 on psychological problems and factors (Ahmed et al., 2020; Akdeniz
et al., 2020; Biddlestone et al., 2020; Pandita et al., 2021; Rehm et al., 2020), altruistic behaviors (Jin
et al., 2020), migrants (Cao et al., 2020), and college students (Islam et al., 2021; Pandita et al., 2021)
are examined in various disciplines. Research concerning consumer behavior during COVID-19 has
also increased. While prior research regarding the relationship between the pandemic and consumer
behavior is mostly quantitative (Ahmed et al., 2020; Baker et al., 2020; Deng et al., 2020; Güney &
Sangün, 2021; Hall et al., 2020; Islam et al., 2021; Kemp et al., 2021; Kim, 2020; Laato et al., 2020; Li
et al., 2020; Milakovic, 2021; Prentice et al., 2020; Szymkowiak et al., 2021), few of them are qualita-
tive (Belk, 2020; Naeem, 2020; Naeem & Ozuem, 2021). Impacts of COVID-19 on unusual purchases
(Laato et al., 2020), overall consumption (Baker et al., 2020; Belk, 2020; Kim, 2020; Kirk &
Rifkin, 2020; Sheth, 2020), food consumption (Güney & Sangün, 2021), prosumption (Lang
et al., 2020), stockpiling (Hall et al., 2020), panic buying (Ahmed et al., 2020; Hall et al., 2020; Islam
et al., 2021; Naeem & Ozuem, 2021), impulse buying (Ahmed et al., 2020; Deng et al., 2020; Islam
et al., 2021; Li et al., 2020; Naeem, 2020), online shopping (Belk, 2020; Hall et al., 2020), and retailing
(Grashuis et al., 2020) are examined in the literature. Most of the studies focused on the effects of psy-
chological factors such as fear (Ahmed et al., 2020; Grashuis et al., 2020; Islam et al., 2021; Kemp
et al., 2021; Naeem & Ozuem, 2021), perceived risk (Szymkowiak et al., 2021), perceived severity of
the pandemic (Deng et al., 2020; Kim, 2020; Laato et al., 2020; Li et al., 2020) on consumer behavior.
Furthermore, studies were carried out in developed countries such as United Kingdom (Naeem &
Ozuem, 2021), United States (Ahmed et al., 2020; Baker et al., 2020; Grashuis et al., 2020; Islam
et al., 2021; Kim, 2020; Prentice et al., 2020), Australia (Prentice et al., 2020), Finland (Laato
et al., 2020), and New Zealand (Hall et al., 2020). Few studies were carried out in developing countries
such as Turkey (Güney & Sangün, 2021), China (Deng et al., 2020; Islam et al., 2021; Li et al., 2020),
India (Islam et al., 2021), and Pakistan (Islam et al., 2021). Table 1 represents a summary of selected
empirical studies related to the pandemic and consumer behavior.
Consumers mostly cut back on discretionary expenditures such as travel between countries
all over the world and increased their purchase of groceries, nonfood child products, household
supplies (e.g., cleaners, etc.), snacks, electronic goods (e.g., monitors, keyboards, etc.), and video
games (Financial Times, 2020; KPMG, 2020; Mckinsey, 2020; NPD, 2021). Prior research
(Dynata, 2020; Euromonitor, 2020; KPMG, 2020; Marketing Türkiye, 2020; Mckinsey, 2020;
Morgan, 2020; NPD, 2021; UNCTAD, 2020) posits that quality, performance, local companies,
convenience, accessibility, availability, value (e.g., price sensitivities), online shopping, con-
tactless services & delivery, and technology are important for global consumers while adapting
to the new normal. Consumers in the world are in different stages of normalization. For
instance, the Chinese still want to travel the World and Indians want to celebrate their festivals
(Mckinsey, 2020).
According to Nielsen (Marketing Türkiye, 2020), consumption of fast-moving consumer
goods increased more than 30% in Turkey. Furthermore, Turkish consumers' home cooking is
above the world average. E-commerce sales of fast-moving consumer goods increased to three
times larger than the sales in European countries. They also consumed more local products dur-
ing the pandemic. While expenditures for groceries, snacks, personal care, tobacco, and online
shopping of household essentials, entertainment (e.g., Netflix) increased, take-outs and deliver-
ies decreased in Turkey (Mckinsey, 2020).
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GÜNGÖRDÜ BELBAĞ 343

T A B L E 1 Summary of selected empirical studies on the relationship between COVID-19 and consumer
behavior

