2022 Volume 10 Pages 2-18
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on consumer behavior and lifestyle. After the outbreak, people increased their daily spending at supermarkets and drugstores near their homes but reduced it on dining out and entertainment activities around urban offices. Additionally, they increased their use of online shopping and cashless payments. This study examines how consumer behavior changed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of expenditure items, store categories, payment methods, and purchase times, as well as the attributes of consumers associated with these changes using high-frequency purchasing panel data in Japan. In conclusion, since the outbreak of the pandemic, consumption in general has declined, especially amongst high-income consumers who save because of fewer opportunities for face-to-face consumption. The study also shows that single young women have increased their online consumption, while the gender gap in purchasing at supermarkets, drugstores and department stores has decreased. Furthermore, we find that there is generally no significant relationship between family structure and consumption. This may suggest that apart from government cash transfers, ensuring consumption opportunities is important for the recovery of consumption.
