Special Issue "The Evolution of Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Business: Evidence from COVID-19"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 October 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Hong-Youl Ha
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of International Trade, Dongguk University, Seoul 04620, Korea
Interests: the evolution of brand; the development of relationship stages; the sustainability of environmental-friendly prod-ucts; and the longitudinal research methodology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the world as we know it. For example, consumer attitudes, behaviors, and purchasing patterns are changing and many of these new trends will remain after the COVID-19 pandemic. As a consequence, new consumer behaviors will transform the B2B and B2C industry’s future.

This Sustainability Special Issue on the evolution of consumer behavior in the sustainable business, considering a post-COVID-19 context and challenges, will accept (but is not limited to) articles on the following topics:

  • Rising untact behavior during the pandemic
  • Changing social practices during the pandemic
  • Changing purchasing patterns during the pandemic
  • Cycle of customer satisfaction during the pandemic
  • Impact on and shifts in customer reviews during the pandemic
  • Global comparative evidence during the pandemic

We also welcome contributions towards the following overarching questions.

  1. What are examples of the evolution of consumer behavior in global business due to COVID-19? How powerful is this ongoing evolution?
  2. What can be done to facilitate psychologically and practically just consumer behavior in global business in the post-COVID-19 era?
  3. What can we learn from the past to inform future consumer behavior in global business?
  4. What different cycles of customer satisfaction have been developed in global business that can be applied to the evolution of customer satisfaction to evaluate offline and online local marketplaces during pandemic?
  5. What methodological approaches are best suited for studying and understanding the evolution of consumer behavior from a sustainable perspective?

Prof. Dr. Hong-Youl Ha
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • consumer behavior
  • cycle of satisfaction
  • attitude change
  • the evolution of shopping pattern
  • COVID-19

