Some Have Other Crisis Concerns: Antecedents of Anxiety while Grocery Shopping

Katrin ZULAUF; Ralf WAGNER

Authors

Katrin ZULAUF University of Kassel https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3042-1239
Ralf WAGNER University of Kassel http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0220-2154

Abstract

This study relates consumer behaviour with social disruption theory by identifying the antecedents of anxiety related to grocery shopping. Our research design integrates cognitive, behavioural, self-identity, emotional components in disruptive situations. This study presents a conceptual framework focusing on the cognitive and behavioural antecedents of anxiety relating to grocery shopping in disruptive situations. The conceptual model was validated by fitting a SEM with the FIMIX-PLS algorithm to 228 responses obtained an online questionnaire in Brazil and Germany. Two distinct segments of consumers—concerned and scared consumers—differing by their perceived vulnerability are identified. Concerned consumers are characterized by a strong relation of personal concerns to anxiety. The empirical contribution roots in the identification of two types of customers with respect to concerns and anxiety: (i) the concerned because of their situational awareness and (ii) those with more pressing problems. Thus, our study contributes to consumer behaviour and social disruption theory by clarifying and quantifying the impact of the antecedents of anxiety related to grocery shopping in crises. The resulting data from survey responses are cross-sectional, which means it cannot provide evidence of temporal sequence. Retailers benefit from actively shaping consumers’ emotional experiences through measures. The perceived consumers’ need for coping strategies to reduce their anxiety (e.g., shopping in less frequented stores) can thereby be eliminated

References

Aboelenien, A., Arsel, Z., & Cho, C. H. (2021). Passing the buck versus sharing responsibility: the roles of government, firms, and consumers in marketplace risks during COVID-19. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 6(1), 149-158. https://doi.org/10.1086/711733

Aiolfi, S., Bellini, S., & Pellegrini, D. (2021). Data-driven digital advertising: benefits and risks of online behavioral advertising. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 49(7), 1089-1110. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-10-2020-0410

Arndt, J., Solomon, S., Kasser, T., & Sheldon, K. M. (2008). The urge to splurge: a terror management account of materialism and consumer behaviour. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 14(3), 198–212. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327663jcp1403_2

Bapuji, H., de Bakker, F. G., Brown, J. A., Higgins, C., Rehbein, K., & Spicer, A. (2020). Business and society research in times of the Corona crisis. Business & Society, 59(6), 1067-1078. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650320921172

Bawa, K., & Ghosh, A. (1999). A model of household grocery shopping behaviour. Marketing Letters, 10(2), 149–160. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008093014534

Bedny, G., & Meister, D. (1999). Theory of activity and situation awareness. International Journal of Cognitive Ergonomics, 3(1), 63–72. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327566ijce0301_5

Berube, D. M. (2021). A story about toilet paper: pandemic panic-buying and public resilience. In D. M. Berube (Ed.), Pandemic Communication and Resilience. Risk, Systems and Decisions. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77344-1_9

Betsch, C. (2020). COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring (COSMO). https://projekte.uni-erfurt.de/cosmo2020/cosmo-analysis.html

Black, S., & Glaser -Segura, D. (2020). Supply chain resilience in a pandemic: the need for revised contingency planning. Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy, 8(4), 325-343. https://doi.org/10.2478/mdke-2020-0021

Bratianu, C. (2020). Managing complex crises [Editorial]. Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy, 8(4), 321-323. https://doi.org/10.2478/mdke-2020-0020

Chapman, G. B., & Coups, E. J. (2006). Emotion and preventive health behaviour: worry, regret, and influenza vaccination. Health Psychology, 25(1), 82–90. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0278-6133.25.1.82

Chen, C. Y., Lee, L., & Yap, A. J. (2016). Control deprivation motivates acquisition of utilitarian products. Journal of Consumer Research, 43(6), 1031–1047. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucw068

Cheung, M. F., & To, W. M. (2019). An extended model of value-attitude-behaviour to explain Chinese consumers’ green purchase behaviour. Journal of Retailing & Consumer Services, 50(September), 145–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.04.006

Coulthard, P. (2020). Dentistry and coronavirus (COVID-19) - moral decision-making. British Dental Journal, 228(7), 503–505. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-020-1482-1

Darma, S., & Darma, D. C. (2020). Food security management for Indonesia: the strategy during the Covid-19 pandemic. Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy, 8(4), 371-381. https://doi.org/10.2478/mdke-2020-0024

