In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic created a new reality. Each country has implemented different measures to contain the pandemic, which has had many consequences for society and businesses. The purpose of this paper is to improve understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed consumer behavior in the BRICS countries and discuss the role of consumer trust and anxiety. A systematic literature review with a bibliometric analysis was carried out to identify research directions and reveal the role of trust and anxiety in consumer behavior. Differences in consumer responses to the COVID-19 pandemic challenges in Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa were identified based on an analysis of an international database of online surveys. An empirical study of Russian consumers was conducted in the spring of 2020. Cluster and factor analyses were applied to reveal different consumer strategies of coping with the crisis. The study revealed differences in consumer trust and the level of anxiety in the BRICS countries. In the empirical study of Russian consumers, anxiety was identified as one of the factors in changing consumer behavior in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learning outcomes This study enables to critically assess: what constitutes the consequences of a financial crisis to a multi-national enterprise operating in the emerging market of Russia; the decision-making processes behind crisis management and the corresponding search for informational grounds to be used as decision justification; and the role of sustainable development in times of crisis. Case overview/synopsis During the 2014–2015 financial crisis in Russia, L’Oréal Russia managed to increase growth by 7%–15%, strengthening its place as the market leader in the country. First, the case illustrates the way Antonio, the General Manager of L’Oréal Russia, had successfully approached this situation by learning from the shortcomings of the company’s strategy during the 2007–2008 crisis and deciding to take a proactive position concerning stakeholders. Then, upon recalling his success story, Antonio suddenly found himself at the dawn of yet another crisis caused simultaneously by the COVID-19 outbreak and oil prices drop. In the face of uncertainty regarding the applicability of prior crisis management strategy for the new economic and social reality of Russia, Antonio was worried about whether the company would be able to achieve the 2020 sustainable development goals of L’Oréal by the end of the year. The case dilemma involves choices Antonio faced during mid-March 2020 about strategy formulation based on an adjustment to the expected consumer behavior patterns and possible need to rethink sustainable development goals priority. Complexity academic level This case is appropriate for an undergraduate or graduate-level program curriculum for courses dedicated to or including topics related to crisis management, doing business in emerging markets, corporate social responsibility and consumer behavior. Before engaging with the case, the students should be aware of basic management- and economics-related concepts and terms, such as strategy, sustainable development, CSR and economic crisis. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

In this work, we discuss the gap between teaching the understanding that engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities is important and showcasing it as a normal practice for different companies and situationsnot just for multinational enterprises (MNEs) or as a case of charity. We highlight an important possible gap in CSR education, which prohibits students and graduates from effectively aligning business objectives with applying technological solutions to social and environmental problems. It is our belief that the poor statistics concerning social entrepreneurship growth in Russia contribute to particular flaws in CSR education for future managers and specialists in medium and large private enterprises, particularly for undergraduate and pre-experience graduate programs. The case of applying modern educational technologies to compensate for the inability to integrate the studied solutions to environmental problems with own goals is described.