Author(s), year Independent variables Dependent variables

Naeem and Ozuem (2021) Social media Panic buying
Naeem (2020) Fear, perceived risk, conformist Impulsive buying
tendency
Social media Fear, perceived risk
Kemp et al. (2021) Fear, anxiety Purchasing larger quantities
Güney and Sangün (2021) Price increase concerns, Changes in food consumption
stockpiling, food access concerns
Ahmed et al. (2020) Fear of a complete lockdown, Impulse buying
panic buying
Islam et al. (2021) Fear of time and quantity scarcity, Panic buying
stress
Laato et al. (2020) Perceived severity of the situation, Intention to make unusual purchases
cyberchondria
Szymkowiak et al. (2021) Perceived risk of a possible infection Pleasure from shopping in a store
Li et al. (2020) The severity of COVID-19 Impulse buying
Deng et al. (2020) Perceived severity of COVID-19 Willingness to consume post-
(mediators: boredom from limited pandemic
activities and sensation seeking
expressions)
Perceived severity of COVID-19 Impulsive buying post-pandemic
The experience of life tedium
Prentice et al. (2020) Government measures, media Panic buying
influence, peer influence
(moderators: retailer interventions,
government measures à panic
buying, media influence à panic
buying)
Kim (2020) Perceived threat of COVID-19 Variety seeking
(moderator: type of choice)
Milakovic (2021) Consumer resilience Purchase satisfaction
(moderator: consumer adaptability
to online shopping)

3 | METHOD

3.1 | Sample

The study starts with snowball sampling and continues with theoretical sampling for data collec-
tion. The snowball sampling method involves the referral of initial informants to recruit more
informants to the study (Biernacki & Waldorf, 1981). Theoretical sampling refers to selecting
informants who can best contribute to developing the theory (Moser & Korstjens, 2018). The
data collection stopped when there are no more new theoretical insights which mean the
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344 GÜNGÖRDÜ BELBAĞ

categories are saturated (Charmaz, 2006). Furthermore, 20–30 interviews are adequate for
grounded theory studies (Moser & Korstjens, 2018). Therefore, 78 Turkish consumers
(45 women, 33 men; average age = 22) living in Turkey were interviewed. All informants are
college students. They are majorly affected by COVID-19 and lockdowns as their universities
are physically closed. They are more vulnerable to the pandemic than adults because they are
unemployed and they play a crucial role in recovering from the pandemic (Pandita et al., 2021).
No informant was infected with COVID-19.

3.2 | Procedure

Using the qualitative research method, a semi-structured guide benefited from the studies of
Sheth (2020), Kirk and Rifkin (2020), and Belk (2020). Prior research shows that there are sub-
stantial differences in consumer behavior compared to pre-pandemic era (see Section 2 and
Table 1). Thus, the semi-structured guide included the following open-ended questions asking
for (i) the differences in consumption, (ii) opinions about going shopping, (iii) stockpiling
behavior, (iv) factors affecting consumption with the pandemic. Informants shared their real-
life stories regarding the changes in their consumer behavior during the pandemic. Data were
collected by the author in May 2020. In-depth interviews were conducted online because of the
social distancing measures in Turkey. An average interview lasted for 40 min.

3.3 | Analysis

Grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1990) and constant comparative
methods (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) were used for analysis in the current study to explain the con-
sumer behavior during the pandemic. The grounded theory reveals the conceptual framework
or theory grounded in the data which consists of informants' words, phrases, or experiences
(Bryant & Charmaz, 2019). Grounded theory is used as a form of a qualitative study to predict
consumer behavior in the marketing literature (Agrawal & Gentry, 2020; DeMaria et al., 2020).
It has attracted increasing attraction from marketing scholars and in particular the field of con-
sumer behavior over the years (Goulding, 2001). Grounded theory is used with constant com-
parative methods that involve comparing data with data, data with codes, codes with codes, and
codes with categories throughout the analysis to identify the commonalities (Bryant &
Charmaz, 2019; Goulding, 2001; Moser & Korstjens, 2018).
Data collection is followed by determining theoretical codes. Charmaz (2006) presents initial
(open) coding, focused coding, and theoretical coding to reveal the themes based on the qualita-
tive data. Therefore, the analysis started with initial (open) coding which involved line-by-line
coding. It gives insights related to consumer behavior by searching for keywords or phrases
(Goulding, 2001). Some examples are “…we need to save our money for more important needs
in the pandemic period…”, “I think that indoors are not safe…,” and “…We even bake our
bread….” The second step of coding involved focused coding to use the most significant codes for
explaining the larger parts of the data. Focused coding consisted of codes such as “unsafe,”
“saving,” and “baking.” After that, theoretical coding which involves following focused coding
to sort out the relationships between codes was implemented. Theoretical coding benefited from
a stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) perspective while revealing the themes. S-O-R perspec-
tive can be used in grounded theory studies suggested by Partington (2000). Stimulus indicates
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GÜNGÖRDÜ BELBAĞ 345

