Online consumer behaviour during a pandemic: : A study on the effects of Covid-19 on online consumers in Sweden.

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Online consumer behaviour during a pandemic:

A study on the effects of Covid-19 on online consumers in

Sweden.

MASTER

THESIS WITHIN: Business Administration NUMBER OF CREDITS: 15

PROGRAMME OF STUDY: International Marketing AUTHOR: Haris Kurtisi and Melis Alver

TUTOR: Tomas Müllern JÖNKÖPINGMay 2021

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Master Thesis in Business Administration

Title: Online consumer behaviour during a pandemic:

A study on the effects of Covid-19 on online consumers in Sweden. Authors: Haris Kurtisi and Melis Alver

Tutor: Tomas Müllern Date: 2021-05-24

Key terms: Consumer Behaviour, Covid-19, Online Shopping, Theory of Planned Behaviour, Qualitative, Sweden

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to everyone that has been involved in this entire process. Firstly, we would like to thank our tutor Tomas Müllern for his guidance during the whole thesis writing process. He has shown a genuine interest in our research, which has helped us perform to the best of our ability. We would also like to thank the other thesis groups for the valuable feedback we received from them during the seminars.

Secondly, we would like to express gratitude to all the interviewees for their time and input contributing to this thesis. This thesis could not have been conducted without the valuable insights and information received from you.

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Abstract

Background: The covid-19 pandemic has caused many changes in the world this last

year. One of the changes has been the altering in consumer behaviour among people. One of the largest altering's in this behaviour has been the shift in buying products online more than in previous years. There is a need to know exactly what is causing these behavioural changes in online shopping and it is even of higher importance to consider and evaluate the impact if these behavioural changes will still be present among online consumers post the pandemic.

Purpose: From an online consumers’ point of view, explore the online shopping behavioural

changes in Sweden that could be caused by Covid-19 and investigate through the Theory of Planned Behaviour if the changes would affect consumers’ future online shopping intention in Sweden after the pandemic.

Method: This thesis followed a qualitative approach with 12 semi-structured interviews conducted with the online consumer in Sweden. It has viewed through a positivism research philosophy incorporating both deductive and inductive elements.

Conclusion: The results show that covid-19 caused online shopping increment during

the pandemic, but participants’ intentions do not show a sign that their online shopping behaviour changes would be affected by the changes of covid-19 when the pandemic ends. Their future intention to online shop is rather affected by other factors derived from the TBP-model such as Attitude toward behaviour and Perceived behaviour control.

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Figures

Figure 1 ... 3 Figure 2 ... 20 Figure 3 ... 21 Figure 4 ... 51

Tables

Table 1 ... 27 Table 2 ... 30

Graphs

Graph 1.. ... 4 Graph 2………...5 Graph 3.. ... 34

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1. Introduction

1.1 Research Background 1.1.1 Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour is the broad study of how consumers, goods or organisations select, buy and use ideas, goods, and services to satisfy their needs. It is described as consumers' actions and decision processes who purchase goods and services (Kollat et al., 1970). The study of consumer behaviour assumes that consumers play various roles in the marketplace. Wrenn, Loundon and Bitta (2014) defined it as the process and physical activity which consumer engage in when evaluating, acquiring, using as well as disposing of goods or services. Naturally, various factors influence consumer behaviour. It could be personal factors such as age and gender, marketing factors such as price and promotion, social factors such as reference group and family and so forth. (Kollat et al., 1970; London & Bitta. 2014). Consumer behaviour is also subject to constant change is not a static study. The difference in buying behaviour among consumers can also be credited to factors such as a changed income level or education level as well as natural reasons like age. The consumer prefers one type of brand, for example, at a young age and another kind of brand when he/she is older. Since the world has been forced to alter itself after the virus. Social distancing is now a daily occurrence in many countries, causing various forms of change in our society; an example is how schools have been forced to adjust their teaching systems, businesses have been forced to close, among other concerns. Naturally, consumer behaviour has also been altered (Tuncer, 2020). This next section will try to explore the effect the pandemic has on general consumer behaviour in society.

