Impacts of Covid-19 pandemic on consumer behavior in Turkey: A qualitative study.

The current study aims to examine consumer behavior in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic and how consumers adapt to this new normal. In this regard, 78 Turkish consumers were interviewed online. Data were analyzed 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 consists of fear, boredom, and perceived risk. 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. Overall, this study provides a more general framework regarding multiple aspects of the pandemic on consumer behavior.

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 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 tendencies 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 different 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 (especially, 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 furniture, 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 workshop (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 pandemic 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 economy 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 history. 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 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 perceived 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 follows. 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 multiple 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 consumption 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.

LITERATURE REVIEW: COVID‐19 AND CONSUMER 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; Milaković, 2021; Prentice et al., 2020; Szymkowiak et al., 2021), few of them are qualitative (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 psychological 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.

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

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, contactless 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 during the pandemic. While expenditures for groceries, snacks, personal care, tobacco, and online shopping of household essentials, entertainment (e.g., Netflix) increased, take‐outs and deliveries decreased in Turkey (Mckinsey, 2020).

METHOD

Sample

The study starts with snowball sampling and continues with theoretical sampling for data collection. 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 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.

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 substantial 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.

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 consumer 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 consumer behavior over the years (Goulding, 2001). Grounded theory is used with constant comparative 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 qualitative 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 perspective can be used in grounded theory studies suggested by Partington (2000). Stimulus indicates 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 perceived 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 marketing 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).

FIGURE 1

The proposed model of consumer behavior during the COVID‐19 pandemic

FINDINGS

Environmental stimuli

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 businesses such as restaurants and coffee shops were closed. Informants' expenditures and savings are affected by the pandemic. Some people lost their jobs. Informants think that they must prioritize 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….”

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.”

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 ….”

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 ….”

Organism

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 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 overindulge 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.”

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 consumers 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 ….”

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 proximity 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 vegetables and fruits … I purchase them from local bazaars by taking precautions.”

Behavioral responses to the pandemic

Psychologists indicate that consumption in certain times such as Christmas shopping can trigger the primal fight or flight mechanism of consumers by creating a perceived survival 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 people 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; therefore, 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.

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 importance 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 consumption 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 prioritize satisfying their essential needs instead of spending their money on luxurious or conspicuous products. One informant noted, “I gave up on my luxury consumption. I don't purchase 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.”.

Decline in leisure activities

Global consumers decrease their out‐of‐home expenditures such as eating out, holidays and leisure 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 barbecue; going to cinemas, theaters, and sports centers have decreased. These activities are replaced 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 pandemic. 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.”

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 hairdresser. 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 informant 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 nonessential 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 supermarkets, they wore their masks and gloves and choose off‐peak hours. Consumers chose online 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 consumption 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.”

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 precautions. 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.”

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.”

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 theaters … 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 pandemic (Naeem, 2020).

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 pandemic, 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 indicators 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 supermarkets. 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 ….”

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 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 informant 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.

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 regulations, 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 consumer goods, avoidance from physical stores, a decline in leisure activities, a decline in shopping 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 consumption 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 themselves 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.

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 & mortars 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 prepare 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 hesitant 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 agreements (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). Businesses 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 collectivistic 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 techniques such as focusing on a calming word or visualizing peaceful images to cope with crises (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.

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 shopping are needed for a better adaptation of older consumers. The size of the sample in the current 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.