Response
Environmental Changes in
stimuli Organism purchasing of
consumer goods
Economic Fear
downturn Avoidance from
Boredom physical stores
Partial
lockdown Perceived risk A decline in leisure
regulations activities
Restrictions on A decline in
some services shopping frequency
Social media Planned vs. impulse
messages buying
Stockpiling
Prosumption

F I G U R E 1 The proposed model of consumer behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic

external factors from the environment affecting an individual (Partington, 2000). The current
study showed that environmental stimuli affecting consumer behavior during the pandemic are
economic downturn, partial lockdown regulations, restrictions on some services, and social
media messages. Organism refers to the internal emotional responses of an individual
(Partington, 2000). According to the current study, organism consists of fear, boredom, and per-
ceived risk. The response represents the final behavioral outcome of an individual
(Partington, 2000). Consumers' behavioral responses to the pandemic are changes in purchasing
of consumer goods, avoidance from physical stores, a decline in leisure activities, a decline in
shopping frequency, planned vs. impulse buying, stockpiling, and prosumption according to the
current study. S-O-R perspective is used to explain different consumer behavior in the market-
ing literature (Chang et al., 2011). In a similar context, this framework is used by Laato
et al. (2020) to explain unusual purchases and Islam et al. (2021) to explain panic buying due to
the pandemic. Furthermore, the fight or flight mechanism which is used by people to reduce
their stress, anxiety, and copes with their fears (Gray & McNaughton, 2003) is beneficial to
explain consumers' behavioral responses during the pandemic.
The author moved back and forth between data and analysis. In the end, a conceptual
model is given according to the findings of the study (Figure 1).

4 | F IN D I NG S

4.1 | Environmental stimuli

4.1.1 | Economic downturn

The pandemic affected many people economically. Consumer spending on especially non-
essential products is declining throughout the World (KPMG, 2020). Turkish consumers cut
their spending and expect that their income will decrease (Mckinsey, 2020). Most of the busi-
nesses such as restaurants and coffee shops were closed. Informants' expenditures and savings
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346 GÜNGÖRDÜ BELBAĞ

are affected by the pandemic. Some people lost their jobs. Informants think that they must pri-
oritize their economic conditions due to the uncertainty. One informant said, “… I don't want to
be a burden on my family budget, because we need to save our money for more important
needs during the pandemic.” Another informant stated, “Because of the lockdowns, we didn't
go outside for days and we were in a worse economic condition because my parents couldn't go
to work. They didn't get any paychecks and some of my family members lost their jobs. My
father was working in a store, he couldn't open the store for days and had to stay at home….”

4.1.2 | Partial lockdown regulations

The government of Turkey applied partial lockdown regulations. Most of the businesses were
locked down. There was a partial curfew at weekends. The curfew is still on and off according
to the severity of the pandemic. The declaration form of the first curfew created a panic and
fueled consumers' fear, and anxiety. One informant quoted, “… The government declared at
10 pm that the curfew would begin at midnight. A lot of people ran to supermarkets, and night
shops to stockpile goods. People were anxious about the curfew and thus, they overconsumed.”

4.1.3 | Restrictions on some services

The government restricted going outside according to the severity of the pandemic. For
instance, when curfews on weekends were applied, and most of the employees began to work
at home, people decreased their clothing consumption. One informant noted, “… In contrary to
food consumption, clothing consumption rapidly decreased with the pandemic due to the
closed stores and high infection risk ….”

4.1.4 | Social media messages

Social media affected consumers' fear, perceived risk, panic buying, and impulse buying across
many countries such as the United Kingdom (Naeem, 2020; Naeem & Ozuem, 2021). In
Turkey, social media messages increased consumers' some purchases. One informant addressed,
“I spent too much money on video games, books, and painting equipment with the effect of
social media. But I saved my money in other consumption groups.” Social media also affected
prosumption. One informant noted, “Everybody began to share a picture of what they cooked
or baked at home in social media with Covid-19 pandemic. It spread, and became a trend ….”