1.1.2 Consumer Behaviour in the Pandemic

According to Laato et al. (2020), due to the recent pandemic of Covid-19, the reality of the business environment has changed drastically all of a sudden. There is no exception for online shopping businesses due to the altered purchasing behaviour of the customers. The effects of a pandemic on consumer behaviour can be explained in two-fold considering first, the perspective of online shopping brands and secondly, consumers' perspective. While many changed purchasing behaviours create challenges for online shopping brands, others allowed for new possibilities. According to Roggeveen and Sethuraman (2020), due to the airborne nature of spreading, this particular pandemic situation has created alarming concern for customers regarding the safety of products they purchase. That is why customers were very sceptical about purchasing products, especially at the beginning of the pandemic. While physical store visits have fallen drastically, the notion of online shopping is also affected. Hall (2020) argued that consumer behaviour changes during a pandemic. He mentions that panic/fear may be a factor

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present amongst some consumers, which creates a domino effect in a society where individuals are influenced by one another. An example of this behaviour was also in the early stages of the pandemic when people ran to the grocery stores and bought large quantities of items (Hall, 2020). This effect of social influence is described by Coulter et al. (2003) to have a significant influence on the purchasing behaviour since the buying decisions of the consumer is dependent on the information consumers collect from various sources, for example, their reference groups and their social network of friends, family and co-workers. Young people are especially prone to be more influenced by their close contacts.

According to Laato et al. (2020), online shopping is negatively affected because customers feel risk in purchasing products and are sceptical about whether the products are contaminated with the virus. However, the consumer feels that it is a safer choice for buyers to purchase products online rather than violating social distancing measures by visiting physical stores. So, customers prioritized essential products for their wellbeing; and de-prioritized products that are not crucial. Chang and Meyerhoefer (2020) argued, for instance, that a variety of products such as frozen food and fresh vegetables have been sold online more than in the previous years. This has mainly affected non-essential products like luxury items, accessories, electronics and more. To reduce the concern of customers during the pandemic situation, many online shopping brands can add safety measures to ensure that the products are not potentially contaminated with viruses. These activities are promoted on online social media platforms by online shopping brands so that customers are aware of the steps taken by them and purchase without hesitation (Laato et al., 2020). The activities which are taking place to reduce the concern of covid-19 are among other factors that brands try to follow the guidelines of the world health organization (Irwin, 2020).

According to Roggeveen and Sethuraman (2020), while customers are not intended to purchase particular products or services due to their risk factors, many products have found unprecedented interest by the customers. As customers are more interested in keeping their social distance measures, there are many products or services needed to reduce their mental stress in solitude or stay in confined spaces. For instance, streaming services have found a sudden increase in sales on online shopping platforms. This is due to the sudden spike in demand for home entertainment. Many home entertainment or indoor activities are interested in the buyers. Due to that, products that belong to this particular category have found high interest. In the early stages of the virus, people were buying food at a record-breaking level, and long-lasting products such as rice and pasta were quickly emptied from shelves in supermarkets all across Sweden and the world (Westerberg & Arvidson, 2020). According to Roggeveen and Sethuraman (2020), the requirement of emergency medical supplies and hygiene products has also been found to be highly popular on online shopping platforms because buyers have positive purchasing attention due to their concern for safety during the pandemic.

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1.1.3 Online Shopping

We have seen an increasing trend in online shopping during the last two decades. As the Internet grows, online shopping becomes more and more favoured (Pappas et al., 2014). There are, however, a lot of different aspects that affect online shopping behaviour and its future. Kim et al. (2012) mentioned that it is meaningful to investigate all kinds of factors that affect online shopping behaviour to predict its growth. Furthermore, as with consumer behaviour in general, the experience of previous online consumer behaviour can have an impact on customers' future purchase behaviour (Pappas et al., 2014). Several factors influence consumers to shop online, like availability of products, variety and price, as well as convenience (Clemes et al., 2014).

On the other hand, many online shoppers are also sceptical of the nature of online shopping. According to Reimers et al. (2016), many customers are concerned about excessive ads and offer messages. Due to this difficulty, many regulations are placed; many online shopping brands are even promoting their brands through permission marketing.

Additional factors will be explored more extensively in the coming chapters. What we know is that in Sweden, online shopping has had a yearly growth of 20% between the years 2004-2015. In total, it constituted a total of 7.7% out of all retail sales (Andersson and Ekman, 2018). Between 2016-2019, a 10 billion SEK increases every year in e-commerce revenue from 57 billion to 87 billion SEK. From December 2019 to December 2020, there was a substantial rise from 87 billion to 115,7 billion. (Statista(b), 2020). We can also see an increase in the number of products Swedes has bought in 2020 online; in January 2020, Swedes bought 2.5 products online per capita, while in December 2020, that number had risen to 4.2 products per capita (PostNord, 2020).