Darrat, A. A., Darrat, M. A., & Amyx, D. (2016). How impulse buying influences compulsive buying: the central role of consumer anxiety and escapism. Journal of Retailing & Consumer Services, 31(July), 103–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2016.03.009

Dittmar, H., & Bond, R. (2010). I want it and I want it now: using a temporal discounting paradigm to examine predictors of consumer impulsivity. British Journal of Psychology, 101(4), 751–776. https://doi.org/10.1348/000712609X484658

Dolnicar, S., & Grün, B. (2007). Assessing analytical robustness in cross‐cultural comparisons. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 1(2), 140-160. https://doi.org/10.1108/17506180710751687

Duan, W., Gu, B., & Whinston, A. B. (2008). The dynamics of online word-of-mouth and product sales—an empirical investigation of the movie industry. Journal of Retailing, 84(2), 233–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2008.04.005

Elmashhara, M. G., & Soares, A. M. (2020). The influence of atmospherics general interior variables on shoppers’ emotions and behaviour. International Review of Retail, Distribution & Consumer Research, 30(4), 437–459. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593969.2020.1724556

England, J. L., & Albrecht, S. L. (1984). Boomtowns and social disruption. Rural Sociology, 49(2), 230–246. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ300275

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. (2020). Homepage | European Centre for disease prevention and control. Last modified November 3, 2020. Accessed November 3, 2020. https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en.

Fortin, D., & Uncles, M. (2011). The first decade: emerging issues of the twenty‐first century in consumer marketing. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 28(7), 472–475. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363761111194767

Grewal, D., & Roggeveen, A. L. (2020). Understanding retail experiences and customer journey management. Journal of Retailing, 96(1), 3–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2020.02.002

Gudykunst, W. B., & Hammer, M. R. (1988). The influence of social identity and intimacy of interethnic relationships on uncertainty reduction processes. Human Communication Research, 14(4), 569–601. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1988.tb00168.x

Hair Jr., J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2017). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/a-primer-on-partial-least-squares-structural-equation-modeling-pls-sem/book244583

Halan, D. (2021). E-tailers adaptation during early stages of “social distancing causing crises”: an exploratory study. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 49(11), 1554-1570. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-11-2020-0475

Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2016). Testing measurement invariance of composites using partial least squares. International Marketing Review, 33(3), 405–431. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMR-09-2014-0304

Herhausen, D., Kleinlercher, K., Verhoef, P. C., Emrich, O., & Rudolph, T. (2019). Loyalty formation for different customer journey segments. Journal of Retailing, 95(3), 9–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai. 2019.05.001

Herrington, D. J., & Capella, L.M. (1995). Shopper reactions to perceived time pressure. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 23(12), 13-20. https://doi.org/10.1108/09590559510103963

Herzenstein, M., Horsky, S., & Posavac, S. S. (2015). Living with terrorism or withdrawing in terror: perceived control and consumer avoidance. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 14(4), 228–236. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1511

Idris, H. (2020). Utilization of teleconsultation: mitigation in handling mental disorders in the COVID-19 era. International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction, 19(6), 2320-2322. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00323-y

Inman, J. J., & Nikolova, H. (2017). Shopper-facing retail technology: a retailer adoption decision framework incorporating shopper attitudes and privacy concerns. Journal of Retailing, 93(1), 7–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2016.12.006

Islam T, Pitafi A. H., Arya V., Wang Y., Akhtar N., Mubarik S., & Xiaobei L. (2020). Panic buying in the COVID-19 pandemic: a multi-country examination. Journal of Retailing & Consumer Services, 59(3), 102-357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102357

Iyer, G. R., Blut, M., Xiao, S. H., & Grewal, D. (2020). Impulse buying: a meta-analytic review. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 48(3), 384–404. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-019-00670-w

Jaiswal, D., & Kant, R. (2018). Green purchasing behaviour: a conceptual framework and empirical investigation of Indian consumers. Journal of Retailing & Consumer Services, 41(March), 60–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.11.008

Johnstone, M.‑L., & Tan, L. P. (2015). Exploring the gap between consumers’ green rhetoric and purchasing behaviour. Journal of Business Ethics, 132(2), 311–328. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2316-3

Kazancoglu, I., & Demir, B. (2021). Analysing flow experience on repurchase intention in e-retailing during COVID-19. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 49(11), 1571-1593. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-10-2020-0429

Kokolakis, S. (2017). Privacy attitudes and privacy behaviour: a review of current research on the privacy paradox phenomenon. Computers & Security, 64, 122–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2015.07.002

