Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Consumer behaviour and Preference: Modern or Traditional Medicines?

Abstract

Backgorund: The COVID-19 pandemic also affects people's behavior (consumers) in Indonesia. To avoid COVID-19, people often consume natural or herbal medicine in addition to chemical medicines. Objective: To analyze the consumers behavior and preference in purchasing modern and traditional medicines during pre and mid pandemic of Covid-19 in East Kalimantan province. Methods: 540 East Kalimantan residents participated in a cross-sectional online survey from December 2021 to February 2022. The survey instrument included demographic information, 4 items on purchasing modern and traditional medicine pre and mid Covid-19. Results: Purchase of traditional medicine prior to the Covid-19 pandemic was 43.7% and mid the covid-19 was 51.5%. Purchase of modern medicine prior to the Covid-19 pandemic was 59.6% and mid the covid-19 was 72.2%. The wilcoxon test for the purchase of traditional and modern medicines before and during covid is <0.001. Conclusion: Consumers in East Kalimantan experienced changes in behavior before the COVID-19 pandemic compared to mid-COVID-19; the highest change was in purchasing modern medicines, and this change in behavior was statistically significant.