Author - Thomas DOBBELSTEIN

This study aimed to investigate whether consumers’ personal involvement with the COVID-19 pandemic led to hedonic or utilitarian buying motives, and how these buying motives might encourage impulse or planned buying behaviour. Furthermore, it examined whether these influences differed between a developed country (Germany) and a developing country (South Africa). The methodology involved a quantitative, descriptive, cross sectional survey, using a questionnaire based on the literature and sent by e-mail to a quota sample from an online-accessed consumer panel. Useable responses of 548 each from the two countries were analysed, showing that respondents with high levels of involvement with COVID-19 also show high levels of hedonic motivation, whereas utilitarian motivation appeared less important and not linked to a greater involvement with COVID-19. The study also found that a high hedonic motivation is associated with more impulsive shopping, whereas utilitarian motivation is not. The...