THE RELATION BETWEEN THE FEAR OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THE USE OF DIGITAL CHANNEL AND THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Öz

In this study, the effect of the global epidemic of Covid-19 (WHO, 2020a), which was first seen in December 2019 and caused nearly a million deaths on September 2020, without a special vaccine or treatment that affects the whole world, on consumer behavior was investigated. In this study, the relation between the fear of Covid-19 pandemic process on consumers (general fear of the virus and fear of activity), the use of social media (instagram, twitter etc.)and the use of digital channel (online banking, online payment, virtual card, virtual purse, shopping websites) has been tested. In this context, 385 data that have been obtained via Google Formsurvey portal in online survey format by using Likert scale and open-ended questions through the link shared on social networks, (Twitter, LinkedIn) where there are few studies with Turkish consumers, have been analyzed in Google Form and SPSS programmes (Anova, Regression). At the end of the analysis, meaningful relations have been found between the variables offear (general fear of the virus and fear of activity), the use of social media (instagram, twitter etc.), and the use of digital platform. According to the results, the more Covid-19 fear consumers have, the more the rate of their digital channel usage increases (online banking, online payment, virtual card, online shopping etc.) Keywords: Covid-19, Coronavirus, Pandemic, Customer Behavior, Fear, Digital Channel, Social Media JEL Codes: D12: Costumer Economics: Emprical Analysis, I:Health, education and Wellfare, M31: Marketing, Z1: Cultural Economics, Economics Sociology, Economic Anthropology, R2. Houseld Analysis

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Covid-19
• Pandemic
• Customer Behavior

THE RELATION BETWEEN THE FEAR OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THE USE OF DIGITAL CHANNEL AND THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Öz

ÖZ Bu çalışmada ilk kez Aralık 2019’da görülen ve tüm dünyayı etkisi altına alan özel bir aşı veya tedavisi bulunmayan yaklaşık Eylül 2020 tarihi itibariyle bir milyona yakın ölüme neden olan Covid-19 (WHO, 2020f) kürsel salgının tüketici davranışı üzerindeki etkisi araştırılmıştır. Covid-19 Pandemi sürecinin tüketiciler üzerinde Covid-19 korkusu (genel korkusu ve aktivite korkusu), sosyal medya kullanımı (instagram, twitter vb) ve dijital kanal kullanımı (online bankacılık, online ödeme, sanal kart, sanal cüzdan, online alışveriş siteleri) arasındaki ilişki test edilmiştir. Bu bağlamda Türk tüketicilerle az sayıda çalışmanın olduğu konuyla ilgili olarak sosyal ağlarda (Twitter, LinkedIn) paylaşılan bağlantı aracılığıyla likert ölçeği ve açık uçlu sorular kullanılarak online anket formatında Google Form anket portalı üzerinde elde edilen 385 verinin Google Form ve SPSS programında (Anova, Regresyon) analizi yapılmıştır. Yapılan analizler sonucunda korku(genel korkusu ve aktivite korkusu), sosyal medya kullanımı (instagram, twitter vb) ve dijital kanal kullanımı değişkenleri arasında anlamlı ilişkiler bulunmuştur. Araştırma sonuçlarına göre, tüketicilerin Covid-19 korkusu arttıkça dijital kanal kullanımı (online bankacılık, online ödeme, sanal kart vb,online alışveriş) ve sosyal medya kullanım oranı artmaktadır. Jel Kodları: D12: Costumer Economics: Emprical Analysis, I:Helath, education and Wellfare, M31: Marketing, Z1: Cultural Economics, Economics Sociology, Economic Anthropology, R2. Houseld Analysis

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Pandemi
• Dijital Kanal Kullanımı
• SOSYAL MEDYA
• Covid-19
• Tüketici Davranışı

