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Health or wealth concern: understanding consumer behaviour pattern in a post Covid-19 world.

Companies that will conquer the storm are the ones who will formulate marketing and production strategies in response to consumers’ existing fears and arising needs.

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Companies that will conquer the storm are the ones who will formulate marketing and production strategies in response to consumers’ existing fears and arising needs.

Photo credit: Anna Shvets.

In the recent case, the covid-19 pandemic has greatly affected consumer behavioral patterns, and the companies that will conquer the storm are the ones who will formulate marketing and production strategies in response to consumers’ existing fears and arising needs.

Even though the uncertainty of the crisis triggered bulk buying in the midst of lockdown fears and curfews, most of the purchases were for essential commodities. This is as result of the incomes lost during the pandemic. Thus to ensure survival, tough choices had to be made. This is when the consumers had to distinguish between life and lifestyle. Even so, restriction in movements has accelerated digital consumption. The consumers have shifted to a digital and omni-channel platform where they can shop online, and their purchases delivered at the comfort of their homes.  

The economy as it is now is more of a health focused economy than a wealth creation economy. Consumers are more likely to conduct their businesses with a company that treats health safety as a priority. This means that there is need for companies to install equipment for sanitization and observe the necessary guidelines to curb the spread of the corona virus.

"The economy as it is now is more of a health focused economy than a wealth creation economy." 

There is no absolute doubt that some of these behaviour patterns will form part of consumers’ routine as we adjust to our post covid-19 new normal. There has been an upsurge in digital consumption, which in the end will affect the advertisement strategies of a company, since companies involved in Ecommerce will have raw data on consumer behaviour.

However, the success of a company to revamp its operations will not only be based on how fancy their brand is advertised across digital platforms but also on how well a consumer can relate to a company’s brand. During the pandemic, consumers have faced looming fears and felt new desires. This has seen the consumers involved in trying out new brands that respond to their immediate needs.

Companies should therefore take advantage of technological advancement and increased digital consumption to gauge the interests of the consumers and to maintain their brand momentum. To do so, Scanad's 'Understanding the new normal consumer' report  suggests that companies should employ the 3R brand response framework. The 3R brand response framework can be implemented in three phases: reacting, responding and renewing the consumer’s needs. The changing consumer behaviour will prompt the companies to diversify their strategies to remain competitive in a post covid-19 market.

Written by

Kelvin Mokaya


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