How the COVID-19 pandemic has provoked a change in the way Spanish consumers buy. Current situation and future forecasts from an industry perspective

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many activities that were part of people’s daily lives, among other things, consumer behaviours and the way of purchasing. The new consumer shifts as well as the measures taken to combat this virus have aggravated the situation for many industries. However, there were other industries that saw a boost in their demand. This study examines the changes in the Spanish consumer behaviour provoked by COVID-19 depending on the consumer characteristics gender, generational cohort, studies, residence, monthly income and fear to the virus. It also explores the future consumer behaviour or “Next Normal” and its influence in the performance of different industries inside the Spanish Consumer Goods Sector through forecasts. In order to do an effective analysis of the current situation and the future implications for industries, a quantitative research is conducted with the help of a questionnaire, multiple linear regressions and forecasts per industry. The findings achieved in this dissertation are compared to the ones obtained in previous studies to see analogies and divergences. Moreover, the evidence shows that the changes in consumer behaviour depend mainly on the generational cohort and gender of the participants presenting an increase in cleaning products, communication and online entertainment. Contrarily, the fashion and wellbeing industries reveal a decrease. Looking these changes and projecting them in the future, the winner industries in the medium and long-term seem to be cleaning products. Nonetheless, the fashion and wellbeing industries present positive results but are less conclusive, and the communication industry seems to reduce its demand in the future. These outcomes demonstrate that a constant analysis of consumer behaviour has to be done if companies and industries want to be able to react quickly to the new habits and cover future demands.