Kaynakça

1. Addo, P.C., Jiaming, F., Kulbo, N.B. & Liangqiang, L. (2020) COVID-19: fear appeal favoring purchase behavior towards personal protective equipment, The Service Industries Journal, 40(7-8), 471-490, https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2020.1751823
2. Ahmad,A. R., Murad, H. R., Gardner, M. R. (2020). The Impact of Social Media on Hyped Panic during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Iraqi Kurdistan Case. JMIR Mental Health 22(5). doi:10.2196/19556
3. Arafat, S. M. Y., Kar, S.K., Menon, V., Alradie-Mohamed A., Mukherjee, S., Kaliamoorthy, C., Kabir, R. (2020). Responsible Factors of Panic Buying: An Observation From Online Media Reports. Front. Public Health 8:603894. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.603894
4. Avery, J. & Edelman, R. (2020).What Customers Need to Hear from You During the COVID Crisis? Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge, Business Research for Business Leaders Retrieved from https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/what-customers-need-to-hear-from-you-during-the-covid-crisis
5. Aytekin, M., & Ekinci, G. (2014). Demographic characteristics of consumer buying behavior effects of environmentally friendly products and an application in Gaziantep. The Business & Management Review 5(1),72-82
6. Bharadwaj, A.,Sanghi,K., Jain, N., Azevedo, D., Chen, C., Kotov, I., Koslow, L. & Witschi, P. (2020). COVID-19 and the Emerging Market Consumer Five Trends to Watch. Retrieved from https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/covid-19-impact-emerging-market-consumers.aspx
7. Blanchard, C. M., Kupperman, J., Sparling, P. B., Nehl, E., Rhodes, R. E., Courneya, K. S., & Baker, F. (2009). Do ethnicity and gender matter when using the theory of planned behavior to understand fruit and vegetable consumption? Appetite 52(1), 15-20.
8. Bland, P., Williams, M., Verschuren, R., Dimond, D. & Newman, D. (2020) Tracking Consumer Behaviour Change Amidst COVID-19 (Coronavirus), iPROSPECT Retrieved from https://www.iprospect.com/en/gb/news-and-views/insights/tracking-consumer-behaviour-amidst-covid-19-27-march-2020/