4.2 | Organism

4.2.1 | Fear

Fear related to the pandemic can stem from a fear of COVID-19, high prices, shortage of goods,
and empty shelves (Naeem, 2020). Mckinsey (2020) reports that Turkish consumers are mostly
anxious about their health, economy, and uncertainty. The current study shows that consumers
fear of the possibility of catching the virus or encountering with insufficient resources when
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GÜNGÖRDÜ BELBAĞ 347

going to a supermarket. Some of them think that even after vaccination, they will fear going
outside. Furthermore, uncertainty about the pandemic is fueling their fears. Fear leads to stockpiling,
and panic buying. Studies in consumer behavior show that consumers may overconsume and over-
indulge in challenging times at both household and national levels (Li et al., 2020). One informant
said, “People went to pharmacies, butchers, clothing stores, and shopping centers when they learned
about the pandemic for the first time. They were in a panic and caused chaos. They bought too many
products even if they don't need that much. They risked other people's health and condition of
living.” When the consumers feel threatened with a possible hunger and the uncertainty resulting
from the pandemic, they rushed into stores for their survival. Fight or flight system becomes
prominent with stockpiling. One informant said, “We weren't shopping in large quantities before the
pandemic. But now, we are stockpiling consumer goods out of fear. We don't know what is ahead of
us, thus we bought 3 or 4 more from the same product.”

4.2.2 | Boredom

Because of the partial lockdowns at weekends, informants are bored at home which leads to
overconsumption of certain items. Boredom is an indicator of stockpiling and also leads to
stress eating. One informant stated, “When we go to a supermarket, we buy two products at a
time for two reasons. The first one is to lessen our visits to the supermarket and the second one
is that we eat food continuously to handle boredom. Our consumption increased during the
pandemic.” Boredom also leads to impulse buying while online shopping. One informant
stated, “… I don't have anything to do now. Therefore, I continuously follow shopping web sites
and buy things even if I don't need them.” Consumption provides a perception as if the con-
sumers are outside the home. One informant noted, “We bought game consoles and subscribed
to Netflix because we didn't want to feel imprisoned at home ….”

4.2.3 | Perceived risk

Perceived risk of a possible infection decreases the pleasure from shopping in a store during the
pandemic (Szymkowiak et al., 2021). Prior research (Grashuis et al., 2020) showed that when COVID-
19 infections increase in their area, consumers do not want to shop inside of a grocery store related to
the fear of the virus. Perceived risk can be related to risk of illness or shortage of stock (Naeem, 2020).
The current study showed that perceived risk consists of the risk related to a possible contagion and
thus, informants do not want to go into crowded areas. They do not shop from any store. They go to
stores which they think it is safe and less risky. They also look at the store's distance to their houses.
One informant noted, “I usually prefer to go to the nearest bookstore to buy books because of its proxim-
ity to my house and the low risk… Bookstores are not as crowded as supermarkets.” Another informant
stated, “… I think that indoors are not safe. Thus, I purchase products mostly online except for vegeta-
bles and fruits … I purchase them from local bazaars by taking precautions.”

4.3 | Behavioral responses to the pandemic

Psychologists indicate that consumption in certain times such as Christmas shopping can trig-
ger the primal fight or flight mechanism of consumers by creating a perceived survival
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348 GÜNGÖRDÜ BELBAĞ

atmosphere (Innes, 2013). The fight or flight response is an individualistic mechanism that
responds to perceived threats or fears, enables reaching safety, and reflects avoidance, thus peo-
ple can cope with their fears, stress, and anxiety (Gray & McNaughton, 2003). Crowds fight for
bargains and see other consumers as threats to their needs (Innes, 2013). Shopping itself may
become a stressful event as a reason of crowding, time or impulse purchasing pressure
(Aylott & Mitchell, 1998). Consumers under stress will see shopping as a chore and will not
enjoy the shopping experience (Aylott & Mitchell, 1998). Similarly, COVID-19 pandemic creates
an atmosphere that each person poses a threat for another, and the person who feels threatened
relieves stress hormones. In the context of COVID-19 and consumption, people use the fight or
flight system by panic buying, impulse buying, baking, stockpiling goods, or hoarding; there-
fore, they re-establish a sense of safety (Greenberg, 2020; Gyuro, 2020; Kunimura, 2020;
Mortimer & Bowden, 2020; Telegram, 2020; Uchealth, 2020). Similarly, Kemp et al. (2021) note
that people can manage their negative feelings through consumption. Thus, it is fair to say that
consumers find different ways to calm their nervous system and cope with COVID-19. This
section consists of consumers' behavioral responses to the pandemic.