During the past year, we have seen unmistakable evidence that online shopping during the pandemic has increased in several countries around the world where e-commerce has risen substantially during the pandemic; even where e-commerce was already an established long-term trend, the increase has still been more prominent than in previous years (Nordeatrade, 2021). Due to Covid-19 being a relatively recent phenomenon, there is little to no knowledge yet presented in previous studies on exactly how much it has affected the long-term online consumer behaviours in Sweden, which in addition is a country where the restrictions for social distancing have not been as severe as other countries. For this research, we must go in-depth into how the virus has affected each person’s behaviour patterns regarding online purchasing and if the rise we have noticed in societies is here to stay (BBC, 2021).

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Graph 1: (Statista(a), 2020)

According to Graph 1, online shopping has shown an increasing trend in 2020 due to Covid-19 despite that Sweden already had a growing trend in online shopping. Likewise, consumers’ behaviour towards online shopping might have been changed after this spike in shopping, even after the pandemic. The graph shows that from April till June 2020, people have shopped more than the previous month, meantime they have shopped less in physical stores in June. Moreover, new types of products started to emerge in June than in the past months. The statistics indicate that a change in online consumer behaviour is present. How much of it has affected the pandemic and if it is here to stay remains to be explored.

In December of 2020, e-barometer, a newspaper released by Postnord in collaboration with Swedish Digital Handel and HUI Research, released graphs on how online purchasing has

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increased in all sectors from December 2019 to December 2020. The most notable rises being in the food, fashion and beauty/health sectors (Graph 2).

(Graph 2: PostNord, 2020)

We can conclude that there has been an upgoing trend however, how much of it has had an uplift from Covid-19 and what future effect it will have on online consumptions is what the authors of this study will try to explore.

1.2 Research Problem

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the global health and the world economy hard. According to Tuncer (2020), the pandemic has proved to be more shocking to the world economy than any other crisis in the preceding 30 years, including the financial crisis that occurred during 2008-2009 (Tuncer, 2020). It has undoubtedly been the most significant event during the past year (2020). During an influenza pandemic, people's public perception and overall behaviour are bound to be altered in change. (Xu & Peng, 2015). Previous research done in consumer behaviour in a crisis has been mainly focused on recessions in the economy or in a financial crisis (Tuncer, 2020). Now, when the public faces a severe threat like a pandemic resulting in serious illness or death, the public is forced to adopt and socially distance (Fauci et al., 2020); this automatically creates a change in consumer behaviour. One of these shifts in consumer behaviour, which is the shift towards online shopping, can help us to reduce the spread of covid-19.

From an academic perspective, this creates a need to understand the purchasing and consumer behaviour changes during a pandemic of this magnitude since there is a lack of literature on this exact phenomenon. While many countries face lockdowns where businesses are closed

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following restrictions, online purchasing and exploring purchasing behaviour of consumers gets increasingly more important (Chang & Meyerhoefer, 2020).

From a practical perspective, this creates a need to understand people's purchasing and consumer behaviour during a situation where people are encouraged not to go out if it is not necessary. There is a need to explore what affects consumer behaviour during the pandemic and understand what long-term effects it will have on online shopping. Marketers will also know how to present those products to customers best, whether by online retailing or by promoting traditional shopping based on the behavioural change of consumers.

Sweden presents a unique perspective, being one of the countries that had the minor, severe restrictions in the world (Irwin, 2020). The authors believe this creates a unique environment for this research since heavy restrictions have not altered the purchasing behaviour; instead, it is left for the people themselves to choose the way they want to conduct their shopping, whether traditional or online. The research problem here is that it is essential to indicate that the decision-making process about online shopping in Sweden might be different from the other countries. In addition, the long-lasting effects of this altering in online consumer behaviour need to be explored from a consumer’s perspective so that businesses can adapt accordingly to the recent changes.