9. Cialdini, R. (2006). The psychology of Persuasion. Harper Collins e-books. Retrieved from http://elibrary.bsu.az/books_400/N_232.pdf
10. Çetindaş, A. & Çelik, M. (2017) İmalat İşletmelerinin Tedarikçi Entegrasyonları İle Lojistik Performansları Arasındaki İlişki Üzerine Çevresel Belirsizliğin Düzenleyici Rolü. İİSBF Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 4(7), 132-145, ISBN: 2147-8414
11. Davis, S. & Toney, L. (2020). How Coronavirus (COVID-19) Is Impacting Ecommerce. Roi Revolution. Retrieved from https://www.roirevolution.com/blog/2020/11/coronavirus-and-ecommerce/
12. Digital Commerce (2020a). 2020 U.S. Ecommerce Market Report. Retrieved from https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/product/ecommerce-market-report/
13. Dineri, E., Çütçü, İ.(2020). The COVID-19 Process and the Exchange Rate Relation: An Application on Turkey. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-49026/v1 Retrieved from https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-49026/v1
14. Ekici, S. G. (2020). COVID-19 Sürecindeki Sektörel Değişimlerin Tüketici Deneyimlerine Etkisi. Covid-19 Sürecinde Üretim, Yönetim ve Pazarlama. Gazi Kitapevi. Ankara.
15. Ekinci, G., Akyılmaz, B. (2020). Covidinnovation (Covid-Innovation). The Last Technological Innovations and Its Effects On Growth Process, Labor Market and Society. Livre de Lyon.
16. Fetzer, T., Witte, M., Hensel, L., Jachimowicz, J.M., Haushofer, J., Ivchenko, A., Caria, S., Reutskaja, E., Roth, C., Fiorin, S., Gomez, M., Kraft-Todd, G., Goetz, F.M. & Erez Yoeli (2020). Global Behaviors and Perceptions at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Harvard Business School. Retrieved from https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/global-behaviors-and-perceptions-at-the-onset-of-the-covid-19-pandemic?cid=spmailing-32210723-WK%20Newsletter%2005-20-2020%20(1)-May%2020,%202020
17. Forbes, S. (2016). Post-disaster consumption: analysis from the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research. 27(1), 28-42. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09593969.2016.1247010?src=recsys.
18. Genç, S. (2020). Covid-19 Tüketiciler Ne İstiyor? Markalar Ne Yapıyor? Retrieved June 23, 2020 from https://hbrturkiye.com/blog/covid-19-tuketiciler-ne-istiyor-markalar-ne-yapiyor
19. GWI(GlobalWebIndex), Coronavirus Research April 2020. Multi-Market Research Wave 3. Retrieved from Global Web Index website: https://www.globalwebindex.com/hubfs/1.%20Coronavirus%20Research%20PDFs/GWI%20coronavirus%20findings%20April%202020%20-%20Multi-market%20research%20(Release%209).pdf
20. Harvey, J., Erdos, G., Challinor, S., Drew, S., Taylor, S., Ash, R., Ward, S., Gibson, C., Scarr, C., Dixon, F. & Hinde, A. (2001) The relationship between attitudes, demographic factors and perceived consumption of meats and other proteins in relation to the BSE crisis: a regional study in the United Kingdom. Health. Risk & Society, 3(2), 181-197
21. He, H. & Harris, L. (2020). The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on corporate social responsibility and marketing philosophy. J. Bus Res. 116, 176–182, doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.030
22. Işın, F. B. (2020a, May 4). Koronavirüs Salgınında Tüketici Eğilimleri Retrieved from http://feridebaharisin.com/koronavirus-salgininda-tuketici-egilimleri-kobi-aktuel/
23. Işın, F. B. (2020b). Kovid-19 salgınının en çok etkilediği sektörler mercek altında Retrieved from https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/ekonomi/kovid-19-salgininin-en-cok-etkiledigi-sektorler-mercek-altinda/1795310
24. Işın, F. B. (2020c). Kovid-19 Salgını Yeni Markalar İçin Fırsat Yaratabilir Retrieved from https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/ekonomi/kovid-19-salgini-yerli-markalar-icin-firsat-yaratabilir/1826390
25. Kahneman, D. ve Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect Theory: Decision Making Under Risk. Econometrica (pre-1986); 47(2), 263-291 ABI/INFORM Global https://courses.washington.edu/pbafhall/514/514%20Readings/ProspectTheory.pdf
26. Koslow, L., Lee, J., Bharadwaj, A., Sanghi, K. & Barrios, G. (2020a) COVID-19 Consumer Sentiment Snapshot #5: A Story for the Ages Retrieved from https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/covid-consumer-sentiment-survey-snapshot-4-13-20.aspx
27. Koslow, L., Lee, J., Tsusaka, M., Bharadwaj, A., Wegner, M., Sanghi, K. & Jain, N. (2020b). COVID-19 Consumer Sentiment Snapshot: Special Feature—Asia-Pacific A (More) Digital World. Retrieved from https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/covid19-consumer-sentiment-special-feature-asia-pacific.aspx
28. Koslow, L. & Lee, J. (2020). COVID-19 Consumer Sentiment Snapshot #11: Getting to the Other Side. Retrieved from https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/covid-consumer-sentiment-survey-snapshot-6-02-20.aspx
29. Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2018). Principles of Marketing (17 ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education.
30. Larson, L. & H. Shin (2018). Fear During Natural Disaster: Its Impact on Perceptions of Shopping Convenience and Shopping Behavior. Services Marketing Quarterly, 39(4), 293-309. doi: 10.1080 / 15332969.2018.1514795
31. Leverin, A. & Liljander, V. (2006). Does relationship marketing improve customer relationship satisfaction and loyalty? International Journal of Bank Marketing, 24(4), 232-51