Kwon, M., Manikas, A. S., & Barone, M. J. (2020). (Not) near and dear: COVID-19 concerns increase consumer preference for products that are not “near me”. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1086/711840

Laato, S., Islam, A., Farooq, A., & Dhir, A. (2020). Unusual purchasing behaviour during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: the stimulus-organism-response approach. Journal of Retailing & Consumer Services, 57, 102224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102224

Leventhal, H., Diefenbach, M., & Leventhal, E. A. (1992). Illness cognition: using common sense to understand treatment adherence and affect cognition interactions. Cognitive Therapy & Research, 16(2), 143–163. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01173486

Lucia-Palacios, L., Pérez-López, R., & Polo-Redondo, Y. (2021). Antecedents and consequences of stress in retailing: environmental expectations and promoter scoring. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 49(5), 616-635. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-03-2020-0117

Mathur, A., Moschis, G. P., & Lee, E. (2003). Life events and brand preference changes. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 3(2), 129–141. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.128

McIntyre, N., & Roggenbuck,J. W. (1998). Nature/person transactions during an outdoor adventure experience: a multi-phasic analysis. Journal of Leisure Research, 30(4), 401–422. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.1998.11949841

Mellers, B. A., & McGraw, A. P. (2001). Anticipated emotions as guides to choice. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10(6), 210-214. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00151

Mellers, B., Schwartz, A., & Ritov, I. (1999). Emotion-based choice. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 128(3), 332-345. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.128.3.332

Mocanu, R. (2020). The expanding role of customer knowledge management and brand experience during the pandemic crisis. Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy, 8(4), 357-369. https://doi.org/10.2478/mdke-2020-0023

Mukerjee, K. (2020). Impact of self-service technologies in retail banking on cross-buying and word-of-mouth. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 48(5), 485-500. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-08-2019-0261

Naeem M. (2021a). Do social media platforms develop consumer panic buying during the fear of Covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Retailing & Consumer Services, 58, 102-226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102226

Naeem, M. (2021b). Understanding the customer psychology of impulse buying during COVID-19 pandemic: implications for retailers. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 49(3), 377-393. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-08-2020-0317

Naja, F., & Hamadeh, R. (2020). Nutrition amid the COVID-19 pandemic: a multi-level framework for action. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 74(8), 1117-1121. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-0634-3

Nicola, M., Alsafi, Z., Sohrabi, C., Kerwan, A., Al-Jabir, A., Iosifidis, C., . . . Agha, R. (2020). The socio-economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19): a review. International Journal of Surgery, 78(June), 185–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsu.2020.04.018

Okazaki, S., Eisend, M., Plangger, K., de Ruyter, K., & Grewal, D. (2020). Understanding the strategic consequences of customer privacy concerns: a meta-analytic review. Journal of Retailing, 96(4), 458-473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2020.05.007

Ontrup, J., Ritter, H., Scholz, S. W., & Wagner, R. (2009). Detecting, assessing and monitoring relevant topics in virtual information environments. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, 21(3), 415–427. https://doi.org/10.1109/TKDE.2008.149

Padel, S., & Foster, C. (2005). Exploring the gap between attitudes and behaviour. British Food Journal, 107(8), 606–625. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070700510611002

Pham, M. T., & Sun, J. J. (2020). On the experience and engineering of consumer pride, consumer excitement, and consumer relaxation in the marketplace. Journal of Retailing, 96(1), 101–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2019.11.003

Pomerance, J., Light, N., & Williams, L. E. (2020). In these uncertain times: Fake news amplifies the desires to save and spend in response to COVID-19. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1086/711836

Puccinelli, N. M., Goodstein, R. C., Grewal, D., Price, R., Raghubir, P., & Stewart, D. (2009). Customer experience management in retailing: understanding the buying process. Journal of Retailing, 85(1), 15-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2008.11.003

Putrevu, S., & Ratchford, B. T. (1997). A model of search behavior with an application to grocery shopping. Journal of Retailing, 73(4), 463–486. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-4359(97)90030-0

Raghunathan, R., Pham, M. T., & Corfman, K. P. (2006). Informational properties of anxiety and sadness, and displaced coping. Journal of Consumer Research, 32(4), 596–601. https://doi.org/10.1086/500491

Rahimah, A., Khalil, S., Dang, H., & Cheng, J. M. S. (2020). The terror of death and consumers’ sustainability attitudes. Journal of Retailing & Consumer Services, 57, 102196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102196.

