COVID-19 hasĀ disrupted our lives in many ways. We have shiftedĀ day-to-day living,Ā foregone activitiesĀ and travel, navigatedĀ distance learning, and found new ways to socially interact. In our ongoing study,Ā we looked closely how greatly consumer shopping patternsĀ and choices have been impacted by COVID-19. Stores have changed their hours, limited the number of people allowed inside at any one time and have experienced unexpected product shortages—leading to dramatic shifts inĀ consumer shopping behaviors.Ā We examine these in a new white paperĀ called ā€œWhat Has COVID-19 Taught UsĀ About Consumer Behavior?ā€

Clean Label Enthusiasts® Community

For the past year,Ā InsightsNowĀ has beenĀ gathering data fromĀ our proprietary community ofĀ trend-setting, forward-thinking shoppers called Clean Label Enthusiasts® (CLE). This has helped usĀ to understand and trackĀ changes in shopping routines and other behavioral reactions in response to the outbreak of the virus.Ā We coalesced these community discoveries in our paper.Ā The CLEĀ consumersĀ we studyĀ regularly inspect the label of every product to make sure that it is aĀ ā€œcleanā€Ā product, and they have distinct points of view about ingredients, claims and brands. Generally, that means that they prefer natural products as opposed to something that uses a lot of chemicals and preservatives and can be considered harmful to the environment or people.Ā 

With a disruption like COVID-19, we asked ourselves whether CLE shoppers might change their behaviors in response to this pandemic?Ā To forecast changes in behavior due to the virus, we realized that we needed to go beyond tracking what these shoppers buy to measure the underlying causes (the whys) in behavioral change.Ā Ā 

Framework to Understand Shopping MotivationsĀ and Behavioral Changes

To understand COVID-19’s impact on shopping behavior, we applied aĀ proprietary behavioral framework we call the Emotions Insight Wheelā„¢ (see image ).Ā We divided the behavioral motivators into four categories to help us understand the behaviors of ourĀ studyĀ participants—and predict the changes that are still to come in response to this and future societal disruptions.

Functional, Social, Sensory and Psychological MotivatorsĀ 

Functional motivators are best understood as basic human needs such as health and safety, manyĀ done out of self-preservation.Ā Social motivatorsĀ affect relationships with family and peers, and feelings about self,Ā speakingĀ to the need for human contact and interaction and our beliefs on what will please others or ourselves.Ā Sensory motivators, in relation to COVID-19 and other events, help people cope with the disruption, andĀ impact choices to enhance our comfort, create excitement and to feel better while managing through the fears and frustrations.Ā Psychological motivators help people to achieve balance in their livesĀ andĀ are closely tied to mood. To learn more about the Emotions Insight Wheelā„¢,Ā reach out to us.Ā Ā