The impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Purchasing Priorities of Generation X and Y Consumers

This paper presents the second part of the research conducted at Riga Technical University aimed to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Generation X (Gen X) and Generation Y (Gen Y) consumer behavior and purchasing priorities. While the changes in consumer behavior have already been analyzed and published earlier [1], the changes in purchasing priorities which might have caused changes in consumer behavior, are going to be studied in this work. The choice of these two generations is not made randomly;on the contrary, it was an intentional selection among other consumers, as they make a very active and prominent part of buyers all over the world. The research methods used are comparative descriptive analysis, Chi-square test and qualitative content analysis of data collected in an electronic survey of respondents from Asia, Europe, and America. The findings show that statistically significant differences between the changes in purchasing priorities of both generations are found for: meat and dairy products, fruit & vegetables, non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks, clothes & shoes, body care & cosmetics, entertainment (pay TV services, computer games, etc.) and transport. Altogether, purchasing priorities of Gen X consumers were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic less than Gen Y consumers. Copyright 2022. © by the International Institute of Informatics and Systemics. All rights reserved.

Changes in Generations X and y Consumer Behavior Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study analyses the changes in consumer behavior caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The emphasis is laid on the comparative analysis of respondents of highly active purchasing ages who represent Generation X (39-58) and Generation Y (18- 38). The set of research methods used in this study consists of comparative descriptive analysis, qualitative content analysis, and Chi-square test of quantitative and qualitative data collected in an electronic survey of 982 respondents from different countries of Asia and Europe. It was revealed that the main changes in consumer behavior are conditioned by personal finances and safety & health related measures intensified during the pandemic. © by the International Institute of Informatics and Systemics.