The main purpose of this paper is to explore the research gap if the effects of the online shopping behavioural changes in Sweden will be present post-covid-19 and to explore if the pandemic has had any effect on it at all. The research will explore this from an online consumer’s view since we have seen the increasing trend in online shopping as having the most considerable effect on consumer behaviour during the pandemic so far. With the help of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, we will explore the consumer’s intention for their future online shopping by understanding the changes the pandemic has had in their current online consumer behaviour. 1.3 Research Purpose

The main purpose of this paper is to explore the research gap if the effects of the online shopping behavioural changes in Sweden will be present post-covid-19 and to explore if the pandemic has had any effect on it at all. The research will explore this from an online consumer’s view since we have seen the increasing trend in online shopping as having an enormous effect on consumer behaviour during the pandemic so far. With the help of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, we will explore the consumer’s intention for their future online shopping by understanding the changes the pandemic has had in their current online consumer behaviour. By understanding how Intention to online shop is affected by Subjective Norms, Attitude

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Towards Behaviour and Perceived Behavioral Control, and the factor of Covid-19, we can hopefully understand what has caused the behavioural changes in Sweden and if they are going to affect future intention to online shopping. A qualitative approach to this study might bring factors that will not appear in a quantitative study due to in-depth answers from the participants. Hopefully, this study can also assist the academic side of the TBP-model and provide additional avenues for future research.

1.4 Research Questions

From an online consumer’s perspective,

RQ 1: What has caused the online consumer behaviour changes in Sweden during Covid-19?

RQ 2: Will the behavioural changes be present post Covid-19?

1.5 Delimitations

We are still in the beginning stages of understanding what impact Covid-19 will have on society regarding consumer behaviour and purchasing. In this stage, it feels like it has been going on for years; however, from an academic standpoint, there is not much research conducted about the behavioural changes among consumer’s during the pandemic and if those behaviours will be present post the pandemic; moreover, with covid-19 being a relatively recent event there is no clear separation from what is partly credited to the long-term behaviours of online purchasing and what is precisely affected by Covid-19 in Sweden. In this study, interviews will be conducted with consumers ranging from different cities in Sweden to gain a more objective view of the country. However, this study will not be a comparative one because we will not focus on the differences in the cities; instead, we assume that the results would be the same wherever in Sweden. This research will most likely only be valid in countries where the Covid-19 regulations are not as strict. The government does not substantially influence the general purchasing behaviour of people.

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2. Literature Review/ Theoretical Framework

2.1 Online Shopping

2.1.1 Benefits of Online Shopping for Consumer

Shopping Shopping is generally explained as the process of purchasing one or multiple products from a specific plan. As the process signifies the declaration of purchase between seller and buyer, it could easily be transformed into an online service. The transformed process, namely “online shopping”, has become hugely popular among shoppers. According to Mo and Chen (2015), there are many reasons for such popularity:

1. The customers can purchase products from their convenient location. As they do not have to visit stores for their products, many customers prefer this particular notion. 2. Many customers are concerned about the quality of delivered goods. That is why brands

that offer online shopping services provide a return policy so that customers feel assured of their product. As customers do not need to visit stores to ensure the quality of their purchased products, they can prefer shopping from home or their convenient location with assurance.

3. Physical shopping can toll relatively higher on time and energy for the shopper.

Exploring different products online takes a little time; that is why there is a rising trend of customers preferring to explore products online rather than in physical stores.

Furthermore, customers can quickly evaluate different brands and products through the internet, which is different in the case of physical shopping. That is why online shopping has become more prominent for products that belong to the competitive market. The correlation between awareness and attitude also goes hand in hand and influences the purchasing behaviour; if the consumer feels a high level of contribution to the local community, it will impact their purchasing behaviour positively (Lee & Shin, 2010). Thus, if consumers are aware of the benefits online shopping does to reduce the spread of covid, it will create a favourable attitude towards shopping online. According to Bashir et al. (2015), online shopping is also relatively better from the perspective of shoppers. Many companies are now switching to eCommerce because it reduces their expense of the physical presentation of products. Having an only inventory can be workable for many online shopping brands.

On the other hand, online shopping is executed by getting many data from the shoppers. This information can benefit shoppers to evaluate the success of their products, sales activities, and more. Besides, getting real-time information on shopping activities can help online shopping brands make timely decisions that can hardly be possible for physical shoppers due to the latency to data collection. This could create a situation where online shopping will almost be a “forced” choice in the future for consumers who will not have any other alternatives (Bashir et al., 2015).

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2.1.2 The Online Consumer Behaviour Trend in Society

According to Styvén et al. (2017), online shopping is also widespread in Sweden, like the US and other European countries. Currently, many domestic and international brands are offering different types of products online in the region of Sweden, as detailed by Nilsson (2017). According to Hedman et al. (2018), in 2018, the number of internet users in Sweden was 8.76 million, and the trend is oriented upward. As online shopping is becoming more comfortable among internet users, the market is up-and-coming for brands. That is why, according to Sandberg & Håkansson (2014), many brands which used to sell their products or services in physical stores are now either adding online shopping services or entirely transforming their nature of business into an online shopping platform. These transformations from physical stores to online shops may contribute to why people change their purchasing behaviours.

