The impact of coronavirus pandemic on sustainable consumer behaviour

Abstract

The issues of sustainable development began to attract researchers in the second half ofthe twentieth century. Since then, interest in this topic has only increased. The 2030Agenda for Sustainable Development introduced by the United Nations in 2015confirmed that sustainable changes require efforts from people, consumers andcompanies, politicians, economists, and researchers. In particular, special attention is paidto sustainable consumer behaviour. The level of consumption consciousness directlyaffects the entire chain, from the production of goods to their disposal. In this regard, inrecent years, a large number of studies have been conducted on the topic of sustainableconsumer behaviour. However, in 2019 the coronavirus pandemic changed the world.The majority of global population was forced to stay at home because of lockdowns,which is why digitalization received a great impetus for development. By influencingdaily activities, it has also significantly changed our consumer habits. Thus, in this thesis,the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on sustainable consumer behaviour is being studied. Inparticular, attention is paid to cultural differences.

An Assessment of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Consumer Behavior Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process Model

“…We can confirm that the pandemic has had a significant impact on almost all the sustainable development goals of strategic documents and policies of all countries [145,146]. Consumers have become much more aware since the COVID-19 pandemic passed, and this has strong implications for the economy in the future [147]. The results of the study by Aghaei et al, 2021 [148], indicate that manufacturers, retailers, and suppliers should place emphasis on the supply and sale of sustainable products in order to attract customers.…”