32. Lidwell,W., Holden, K., & Butler, J. (2006). Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions and Teach through Design Retrieved from https://books.google.com.tr/books?id=l0QPECGQySYC&pg=PA216&lpg=PA216&dq=Robert+Cialdini+limited+access+principle&source=bl&ots=_P591fBbEu&sig=ACfU3U2iPTVqnlABkX6lwLZEbEu3Erq0SQ&hl=tr&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjkhaO1-7PqAhV0wuYKHbjOBnQQ6AEwDnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=Robert%20Cialdini%20limited%20access%20principle%20cialdini&f=false
33. Loxton, M.; Truskett, R.; Scarf, B.; Sindone, L.; Baldry, G.; Zhao, Y. (2020). Consumer Behaviour during Crises: Preliminary Research on How Coronavirus Has Manifested Consumer Panic Buying, Herd Mentality, Changing Discretionary Spending and the Role of the Media in Influencing Behaviour. J. Risk Financial Manag.13(166).
34. Lufkin, L. (2020, May 04). Amid the coronavirus outbreak, people are flocking to supermarkets worldwide – but are they simply preparing, or irrationally panicking? Coronavirus: The psychology of panic buying. BBC Work Life. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/worklife
35. Mehra, P. (2020). Fear is the key and panic buying is the therapy. Retrieveed from https://www.livemint.com/news/india/fear-is-the-key-and-panic-buying-is-the-therapy-11583946988380.html
36. Meyer, S. (2020). Understanding the COVID-19 Effect on Online Shopping Behavior Retrieved from https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/covid-19-ecommerce/#understanding-panic-buying-and-coronavirus
37. Morgan, J.P. (2020). How COVID–19 Has Transformed Consumer Spending Habit Have consumer spending habits changed for good as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic? Retrieved from https://www.jpmorgan.com/solutions/cib/research/covid-spending-habits
38. Numerator Intelligence (2020a). 4/2 Update: The Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Consumer Behavior Retrieved from https://www.numerator.com/resources/blog/update-impact-coronavirus-covid-19-consumer-behavior-us
39. Numerator Intelligence (2020b). 5-14 Update: The Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Consumer Behavior. Retrieved from https://www.numerator.com/resources/blog/update-impact-coronavirus-covid-19-consumer-behavior-us-9
40. Sneath, J.Z., Lacey, R., & Kennett-Hensel, P.A. (2009). Coping with a natural disaster: Losses, emotions, and impulsive and compulsive buying. Marketing Letters, 20(1), 45-60 doi:10.1007/s11002-008-9049-y
41. Peels, R., Udenio, M., Fransoo, J. C., Wolfs, M., Hendrikx, T., NeoResins, D. S. M., & Fransoo, J. C. (2009). Responding to the Lehman wave: Sales forecasting and supply management during the credit crisis. Dec, 5(2697), 1–20
42. Pica, L. (2020). COVID-19’s Effect on Media Consumption (And 5 Trends to Note) Retrieved from https://www.outbrain.com/blog/coronavirus-digital-advertising-trends/
43. Rasmussen, M., Krølner, R., Klepp, K. I., Lytle, L., Brug, J., Bere, E., & Due, P. (2006). Determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption among children and adolescents: a review of the literature. Part I: Quantitative Studies. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 3(1), 22.
44. Redman, R. (2020). How The Coronavirus Crisis Is Changing Grocery Shopping From Stock Ups To More Online Ordering, Behavioral Shifts Among Shoppers Are Emerging Retrieved from https://www.supermarketnews.com/center-store/how-coronavirus-crisis-changing-grocery-shopping
45. Salesforce (2020). A Survey of 3,500+ Consumers Shows How COVID-19 Will Transform Shopping For the Long Haul. https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/a-survey-of-3500-consumers-shows-how-covid-19-will-transform-shopping-for-the-long-haul/
46. Sheth, J. (2020). Impact of Covid-19 on consumer behavior: Will the old habits return or die? Journal of Business Research, 117 (2020), 280–283.
47. TUİK, (2020). Konularına Göre İstatistikler Adrese Dayalı Nüfus Kayıt Sistemi Retrieved June 26, 2020 from http://www.tuik.gov.tr/PreTablo.do?alt_id=1059
48. WHO (World Healt Organization, 2020a). WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard. Retrieved from https://covid19.who.int/
49. WHO, (2020b). Alert, Verification And Public Health Management of SARS In The Post-Outbreak Period. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/csr/sars/postoutbreak/en/
50. WHO, (2020c). Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/emergencies/mers-cov/en/
51. WHO, 2020d. WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard Retrieved from https://covid19.who.int/
52. WHO, (2020e). Explore the Data. Retrieved from https://covid19.who.int/explorer
53. WHO, (2020f). Rolling Updates on coronaviruses diseases (COVID-19), Summary Retrieved from https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happen
54. Worldometer (2020) Retrieved from worldometers.info/coronavirus/
55. Xiao, H., Zhang, Z. & Zhang, L. (2020). A diary study of impulsive buying during the COVID-19 pandemic. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01220-2
56. Yu, C., & Bastin, M. (2010). Hedonic shopping value and impulse buying behavior in transitional economies: A symbiosis in the Mainland China marketplace. Journal of Brand Management. 18(2), 105–114. https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2010.32
57. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/covid-consumer-sentiment-survey.aspx Retrieved September 04, 2020 from
58. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/covid-consumer-sentiment-survey-snapshot-4-13-20.aspx Retrieved September 11, 2020
59. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/covid-consumer-sentiment-survey-snapshot-3-23-20.aspx Retrieved September 05, 2020
60. https://www.globalwebindex.com/hubfs/1.%20Coronavirus%20Research%20PDFs/GWI%20coronavirus%20findings%20April%202020%20-%20Multi-market%20research%20(Release%209).pdf Retrieved September 04, 2020