Consumer Behavior after COVID-19: Interpersonal Influences, eWOM and Digital Lifestyles in More Diverse Youths

Abstract

COVID-19 caused a major shift in consumer behavior online at companies that focused on offering products to a traditional and more diverse (LGBTTTQI+) market. For this reason, an online survey was carried out through the digital platforms Facebook and LinkedIn in the last months of the pandemic (COVID-19) to determine how interpersonal influences and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) affect the intention to buy back online products and services, even after the pandemic. Data was collected from 384 consumers and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), confirming that both interpersonal influences and electronic word of mouth explain repurchase intention, and that electronic word of mouth had the greatest influence. Theoretical and practical implications include insights for social media marketers, and evidence of a dramatic shift in the use of technology by consumers from COVID-19 to new market segments. The findings showed that the behavior of consumers on these two social platforms was inclined to more diverse user; 50% of the users who responded to the survey were oriented to a more socio-diverse community.