Catastrophic events such as 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, or COVID-19 are events that transform society. These changes in history define behaviour, personality, and consumption patterns (Zwanka and Buff, 2021). As people look
at shopping as a form of identity (Ertekin, Oflac and Serbetcioglu, 2020), it is important for retailers to understand the concepts regarding consumer habits to properly study the market behaviour as customers’ wants and needs change over time (Ratneshwar et al., 1999).
During economic recessions, customers are forced to adopt an anti-consumption attitude for non-voluntary reasons such as poverty. Consumers are quick to switch brands on the basis of price and reduce the frequency as well as the
quantity of products purchased (Puelles, Diaz-Bustamanete and Carcelén, 2016; Ertekin, Oflac and Serbetcioglu, 2020). The 2022 cost of living crisis, for example, affected consumer behaviour (Waite, 2022), with increased costs seriously
influencing decision making (Experian, 2022). However, part of the population was resilient to reduce spending, and only did so on a temporary basis, with the idea of going back to normal in a short period of time. (Experian, 2022; Waite, 2022). This is why keeping a good relationship with their customers is important for retailers, particularly during periods of financial uncertainty (Anderson et al., 2021). But brand loyalty must be accompanied by convenience or service satisfaction (Ramanathan et al., 2017). Tailoring to individual customer needs is important for consumers to feel close to a brand (Winters and Ha, 2012).
For this reason, marketing expenses have a direct impact on a retailer’s success (O'Malley, Story and O'Sullivan, 2011). Investing in advertising, new products, research and product development during recessions can in fact improve a
business’ competitive advantage. As customers have a need for security and reliability during economic downturns, marketing strategies can address those fears by creating brands they can trust (O'Malley, Story and O'Sullivan, 2011;
Doucette and Daco, 2022). Selecting specific brands with the idea of products lasting longer does persuade people to spend more money whilst buying less (Butler and Britten, 2022). Effective marketing campaigns will champion these
uncertain times to better connect and understand their customers (Anderson et al., 2021).
To highlight the necessity to identify how there are certain behaviours that are a natural consequence of involuntary scarceness, this dissertation will investigate how loyal customers are to brands during a period of financial uncertainty, as well as how retailers prepare for the change in consumer behaviour.