4.3.1 | Changes in purchasing of consumer goods

The current study shows that there are substantial changes in consumers' purchases of
consumer goods during the pandemic. Most of the informants reported that their Internet,
electricity, water, and gas consumption increased. The most consumed products were colognes,
masks, hand gloves, hand soaps, disinfectants, cleaning products, paper towels, foods, and
drinks. Some informants also reported that they delay their purchases as a reason for the
unclear future. While most of the informants think that they are saving money during
the pandemic, some others stated that they did not save at all. According to them, coffees,
dining outs, ordering meals from restaurants are replaced with potato chips, sunflower seeds,
Netflix, and home-cooked meals. Some consumers reported that their consumption of sports
equipment, technological equipment, and books increased. They also attribute more impor-
tance to fresh foods such as oranges to get vitamin C compared to the pre-pandemic era. There
is a huge increase in cleaning, hygienic products, and foods and drinks in the consumption of
informants. Informants' health has become their priority. One informant said, “Our consump-
tion of products such as foods, drinks, cleaning has increased….” Another informant quoted, “…
We used to consume take-home and frozen foods because of my parents' jobs. After COVID-19
pandemic, we prefer to buy foods that boost our immune system such as fresh foods.”
Some informants noted that there is an increase in sports equipment, electronics, home
products, video games, board & card games, puzzles, and books. One informant noted, “We
bought sports equipment to prevent ourselves from overweight. There is an increasing interest
in electronics and video games.”
Global consumers decreased their clothing expenditures as they wear comfortable clothes at
home (NPD, 2021). Furthermore, expenditures on cosmetics and deodorants decreased
(JP Morgan, 2020; Financial Times, 2020). The findings of the current study also showed that
the least consumed products were clothing, cosmetics, home products, and shoes. The most
important decline was in purchasing clothing products. Informants think that they do not need
more clothes, shoes, or cosmetics as they do not go out frequently and stay at home. They prior-
itize satisfying their essential needs instead of spending their money on luxurious or conspicu-
ous products. One informant noted, “I gave up on my luxury consumption. I don't purchase
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GÜNGÖRDÜ BELBAĞ 349

clothes or cosmetics anymore. Because I can't see beyond, I need to save my money.” Another
informant said, “… For instance, we usually bought clothing products regularly before the
COVID-19 pandemic … Right now, clothing consumption does not come back to my mind at
all.” Another informant noted, “Previously, we were buying anything anytime. But now, we
gave up on our wants and needs, and our priority is our basic needs.”.

4.3.2 | Decline in leisure activities

Global consumers decrease their out-of-home expenditures such as eating out, holidays and lei-
sure and increase in home experiences (KPMG, 2020). Similarly, the current study showed that
consumers decreased their leisure activities such as dining out, hanging with friends for a bar-
becue; going to cinemas, theaters, and sports centers have decreased. These activities are rep-
laced by hanging out with family at home by playing games or cooking. Furthermore, ordering
from restaurants decreased. Leisure activities of informants declined sharply with the pan-
demic. They are hesitant to dine out, socialize with other people, go to cinemas, theaters, or
cafes. One informant noted, “Before the pandemic period, we used to meet with my friends and
eat meals in cafes, go sports centers, and movie theaters. But now, we play cards, do jigsaws, or
paint mandalas to spend time at home with our family.” Another informant stated, “… I am a
café lover. Before the pandemic, I used to drink coffee at coffee shops… I feel depressed with
the lockdown. However, I must live with the pandemic and find different activities to spend
time at home. For instance, I ordered several sports equipment to do indoor sports activities.”

4.3.3 | Avoidance from physical stores

Informants do not go to hairdressers with the pandemic even if they were frequently going
before the pandemic. They think that their fear is bigger than their will for going to a hair-
dresser. One informant quoted, “Before the pandemic, I used to go to the hairdresser every
15 days, however, the pandemic prevents me from going there because of high infection risk.
So, I learned how to cut my hair at home. I won't go to the hairdresser until the pandemic is
over.” Furthermore, consumers do not want to go to shopping centers during the pandemic
because they learned from the media that ventilator systems in shopping centers spread the
virus. Therefore, they prefer online shopping instead of going to shopping centers. One infor-
mant said, “Nowadays, we don't prefer to go shopping centers. Because we know that there is a
considerably high infection risk in closed spaces with several people… We postpone nonessen-
tial shopping or prefer online shopping ….”
After the beginning of the pandemic, Korean, Chinese, and Turkish consumers reported
more online shopping during the pandemic, while it is the weakest in Switzerland and Germany
(UNCTAD, 2020). For instance, young Chinese consumers buy more food online when COVID-
19 cases increase and their perceived risk of online purchases is lower (Gao et al., 2020). The
current study showed that most of the consumers had concerns about purchasing vegetables,
and fruits online. But they were comfortable with buying clothes, books, accessories, shoes,
self-care products, technological products, stationery, or home products online. Most of the
informants preferred to buy their essential needs from the nearest supermarkets without using
any transportation, and they choose online shopping for other needs. When they went to super-
markets, they wore their masks and gloves and choose off-peak hours. Consumers chose online
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350 GÜNGÖRDÜ BELBAĞ

