Consumer coping during the COVID-19 pandemic: a perspective of fashion shopping

Abstract

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has brought dramatic life changes to consumers. From the perspective of fashion shopping, this study aims to provide an understanding of how consumers have coped with the pandemic to maintain their physical and mental well-being.Design/methodology/approachUtilizing an observational research method, this study extracted and analyzed text data from Twitter, focusing on fashion consumption-related tweets posted by consumers in May 2020. Content analysis was employed to reveal consumers' coping strategies during the pandemic.FindingsThrough fashion shopping, consumers have employed various strategies to cope with the problems incurred during the pandemic as well as the associated emotional stress. Specifically, problem-focused strategies included both active coping and restraint coping. Emotion-focused strategies included positive reinterpretation, acceptance, mental disengagement and seeking social support.Originality/valueTheoretically, this study provides empirical evidence for the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) Inventory in the context of using fashion shopping as a venue to cope with a pandemic. Managerial implications are also provided for the fashion industry as well as human service providers to better prepare for future public health crises.