COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Consumers in South Korea

Abstract

AbstractAiming at minimizing the potential negative impact of the pandemic on economic growth, the South Korean government implemented a no-lockdown strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The no-lockdown strategy might have helped Korean consumers to maintain their consumption patterns as well as their quality of life to a certain degree, but recent statistics show that South Korean consumers still suffered from lower quality of life and developed new consumption patterns that fit the pandemic lifestyle. Thus, in this chapter, we focus on the following three issues: (1) analyzing the reasons why the pandemic lifestyle could have decreased consumers’ quality of life, (2) introducing new consumption trends that developed in the midst of the pandemic, and (3) identifying the macro factors that might have protected Korean consumers from a steep decrease in their quality of life. Based on the statistics and government and private reports on consumer behaviors and quality of life under the pandemic, we found the following. First, the decrease in consumers’ quality of life under the pandemic was linked with reduced income, psychological stress while facing uncertainty and safety/health risks, and unfulfilled social interactions. Second, in response to these negative conditions under the pandemic, consumers engaged in contactless consumption, anxiety-proof consumption, and egocentric consumption. Third, government policies that ensure regular economic activities, IT and retailing infrastructures that facilitate the seamless online shopping experience, and the population’s digital literacy that empowers consumers to sustain their consumption patterns safeguarded Korean consumers’ quality of life. Based on these findings, we make suggestions to public policymakers and the marketing community at large.KeywordsQuality of lifeCOVID-19Korean consumersIT infrastructureRetailing infrastructureDigital literacy