How Do Anxiety about Contracting COVID-19 and the Perceived Risk of Financial Loss from COVID-19 Interact to Increase Consumer Impulse Buying?

Abstract

While preceding research has focused on various aspects of the pandemic, there is still a need for further exploration of the relationship between preventive behavior against the pandemic and impulse buying. This study fills a gap by exploring how the fear of contracting COVID-19 and perceived financial losses from the pandemic interplay, and how they combine to drive impulse buying behavior, while considering the mediating role of preventive behavior. To investigate our hypothesis, we collected data from 760 respondents in South Korea through in-person survey. Using the PROCESS macro in SPSS model-58, we analyzed the data and found that the mediator role of preventive behavior and moderating role of perceived financial loss risk from COVID-19 significantly influence the relationship between the fear of COVID-19 infection and impulse buying. Specifically, when individuals perceive a higher risk of infection, they are more likely to engage in preventive behaviors. However, the negative relationship between preventive behavior and impulsive purchases weakens when there is a high perceived risk of financial loss.