A A Literature Review on The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Consumer Buying Behavior towards Private Labels

Abstract

During the COVID-19 crises, consumers and the retail industry have continuosly been affected by several challenges, such as increased consumer demand, disrupted supply chain, and the stockpiling of food supplies due to the fear associated with the pandemic. A better understanding of consumer buying behaviour, perceptions and preference for brand is vital for the retail industry  and policymakers to efficiently meet the dynamic and growing complexity of consumer demand. The present paper is intended to contribute to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on consumer buying behaviour. To assess whether COVID-19 had an impact on buying behaviour toward brand type and to establish if there was a shift in the type of brands consumers were buying during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is aimed to explore and synthesize evidence from the literature about the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on consumer buying behaviour towards private labels also known as in-house brands. The literature was reviewed by seraching for past studies that were published during the years 2020 and 2022. In conducting the search for the articles, the main search terms were namely ''consumer buying behavior,'' ''impact of COVID-19,'' and ''private label,'' which showed to have other synonym terms such as ''private brand'', ''store brand,'' ''in-house brand,'' and ''own label.'' Various literature shows that consumer behaviour has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.Consumer buying behaviour during the year under review has changed, wherein it shows it has been affected by various factors, among them cultural, personal, psychological, which as marketers and researchers need to be taken into context. In order to understand consumer buying behaviour, there is a need to consider context and several influencing factors, including psychological, sociological, and economic factors.