According to Nilsson (2017), even though online shopping is popular across the country, the intensity of online shopping is high in urban areas. Places like Stockholm, Goteborg, Malmo, Uppsala notably consist of a large number of online shoppers. According to Hertzberg et al. (2020), female shoppers are considerably more loyal customers for particular online shopping brands than online shoppers in Sweden. Nevertheless, male customers are purchasing at relatively high sales value online in Sweden. According to Heitz et al. (2018), Due to the vital transportation and logistics in Sweden, online shopping is convenient in local areas across the country as well. As many famous brands are not offering products physically in various parts of Sweden, many customers prefer online shopping as home delivery is a part of the online shopping process in Sweden.

2.1.3 The Trend Across Different Sectors

According to Rizou et al. (2020), Due to covid-19, food sectors have found different realities and changes in customer behavioural patterns. As customers are more concerned about essential products than non-essential products, demand for food is particularly positive during the pandemic. As the demand for essential food can hardly be decreased and the physical purchase decision is reduced, online purchasing of food products has increased drastically. However, purchasing behaviour for customers in food sectors varies depending on the nature of products. As the virus is highly responsive to temperature, customers considered buying fruits and vegetables riskier than other types of foods. According to Rizou et al. (2020), most fast foods are made using heat and are relatively convenient for customers because they are not prepared. This type of food is purchased often during the pandemic. That is why different fast-food chains which have offered home delivery of products while maintaining proper safety guidelines have found a spike in demand for their products.

Moreover lastly, according to Rizou et al. (2020), beverage items also found increased demand, even though different beverage items are not prepared by heating. This is due to the automatic

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and contained process of packaging beverage products. Even though both fast food and beverage products are not essential and, cumulative sales have found adverse effects on sales. However, as the situation has become more normalized, the sales gradually found an upward trend due to home delivery services to customers. Rizou et al. (2020) further emphasized how the home delivery services in the food sector could have an increased demand even after the pandemic.

According to Ataguba O.A. and Ataguba J.E, (2020), as Covid-19 has made significant possibilities of a health crisis worldwide, including Sweden, customers are concerned about their wellbeing. That is why many people considered collecting medical supplies vital for ensuring their wellbeing. As such a notion became common among families worldwide, including in Sweden, the demand for medical supplies has increased drastically. Many medical supplies are found online as well. That is why a sudden massive spike in demand for medical supplies is visible everywhere. Concerns about the possibility of being affected made medical devices more demanding during the pandemic. According to Kashif and Aziz-Ur-Rehman (2020), Medical devices made for detecting oxygen ratio, body temperature, and heartbeat are more demanding in particular. While hospitals, medical institutes were purchasing such products in enormous quantities, general customers were also purchasing medical devices. Furthermore, lastly, due to social distancing measures, customers are bound to have limited movement. That is why indoor activities and exercise become common. Many of such activities require additional exercise products, so the upward trend in online purchase of exercise products or indoor activity products is witnessed.

2.2 The Buying Process Characterized by Covid-19.

According to Islam et al. (2021), the process of customers buying a particular product or service has a typical pattern no matter the nature of products or services. Widely accepted customer buying processes or customer journeys are problem recognition, followed by searching for information, evaluating options, making a purchase decision, and post-purchase activities. While the content of patterns for particular products can vary depending on the nature of products or services, it can also be altered due to different circumstances. That is not exceptional for pandemic situations. As for problem recognition, customers are concerned about the features of products and the value generated by-products during the conventional purchasing process. However, due to the covid-19, some additional problems are recognized by the customers. For instance, the assurance that the product is safe from coronavirus is considered a major recognized problem for the customers.

On the other hand, other processes that are relinked in the production process and delivery must be risk-free by the customers. As for information research, customers prefer online services because social distancing measures reduce their ability to seek information through physical means. Before the pandemic, information search was not limited to the internet. Customers could explore physical stores and other means to gather information about the products they are interested in buying. On the other hand, information search can be done passively if brands

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promote their products through different marketing activities. According to Roggeveen and Sethuraman (2020), while internet communication has become more prominent due to social distancing measures, brands are exploring this passive manner of information search by investing more into online marketing activities. As for evaluating alternatives, customers used to consider price, social recognition, and features of products as significant factors for evaluating different alternatives. As additional problems emerge due to pandemics, customers also consider additional measures for the evaluation of problems. Safety measures, hygiene, and degree of necessity are considered major benchmarks for evaluating alternatives of various products. According to Roggeveen and Sethuraman (2020), the pandemic is a new reality for both the brands and the customers. To sustain repeat purchases from the customer and add necessary facilities, brands tend to communicate with customers to gain insights about the purchase quality.