shopping for being contactless. They used online shopping apps or web sites of supermarkets.
Furthermore, they paid with their credit cards and used their cards' contact-free features. One
informant stated, “… I always tried on the product, felt its quality and then, bought it, before
the pandemic. During the pandemic, I purchase products online… It's not only for clothing
products. I prefer online shopping for food and drinks, too. There are many apps such as
“banabi,” “getir,” “istegelsin,” and “Migros sanal market” which makes shopping easy. There
are also change and return options for products.” Some of the informants stated that they would
buy their technological products in stores after the pandemic. One informant said, “Before the
COVID-19 period, I used to go to a technology store to test a JBL headphone… I have to buy it
online due to the closed and crowded environment of the stores.” Some older consumers try
online shopping for the first time. One informant noted, “Before the pandemic, my parents
didn't like the idea of online shopping. But now, they love having products delivered to our
house instead of going outside to buy them.”
While most of the informants noted that they began to purchase products online, some of
them did not prefer this method. Reasons for not buying online were the slower process of logistics
companies, concerns about purchasing foods online, getting wrong orders, and dirty packages.
One informant stated that he cannot even think to buy tomatoes online. One informant said, “I
used to buy new clothes such as t-shirts, shirts or trousers every month. I could buy these clothes
online, but I didn't. Buying a product that I didn't try on and wait for it to come to my house is not
for me. Furthermore, logistics companies work slowly, and they are too busy.” Another informant
stated, “… We suspect that if there is rotten food inside of our order or not. So, our fresh food con-
sumption may decrease concerning regular time…” Another informant noted, “… I had to cut
down on my expenses as a reason for the slower process and getting wrong orders.”

4.3.4 | Decline in the frequency of shopping

Consumers preferred to buy in larger quantities to not to go to supermarkets frequently. They

also tried to decrease the time spent in the supermarket even though supermarkets take precau-
tions. They disinfected their purchases in their kitchens. Some consumers shopped a specific
day in a week with the pandemic. One informant quoted, “… Although all businesses are
obliged to disinfect their stores, we hesitate to go to the stores. Before COVID-19, we were
spending more than one hour in a supermarket, but now, we are spending no more than half
an hour ….” Another informant said, “… we were going shopping with my whole family in the
pre-pandemic period. We go shopping by ourselves and are in a rush with the pandemic.”

4.3.5 | Planned vs. impulsive buying

Most of the informants noted that they plan their purchase behavior. They create a list of things
to buy and have quick visits to the nearest supermarket. They do not want to stay long indoors
such as in supermarkets. One informant noted, “Personal hygiene and health have become
more important than any other thing. Before I go to the supermarkets, I prepare my shopping
list and bought my requirements without losing time.” Another informant said, “COVID-19
teaches us to save money, understand the value of freedom, and consume in a planned way. We
consume only for our basic needs. Before the pandemic, we could easily get and reach anything
anytime anywhere.”
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GÜNGÖRDÜ BELBAĞ 351

Some informants reported impulse buying. One of them told that it was out of boredom.
Other reasons were the shorter time of purchasing, promotions, advertisements, online buying,
and the thought of saving too much. One informant stated, “Because of being at home during
the pandemic, we saved a considerable amount of money by not going to cafes, or movie the-
aters … we bought any kind of stuff (even if we do not need at all) from online stores because of
promotions and advertisements.” Another informant quoted, “… Although I don't need it, I feel
an urge to buy if I don't get that promotion again. I think that pandemic leads people to buy
unnecessary products to feel better, psychologically.” On the other hand, consumers in the
United Kingdom reported impulse buying out of fear, and perceived risk related to the pan-
demic (Naeem, 2020).

4.3.6 | Stockpiling

Stockpiling, hoarding, panic buying, and shopping in large quantities have been seen in many
countries at the beginning of the pandemic. People reacted to the perceived threat of the pan-
demic, and bought more than needed to regain control of the threatened products (Kirk &
Rifkin, 2020). For instance, a student told that after listening to the news, he rushed to a store
and bought 5 kg of potatoes and 4 kg of sugar in India (Pandita et al., 2021). In some countries,
stockpiling, and panic buying increased at first, after a while decreased (Hall et al., 2020).
Because of home cooking and stockpiling, consumers had to buy bigger refrigerators in Turkey
(Thinkwithgoogle, 2021). The current study showed that consumers piled up pasta, legumes,
oil, sugar, flour, napkins, and toilet paper, etc. in Turkey. Fear and boredom are important indi-
cators of stockpiling. One informant said, “When COVID-19 came into our country, everybody
rushed into supermarkets. Consumer goods such as oil, sugar, flour, and napkins were out of
stock in minutes… Even if they didn't need some consumer goods, they bought everything.”
Another informant said, “Many people stockpiled huge amounts of toilet papers and paper
towels with the pandemic… the price of pasta was doubled, and it was hard to find it in any
supermarket. The expectation of the lockdown led people to finish the stocks of pasta, toilet
paper, cologne, surgical mask, and yeast.” Another informant noted, “We bought too much food
and drinks even if we don't need that much. We bought too many hand gloves, masks, colognes,
and disinfectants. We consume lots of cleaning products to clean the house and wash our
hands.” Another informant stated, “We stockpiled too many products with the beginning of
lockdown. Especially, some products such as pasta and legumes were out of stock in supermar-
kets. Therefore, we bought whatever we can find.”
While the fear led people to stockpile specific products, the increasing demand caused
buyers to increase the prices of their products at the beginning of the pandemic. One informant
noted, “… Due to the limited stocks in stores, the amount of consumption dramatically
decreased with the pandemic. For instance, I couldn't find surgical masks when I went to the
nearest drug store. After I traveled to many drug stores, I finally found surgical masks. But the
salesperson told me that the price of the mask increased ten times the regular price ….”

