Evaluating business risks driven by consumer perceptions, attitudes and online shopping behaviour during the Covid-19 era

Abstract

Coronavirus disease has been declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) since March 2020 and has managed to shock societies, health systems, economies and governments all over the world. Due to this unforeseen virus, a knowledge gap of scientific information regarding Covid-19 pandemic and its implications on the business sector persists to exist. This study aims to contribute to the identification of the most prominent risks in the Cypriot market based on customer perceptions, attitudes and online purchasing behaviours, while ultimately providing new information on Cypriot customers that might be useful to businesses, stakeholders and even governments. A primary quantitative research strategy was conducted for the purposes of the study with the use of online questionnaires. This survey's target population consists of any individual aged 18 and above who is a resident of Cyprus. The questionnaire used is consisted of 31 questions which are divided in 4 sections: Demographics, Impact of the Pandemic, Online shopping and Post-pandemic. The main findings of the research imply Financial risk, such as Market and Liquidity risk, Operational such as Process and Model risk, Health and finally Government Risk. It was found that consumers' fear about their families' and their own health has intensified during the pandemic and they are more likely to engage in preventive and avoidant behaviours. Additionally, their three purchase priorities are groceries and food, medical supplies, and clothing. It was discovered that the majority of the sample already makes frequent use of online shopping options, with clothes/accessories, restaurant deliveries and technological equipment being the top three categories of products often purchased online. In general, internet shopping increased during the pandemic and is not estimated to decrease post-pandemic. Finally, associations between fear, preventative and avoidant behaviours, online shopping frequency, concerns while purchasing online and demographics were revealed to be informative and yielded significant relationships.