2.3 Conclusion of Literature Review

While Bashir et al. (2015) explored the nature of online shopping in general, the study did not explore the specific insights from Sweden. This particular segment is focused extensively on the study by Styvén et al. (2017). While these studies explored the activities related to online shopping from the perspective of both buyer and brands, these studies did not explore the nature of shopping and purchase behaviour during covid-19. Roggeveen and Sethuraman (2020) explored the altered purchasing behaviour extensively due to the pandemic. However, the purchasing behaviour can be characterized by a set of the processes of the customer journey. In the study by Islam et al. (2021), the customer purchase journey in two different reality of shopping is explored extensively.

Nevertheless, these studies did not emphasize any particular products instead provided a general sense of the nature of purchasing behaviour. The study by Rizou et al. (2020) and Galanakis (2020) explored the reality of Covid-19 in the food sector and how customers are attempting to rationalize their purchase behaviour for this particular sector. On the other hand, the study by Ataguba O.A. and Ataguba J.E, (2020) and Kashif and Aziz-Ur-Rehman, (2020) explored the reality of Covid-19 in the health sector and how customers are attempting to rationalize their purchase behaviour for this particular sector. A research gap exists regarding if the behavioural changes will be present long-term among consumers in Sweden. To gain greater insight into this particular issue, this research will address the research gap.

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2.4 Theoretical Framework

Within the past 20 years, consumer behaviour research has become increasingly popular, particularly examining the links between external factors and different components of consumers' decision-making processes. (Darley et al., 2010). Also, the study by Limayen et al. (2000) examined components such as perceived risk, past experiences, and perceived consequences.

External elements like price, service quality, product variety on online shopping were examined by Clemes et al. (2014). The theories used to examine and understand online shopping behaviours have shown that Fishbein’s (1979) Theory of Reasoned Action and its related theories, which include the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989) and Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behaviour, are mainly used. The theory of reasoned action can be considered the fundamental theory out of these three, and it consists of two main components: subjective norms and attitude. On the other hand, the Technology Acceptance Model, as the name suggests, has been widely used to interpret a user's adoption of modern technology.

If the purpose were to predict online shopping and accept the technology behind it, then the Technology Acceptance Model would suit the research more (Davis, 1989). If we would compare the models in context with online shopping, we will find that the TPB adds the construct of perceived behavioural control. Moreover, the TPB provides a more in-depth understanding of the consumer's intention, which fits the study's objective. Ajzen (1991) argued that the model could predict the intention to perform a certain behaviour with high accuracy. The model has also shown to measure the different outside components and their relationship with the purchasing decision of consumers (Limayem et al., 2000) Considering how we are investigating if the behavioural change of consumers will still lean towards online shopping at the same level after the pandemic as it has under the pandemic, the authors believe the TPB-model will serve as the main base of our theoretical framework to understand the future intention of consumers.

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2.5 TPB-model

The use of Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour as a model will provide an appropriate framework to understand the consumers’ intention and behaviour regarding their purchasing and shopping behaviour after Covid-19. The theory of planned behaviour can be described as one’s intentions to perform the behaviour set by perceived behaviour control, subjective norms and attitude. These three categories define the intentional behaviour of the consumer, which in turn could be an indicator of the consumer's actual behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). The TPB model will serve as an appropriate framework in the context of a crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic. Since the pandemic has played immense importance in people's life the past year, it is reasonable to believe that the behaviour of online consumers has also been altered. In short, Ajzen (1991) explained as a common rule in the model that the more favourable the attitude and the subjective norms with respect to behaviour are, the greater the perceived behaviour control is. Thus the more robust an individual's intention is to perform that behaviour.

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2.5.1 Applying and Operationalizing the TPB-model

According to Sheppard et al. (1988), The theory of planned behaviour has previously been used to predict a wide range of different consumer behaviours. Ham et al. (2015) investigated in their study through the lens of TPB the effects family and friends had on purchasing behaviour. Another study performed by Liang (2014) about food shopping online also used the three different factors of TPB that influence intention. The examination of purchasing organic food was also used with the TPB model in Hilverda et al. (2016). In that study, the focus was finding the key reasons for that particular behaviour. Additionally, there have been numerous studies about consumers' online behaviours explained by the TPB model (Alhaimer, 2021).