4.3.7 | Prosumption

Prosumers produce their goods and services such as cooking their meals or making their clothes
to consume them (Kotler, 1986). Consumers regain their feeling of control through
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352 GÜNGÖRDÜ BELBAĞ

prosumption to cope with the pandemic (Kirk & Rifkin, 2020). Studies (Kirk & Rifkin, 2020;
Lang et al., 2020) mentioning prosumption related to the pandemic are relatively few. In the
current study, informants mostly noted that they make their meals, bread, and bakery during
the pandemic. They also grow their fruits and vegetables in their home. This type of prosumers
is named as do-it-yourself prosumers (Lang et al., 2020). One informant said, “We were engaged
in farming during the pandemic with my parents. We grew our food such as vegetables and
fruits and consumed them. We think that the food we grew is more reliable”. Another infor-
mant stated, “We usually ordered food from restaurants before the pandemic. But now, we
always cook at home…” Informants painted their walls instead of getting service from house
painters. They tend to behave as prosumers with the pandemic as a reason for their concerns
about reliability and the possibility of catching a virus.

5 | DISCUSSION

Using the qualitative research method, 78 Turkish consumers were interviewed online.
Grounded theory is used to analyze the data with the help of a stimulus-organism-response
framework. Themes emerged from the analysis are economic downturn, partial lockdown regu-
lations, restrictions on some services, social media messages which are external stimulus factors;
fear, boredom, perceived risk which are organism factors; and changes in purchasing of con-
sumer goods, avoidance from physical stores, a decline in leisure activities, a decline in shop-
ping frequency, planned versus impulse buying, stockpiling, prosumption which are
responses. External stimulus affects organism, and organism affects response.
The current study answered the research questions as follows. First, the current study revealed
that consumers showed stockpiling behavior like other consumers in the World, but the stockpiled
products differed. Unlike U.S. consumers' heavily stockpiling of sanitizers or masks (Islam
et al., 2021), Turkish consumers stockpiled pasta, legumes, oil, sugar, flour, napkins, and toilet
paper, etc. This finding results from the economic development of the country. For instance, on the
one hand, consumers stockpiled flour, rice and oil in Pakistan (Islam et al., 2021), on the other
hand, consumers did not stockpile any goods in Qatar (Hassen et al., 2020). Second, some consump-
tion groups are up and some are down during the pandemic in Turkey. Many consumers increased
their purchases regarding cleaning, hygienic products, foods, and drinks. Consumers' purchases
regarding clothes, shoes, and cosmetics declined. Similarly, global consumers increased their food
spending (Baker et al., 2020), and decreased their clothing expenditures (NPD, 2021). Third, there
are substantial changes in consumer behavior with the pandemic. Leisure activities, and shopping
frequency declined. Consumers use their fight or flight mechanism (Gray & McNaughton, 2003) to
react and cope with the pandemic. Prior research (Dynata, 2020; Euromonitor, 2020; Financial
Times, 2020; KPMG, 2020; Mckinsey, 2020; Morgan, 2020; NPD, 2021; UNCTAD, 2020) found that
the pandemic drove consumers toward online shopping, and an avoidance from physical stores.
The current study supports this argument and adds that even older shoppers are adopting them-
selves into e-commerce. That is, older shoppers remain relatively a new segment for e-commerce in
Turkey. Consumers visit the nearest store for their essential needs, and if a store is close to their
home, their perceived risk of a possible infection is lower. Planned purchasers want quick visits to
the stores. While global consumers report impulse buying out of fear during the pandemic
(Naeem, 2020), the current study showed that impulse buying mostly occurred online because of
promotions in Turkey. Additionally, Turkish consumers tend to behave as do-it-yourself prosumers
during the pandemic.
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GÜNGÖRDÜ BELBAĞ 353