Rahimah, A., Khalil, S., Cheng, J. M. S., Tran, M. D., & Panwar, V. (2018). Understanding green purchase behavior through death anxiety and individual social responsibility: mastery as a moderator. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 17(5), 477–490. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1733

Rindfleisch, A., Burroughs, J. E., & Wong, N. (2009). The safety of objects: materialism, existential insecurity, and brand connection. Journal of Consumer Research, 36(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1086/595718

Roggeveen, A., & Sethuraman, R. (2020). How the COVID pandemic may change the world of Retailing. Journal of Retailing, 96(2), 169–171. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc7183942/

Sahi, G. K., Sekhon, H. S., & Quareshi, T. K. (2016). Role of trusting beliefs in predicting purchase intentions. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 44(8), 860-880. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-10-2015-0157

Sarstedt, M., Schwaiger, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2009). Do we fully understand the critical success factors of customer satisfaction with industrial goods? - Extending Festge and Schwaiger’s model to account for unobserved heterogeneity. Journal of Business Market Management, 3(3), 185–206. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12087-009-0023-7

Slovic, P., Finucane, M., Peters, E., & MacGregor, D. G. (2002). Rational actors or rational fools: implications of the affect heuristic for behavioral economics. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 31(4), 329-342. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-5357(02)00174-9

Spence, C., Puccinelli, N. M., Grewal, D., & Roggeveen, A. L. (2014). Store atmospherics: a multisensory perspective. Psychology & Marketing, 31(7), 472-488.

Sreen, N., Purbey, S., & Sadarangani, P. (2018). Impact of culture, behavior and gender on green purchase intention. Journal of Retailing & Consumer Services, 41, 177–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.12.002

Thomas, A., & Garland, R. (2004). Grocery shopping: list and non‐list usage. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 22(6), 623–635. https://doi.org/10.1108/02634500410559015

Tongco, M. D. C. (2007). Purposive sampling as a tool for informant selection. Ethnobotany Research & Applications, 5(1), 147-158.

Vakulenko, Y., Shams, P., Hellström, D., & Hjort, K. (2019). Service innovation in e-commerce last mile delivery: mapping the e-customer journey. Journal of Business Research, 101, 461-468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.01.016

Valerio, M. A., Rodriguez, N., Winkler, P., Lopez, J., Dennison, M., Liang, Y., & Turner, B. J. (2016). Comparing two sampling methods to engage hard-to-reach communities in research priority setting. BMC medical research methodology, 16(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-016-0242-z

Van Riper, C. J., Lum, C., Kyle, G. T., Wallen, K. E., Absher, J., & Landon, A. C. (2020). Values, motivations, and intentions to engage in pro-environmental behaviour. Environment & Behavior, 52(4), 437–462. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916518807963

Wei, S., Ang, T., & Jancenelle, V. E. (2018). Willingness to pay more for green products: the interplay of consumer characteristics and customer participation. Journal of Retailing & Consumer Services, 45(November), 230–238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2018.08.015

Wilson-Nash, C., Goode, A., & Currie, A. (2020). Introducing the socialbot: a novel touchpoint along the young adult customer journey. European Journal of Marketing, 54(10), 2621-2643. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-07-2019-0555

Yazdanpanah, M., & Forouzani, M. (2015). Application of the theory of planned behaviour to predict Iranian students’ intention to purchase organic food. Journal of Cleaner Production, 107, 342–352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.071

Yook, K. H., Choi, J. H., & Suresh, N. C. (2018). Linking green purchasing capabilities to environmental and economic performance: the moderating role of firm size. Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management, 24(4), 326–337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pursup.2017.09.001

Zheng, R., Shou, B., & Yang, J. (2020). Supply disruption management under consumer panic buying and social learning effects. Omega, 101, 102238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omega.2020.102238

Zulauf, K., & Wagner, R. (2021). Online shopping therapy: if you want to be happy, shop around. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/08961530.2021.1955425

Zulauf, K., Schneider Cechella, F., & Wagner, R. (2021). The bidirectionality of buying behavior and risk perception: an exploratory study. The International Review of Retail, Distribution & Consumer Research, 31(5), 566-590. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593969.2021.1936596

Some Have Other Crisis Concerns: Antecedents of Anxiety while Grocery Shopping

Authors

Abstract

References

Downloads

Published

Versions

How to Cite

Issue

Section

License

Information