In this study, our theoretical framework will be built on the three different factors of the TPB Subjective norms, Attitude Toward Behaviour and Perceived Behavioural Control. The elements will be created based on the three categories and after that, it will be studied how these affect the intention on continuing the behaviours of online shopping post-pandemic. Ajzen (2006) elaborated specific guidelines on constructing and developing the questionnaire and the themes based on the TPB model. Three different kinds of human considerations guide the TPB model, those are behavioural beliefs, normative beliefs and control beliefs (Ajzen,1991). More to that, beliefs about a particular behaviour are based on experiences and consequences associated with it.

Last but not least, normative beliefs are beliefs about normative behaviours and expectations that other people observe. In contrast, influence beliefs pertain to factors that facilitate or hinder the performance of a particular behaviour. (Ajzen, 1991).

The primary data we will derive from the participants will ensure that these beliefs are included. The model to operationalize the steps is outlined by Ajzen (2006); the first three steps are theoretical and do not require the involvement of the participants. The first step here is to select the behaviour of interest and define it in its action, target and context. The second step is to define the corresponding behavioural intention. The third theoretical step is to define the general attitude, social norms and perceived behaviour control. The last steps demand the participation from the representative sample as the fourth and fifth step requires us to elicit the behavioural, normative and perceived control beliefs from the participants' answers.

In conclusion, our theoretical framework will be built on categories of the original TPB, namely, Subjective Norms, Attitude Towards Behaviour and Perceived Behavioural Control. The categories are looked through initially as separate entities, which affect the Intention of future online purchasing among consumers separately. Elements will then be created based on the previous theory's categories that have deemed to affect Subjective Norms, Attitude and Perceived behaviour control. First, these elements will be presented in a proposed TBP-model to gain a visual representation for the reader (see figure 2). These “external elements” that derive theoretically along with the categories of the TPB model will later shape the questions for our participants in our search for primary data. After deriving our empirical data and

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connecting literature from previous research, we will signal in the analysis what categories have the most effect on the intention for future online shopping.

2.6 Subjective Norms

Subjective norms within the Theory of Planned Behaviour is defined as the individual's perception of one particular behaviour shown by a group, that in turn influence the individual either compliance with the behaviour that is shown by others, as well as how much or little this person wishes to comply with these people or groups (Ajzen, 1991). Subjective norms comprise two descriptive norms: pressure that the individual experience by conforming to the norms and the individual's own experience and perspective about the prevalence of this behaviour, meaning if others will adopt it (Ajzen, 1991). This interdependence between individuals influences and plays a role in influencing people’s behaviour.

Furthermore, Ajzen (2011) argued that subjective norms are social pressures created by groups who either comply or do not comply with the group's expectations set. Limayem et al. (2000) has confirmed that SN has an encouraging effect on consumers intention to buy products online. This is also shared by Clemes et al. (2014), who found that the intention of the individual consumer to shop online could be influenced by the positive opinions from his/her friends/peers and family. Since certain individuals, like family or friends, influence the intention of performing a behaviour, there could be incentives that people will not continue shopping online products to the same extent even after the pandemic due to social pressures from friends and family not be present then.

Several authors have proposed modified versions of the TPB model since their findings found evidence on how the Subjective Norm is linked with Intention. The studies done by (Tarkiainen & Sundqvist, 2005; Chang, 1998; Shimp and Kavas, 1984) show that subjective norms can predict attitude, which can predict intention. A study by Al-Swidi et al. (2014) concluded that subjective norms have direct effects on buying behaviour. Therefore, the researchers of this paper are aware that Subjective norms influence attitudes; however, regarding the two categories, they will be studied as separate entities affecting intention individually.

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2.6.1 Family and Friends

The first external element that could affect subjective norms’ is the role of friends and family since it is strongly associated with subjective norms and researchers have considered this element as affecting subjective norms previously (Pasick et al., 2009). Subjective norms and trust are related together, which affect intentions (Alharbi et al., 2016). The consumer could easily trust their relatives and friends when it comes to advice and online purchase. Like media affects consumers’ decisions via advertisers, it would not surprise that family and friends affect us and even more than media (Shan & King, 2015).