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

Article
Service Quality and Satisfaction in the Context of Varying Levels of Restaurant Image and Customer Orientation during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9694; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179694 (registering DOI) - 29 Aug 2021
Abstract
Extant hospitality literature has tended to view the dimensions of service quality as primarily complementary or differential in nature. However, studies of the similarities and differences between the two types of service quality have been limited. This study investigates how restaurant image and [...] Read more.
Extant hospitality literature has tended to view the dimensions of service quality as primarily complementary or differential in nature. However, studies of the similarities and differences between the two types of service quality have been limited. This study investigates how restaurant image and customer orientation affect the relative importance of both process and outcome service quality in customer satisfaction, focusing on restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a moderated moderation process and macro-based approach (M = 3), our findings show that process service quality impacts restaurant satisfaction; however, they also reveal that outcome service quality has a stronger main effect on restaurant satisfaction than process service quality. In particular, the findings show that the negative impact of the relationship between process (or outcome) service quality and restaurant image on restaurant satisfaction is insignificant when customer orientation is low. On the other hand, the same relationship has an even stronger positive effect on restaurant satisfaction when customer orientation is high. These findings have implications for restaurants’ efforts to develop and improve service quality, and bolster customer orientation, helping them identify more effective strategic approaches during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Full article
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Article
Factors Affecting the Growth of E-Shopping over the COVID-19 Era in Hanoi, Vietnam
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9205; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169205 - 17 Aug 2021
Viewed by 355
Abstract
In response to insufficient understanding of the determinants of change in e-shopping behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries, this paper used the data from 355 respondents, collected in Hanoi during the social distancing period (April 2020), to explore the factors associated [...] Read more.
In response to insufficient understanding of the determinants of change in e-shopping behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries, this paper used the data from 355 respondents, collected in Hanoi during the social distancing period (April 2020), to explore the factors associated with shopping online more frequently (i.e., representing the growth of e-shopping) for five product types (food, medical products, clothing, electronics, and books) in Hanoi, Vietnam. The results showed that nearly 80% of the respondents engaged in e-shopping more frequently than they did before the outbreak of COVID-19. As regards shopping online more frequently in general (i.e., for at least one product type), females were more likely to do so. In-store shopping enjoyment and a decrease in income were a facilitator and a deterrent, respectively. Regarding specific product types, completely working from home had a positive association with more frequent e-purchasing for electronics. Fear of disease encouraged higher frequencies of e-shopping for food and medical products. Notably, the shortage of physical supply was not a determinant of buying any product type online more frequently. As for the implications of our findings, supporting and encouraging low-income shoppers, older persons, and females to engage in e-shopping is necessary to limit the detrimental effects of the pandemic on their lives. The growth of internet purchasing expresses a need to manage the development of urban delivery services, to limit the uncontrolled proliferation of motorcycles. E-shopping requires delivery to complete the online-to-offline process; therefore, protecting the health of delivery drivers to ensure the safety of the whole online shopping process would be necessary. Full article
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Article
Empirical Evidence of Risks of Public-Loan Finance: Comparison between Self-Employers and SMEs
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6426; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116426 - 04 Jun 2021
Viewed by 644
Abstract
Public financial loans are very complex. However, previous research has largely neglected the effective management of public funds. More specifically, how to maintain the optimal balance between small businesses and loan providers for managing public funds over time remains unclear. Moreover, little is [...] Read more.
Public financial loans are very complex. However, previous research has largely neglected the effective management of public funds. More specifically, how to maintain the optimal balance between small businesses and loan providers for managing public funds over time remains unclear. Moreover, little is known about how public funds should be managed to increase survival periods, which are directly related to these institutions’ financial stability. This study tests the difference between public fund borrowers and providers from perspectives on their long-term survival and compares survival periods using 499,554 guaranteed loans. The findings show that 85% guarantee ratios and high credit ratings help increase survival periods. The findings also show that individual-based borrowers, such as self-employers, have a strong tendency to survive much longer than SMEs. Finally, our study extends the literature by offering a risk theory perspective on public financial institutions that explains how guarantee ratios and credit ratings affect the survival periods of borrowers, resulting in these institutions’ financial soundness. Full article
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Article
Sustainable Green Product Adoption Test Using Logistic Regression: Comparison of Glass and Electronic Products
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 5084; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13095084 - 01 May 2021
Viewed by 547
Abstract
Marketing literature emphasizes the importance of green product adoption for environmental sustainability. However, consumers’ evaluations of the key factors (for adopting green products) differ in critical ways. Drawing on a consumer–marketing interface, this study uses a binary logit model to investigate how consumers [...] Read more.
Marketing literature emphasizes the importance of green product adoption for environmental sustainability. However, consumers’ evaluations of the key factors (for adopting green products) differ in critical ways. Drawing on a consumer–marketing interface, this study uses a binary logit model to investigate how consumers adopt two different types of products (e.g., glass and electronic). The results show that the impacts of the twelve factors behind consumer adoption of green products vary widely between glass and electronic products. Specifically, the analysis identifies four factors (eco-labeling, peer groups, cultural values, and environmental awareness) that have no influence on consumer adoption intentions. It also shows that males are more likely to have positive adoption intentions than females for both glass and electronic products. The authors conclude this paper by discussing the implications of these important findings for research and practice. Full article
Article
Analyzing Restaurant Customers’ Evolution of Dining Patterns and Satisfaction during COVID-19 for Sustainable Business Insights
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4981; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094981 - 29 Apr 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 652
Abstract
Observing and interpreting restaurant customers’ evolution of dining patterns and satisfaction during COVID-19 is of critical importance in terms of developing sustainable business insights. This study describes and analyzes customers’ dining behavior before and after the pandemic outbreak by means of statistically aggregating [...] Read more.
Observing and interpreting restaurant customers’ evolution of dining patterns and satisfaction during COVID-19 is of critical importance in terms of developing sustainable business insights. This study describes and analyzes customers’ dining behavior before and after the pandemic outbreak by means of statistically aggregating and empirically correlating 651,703 restaurant-user-generated contents posted by diners during 2019–2020. Twenty review topics, mostly food, were identified by latent Dirichlet allocation, whereas analysis of variation and rating-review regression were performed to explore whether and why customers became less satisfied. Results suggest that customers have been paying fewer visits to restaurants since the outbreak, assigning lower ratings, and showing limited evidence of spending more. Interestingly, queuing, the most annoying factor for restaurant customers during normal periods, turns out to receive much less complaint during COVID-19. This study contributes by discovering business knowledge in the context of COVID-19 based on big data that features accessibility, relevance, volume, and information richness, which is transferable to future studies and can benefit additional population and business. Meanwhile, this study also provides practical suggestions to managers regarding the framework of self-evaluation, business mode, and operational optimization. Full article
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