Consumer behaviour shifts

The new normal heralds a lot of changes in nearly every aspect of modern living, yet how much of these changes have truly taken place?

According to a study done by Accenture in 2020, changes are already becoming apparent. It is a fact of life that the world of today depends not only on the health and well-being of the people, but also on the sustenance of the economy, and to this end the study done on changes in consumer bheaviour yields interesting results. On a short survey done in the first week of April, within months of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, it was found that consumers themselves were aware and worried more about the economic impact of the pandemic rather than the impact on their health.

There are multiple facets to this finding, and the best way Accenture classified their respondents helps clarify one avenue of consideration. There are five new types of consumers in the 'new normal', and they are not classified solely on their age groups.

First there are the ‘Worriers’, who are fearful of the future, anxious and reactionary. They are the ones who boarded up their doors, and took extensive safety measures while staying feverishly abreast of current news on trends and recovery. Their consumption is highly restrictive to basic necessities and hygiene products, and their social interaction is lowered to the bare minimum.

The ‘Individualist’ is the one that takes matters into their own hands and follows the panic trends only because other people are doing so as well. Stockpiling on the essentials is one aspect, while the main driving force of this consumer is to safeguard their status quo in life. While the new normal is inevitable, the Individualist is more critical of the administrative response to the pandemic, even as societal cohesion is not a major driving force for them.

Then comes the ‘Rationalist’ who makes up the larger part of the responses while taking the pandemic in stride. While on the surface the Rationalist holds up the image of ‘keeping calm and carrying on,' they are hyper aware of the news and take pains adjusting to the new circumstances. Their consumption tends to be towards the advised products, such as hygiene and safety items, sustainable essentials, and also tends to be less prone to panic buying. The people of the Maldives as a whole show this characteristic in significance if not abundance, as indicated by the lack of protest to the stringent controls applied by the state to control the crisis.

The ‘Activist’ takes the Rationalist a step further in taking pains to not only change with the times, but to encourage others to do so as well. Panic buying at a minimum, the Activist is driven by communal awareness, tending to look out for their neighbours, providing items where needed and practicing more and more new methods of social distancing. The rising numbers of social media applications for group discussions, communication, and work being accepted in the Maldivian society shows that the trend is veering towards the Activist, yet, when everyone is an Activist, then the niche ceases to exist.

The ‘Indifferent’ ones are those that do not fully comprehend nor believe the effects of the pandemic. They choose to go with 'business as usual', staying the least aware of the pandemic and the instructions given by governments and, according to the findings, higher percentages of Indifferent individuals in an area tend to be followed by a higher number of cases. In the Maldives, this classification goes hand in hand with politics and politicians, and the recent second wave in May 2021 lends credence to this.

By discounting the dangers of the pandemic and its detrimental effect on society, politicians had promoted and cut corners in the Local Government elections earlier this year. By allowing travel without quarantine for the purpose of campaigning, by not changing with the times and forcing the elections to be held in outdated methods, and also promoting the use of the Maldives as a quarantining destination for one of the nations with the highest, uncontrolled infection rate, without proper measures in place — just a few of the missteps that caused so many pandemic related fatalities in such a short time. The members of the public that took advantage of this failure in leadership would fall into the category of the Indifferent, including those who do not truly comprehend the lethality of the virus. However, the number of people who fit into this category is thankfully low, and getting lower, as the consequences of this mindset has been seen and understood by the greater population of the Maldives. This conclusion is drawn by the compliance to the stringent restrictions that followed the month of May, the care taken to test and stay socially responsible and lower the numbers regardless of the ease in travel restrictions — something that may see reversals in the aftermath of extended holidays with no serious enforcement of distancing or preventative practices.

The state of the pandemic development, advancement, and stabilisation in a region seems to play a part in the percentages of the aforementioned personalities in that area. The stage of the pandemic is not linear as it is based on the number of daily cases, which could fluctuate due to various reasons. In their findings in April, Accenture had shown that the Worriers were a decreasing number, being at their lowest in the stabilising of the pandemic numbers. The Individualists increase in number as time goes on, and so does the Rationalists. The number of Activist and Indifferent however, decrease significantly as the cases decrease, which goes to show positive results.

The findings also show that consumers are now more conscious about their purchasing powers, choosing to limit to cost conscious products and sustainability. In addition to this, as was seen in the boom in entrepreneurship in the Maldives, consumers are preferring local. This could be attributed to the interruptions in international shipping, yet the result is wholly positive, allowing more income flow within the local economy. eCommerce is again on the rise, shown by the multitude of food and goods services allowing online shopping and delivery options, which goes to show that the suppliers themselves are adapting to these trying times, with profit to boot.

There needs to be more targeted surveys done in the Maldives to truly understand the specific new normal the nation would be living in within the next few years. The administration aside, the only group who will play the biggest part in this evolution of society, and face the consequences in the lack of change, will be the people themselves. To be aware of trends, to adapt, and to be conscious of both one’s health and the economy, looks to be the only way forward, post COVID-19.