5.1 | Managerial implications

Shifts in consumer behavior can become permanent after the pandemic (Hall et al., 2020;
UNCTAD, 2020). The increase and adoption of online shopping will impact future consumer
behavior (NPD, 2021; UNCTAD, 2020). Therefore, online store atmospherics of businesses
should be upgraded to evoke the feelings of touch and feel through short videos. Furthermore,
some luxurious restaurants can create an upgraded artificial atmosphere by providing rented
artificial intelligence glasses when delivering food to consumers' houses. Thus, people can enjoy
their dinner with their loved ones under quarantine in an artificial restaurant. Yet, brick & mor-
tars will be popular again for both shopping and socializing after vaccination (NPD, 2021).
Retailers can divide their space for planned purchasers who want quick visits to stores, and pre-
pare the consumer's list through “buy online, pick up in-store” or “reserve online, pick up and
pay in-store” strategies. These will prevent the spread of the virus by decreasing the time spent
in the store and relieve the consumers' stress, and fear. Furthermore, consumers who are hesi-
tant to buy food online will feel relieved. Similarly, Amazon (Amazon, 2021; Kirk &
Rifkin, 2020) provides a technology named “Just Walk Out” that enables consumers to walk in
a store, shop and go without waiting for checkout lines. Furthermore, pop-up stores can be
enabled for those whose perceived risks are lower when a store is close to their home. It is also
beneficial for the retailer during the pandemic as they will not commit long-term rental agree-
ments (Fortune, 2020). Restaurants can accept fewer customers, and direct other customers to
different restaurants with discounts. But this approach should be implemented with caution,
otherwise it will have negative effects on COVID-19 cases like the “eat out help out” campaign
in UK. The campaign accelerated coronavirus second wave across UK instead of accelerating
the economy (Independent, 2020). Additionally, consumers should be able to trust businesses
on adequate resources (Hill, 2020) instead of panicking due to scarcity (Islam et al., 2021). Busi-
nesses should limit purchases per person in every retailer or online to prevent stockpiling. This
is named as retailer intervention (Prentice et al., 2020). For instance, German international
company METRO AG restricted purchases of some cleaning products in terms of quantity at
the beginning of the pandemic in Turkey. This limitation should become widespread among
other retailers. Furthermore, businesses should give more information about their stocks to
ensure that there will not be any product scarcity and prevent stockpiling (Kirk & Rifkin, 2020).
The current study showed that consumers in Turkey respond to the pandemic with a fight
or flight reaction but experts (Evans, 2020) note that a tend and befriend approach is much more
beneficial. Tending promotes nurturing behaviors such as caring for others and befriending
benefits from social networks to cope with stress and anxiety (Taylor et al., 2000). It is a collec-
tivistic approach. Therefore, businesses should use tend or befriend strategies by adopting a
“we're all in this together” approach. Ideas for do-it-yourself projects can be integrated into apps
or web sites of businesses for do-it-yourself prosumers. This will bring people with common
interests and also relieve consumers' stress. A well-connected and informed community can
respond more effectively to this crisis (Mortimer & Bowden, 2020). For instance, shopping apps
or web sites can provide chatrooms or blogs for costumers to be informed and not to feel lonely
during self-isolations or quarantines. Therefore, consumers will be physically distant, but not
socially distant. Furthermore, agreements with doctors known in the society will be beneficial
to soothe consumers' nervous systems by getting more information on COVID-19 regarding
take-outs, eating at restaurants or going shopping. Businesses which develop flexible solutions
will be able to win both during and post-pandemic period. Experts suggest that relaxation tech-
niques such as focusing on a calming word or visualizing peaceful images to cope with crises
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354 GÜNGÖRDÜ BELBAĞ

(Healthline, 2020). For instance, Coca-Cola company prepared an ad regarding COVID-19 to

spread hope which reminds the company's slogan of sharing happiness more than a 100 years.

5.2 | Limitations and suggestions for future research

The limitations of the study are as follows. This study only considered college students. Future
studies can consider different age and social class groups. For instance, consumption is a way of
representation for the middle classes. Therefore, future studies can focus on consumer behavior
of the middle classes during the pandemic. Additionally, more studies regarding online shop-
ping are needed for a better adaptation of older consumers. The size of the sample in the cur-
rent study is relatively small. The current study cannot be generalized as it carries out a
qualitative analysis. Future studies can test the suggested model through structural equation
modeling. Prosumption, which increased during the pandemic can be examined in detail.

ORCID
Aybegüm Güngördü Belba
g https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8704-0045

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How to cite this article: Güngördü Belba
g, A. (2022). Impacts of Covid-19 pandemic on
consumer behavior in Turkey: A qualitative study. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 56(1),
339–358. https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12423