2.6.2 Role of the Media

The role of media has a direct impact on subjective norms (Jalilvand & Samiei, 2012; Viglia et al., 2016). Moreover, subjective norms and intentions to use online shopping could not be underestimated (Byon et al.,2014). We have chosen the role of media as an external theme because consumers could be easily affected by the media. A consumer who has been affected by the media could experience a behavioural change. Additionally, media contributes to the consumers’ judgement for a behaviour that can be seen or heard by individuals, which could affect their future shopping behaviours (Lee & Youn, 2009). Media like TV, magazines and newspapers that have existed before the Internet era still plays a huge role and have not lost their impact affecting subjective norms (Shan & King, 2015).

2.7 Attitude Toward the Behaviour

Firstly, the term attitude is defined as a function of the individual’s belief towards a particular behaviour (Hill et al., 1977). Historically this attitude is seen as a natural response, either favourable or unfavourable towards the psychological object. This would imply that if a consumer has a positive or negative view about changing his consumer behaviour, that positive or negative view will trigger a change in the actual behaviour with the help of sufficient motivation and cognitive capacity. The attitude is also subject to change when new information is available, and the consumer needs to consider these recent changes (Ajzen, 1991). This type of change in attitude, norms and values are expected, according to Lee (2011).

Clemes et al. (2014) describe how the characteristics that identify the online marketplace are Product variety, Service quality and Price, which in turn are the components that mainly affect the online consumer attitude. In consumer behaviour research, the effects of external factors have been studied by Smith et al. (2008). Those external factors included product placement, direct selling and advertisements and their impact on purchasing decisions. The consumer behaviour in the way people evaluate and compare these products are called attitudes. When investigating the attitudes, we could see how people respond in a particular way towards online

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shopping or how online shopping is favourable or unfavourable in different circumstances (Hassanein & Head, 2007). The themes from attitude would then describe the participants general attitude on online shopping activities during the pandemic and their attitudes towards a change back to normal.

2.7.1 Availability

Previous studies have shown that availability could be related to attitude. Tarkiainen and Sundqvist (2005) stated that if an item is not available, it does not depend on consumers, resulting in unfavourable shopping behaviour. For instance, Van Acker et al. (2014) proved how attitudes and car availability are connected. When we look at how attitude affects behaviour, we can see how availability impacts because if an item or information doesn’t exist, you can’t continue your process (Kisielius & Roedder, 1983). Moreover, low availability makes it harder to conduct shopping (Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006). Availability has been seen as a factor that strengthens the attitude and behaviour’s relationship (Fazio & Zanna, 1981).

One of the crucial things is that covid-19 made it impossible to find specific products. Without products or access to the shopping stores, you cannot complete your traditional shopping. On the other hand, the covid-19 pandemic can also affect online shopping by creating a shortage of products online. When the products are available, the purchase of the product naturally becomes more accessible. Consumers’ time is precious, and they don’t want to spend their time searching for products such as food or any other products (Roggeveen & Sethuraman, 2020). Furthermore, availability has a direct effect on purchasing behaviour (Clemes et al., 2014). Another study showed that the availability of products indicates how a particular sector or service is effective and efficient (Bandyopadhyay, 2001). Moreover, consumers could also compare online shopping and traditional shopping in advance of effectiveness and efficiency. 2.7.2 Price

Price has been used as a theme in various studies, and one of them was stated by Thong and Olsen (2012) that perceived quality and price could explain the attitude. Also, studies have proven that price is related to consumer behaviour and affects consumers' decision (Huang et al., 2004). In addition, the price has influenced the purchasing decisions of customers that affect their intention towards online shopping (Setiawan & Achyar, 2013). Prices play a significant role in deciding whether or not consumers should purchase a product. (Zeithaml, 1998). Additionally, customers would pay for a product based on its quality. (Dodds et al. 1991). The price can affect a consumer's purchasing behaviour positively and negatively, as they make decisions based on their experiences with the price. (Lichtenstein et al. 1993).

According to Jiang (2002), online shopping has many benefits, including product ranges, 24/7 shopping, and endless information regarding products. What is more, you can easily access the price information because consumers started to care about prices more than ever, so if online shopping is cheaper than traditional shopping, would consumers continue to shop traditionally?

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2.8 Perceived Behavioural Control

PBC or Perceived Behaviour Control can be described as the individual's difficulty or ease to perform the actual behaviour and his ability to recognize the usefulness of changing the behaviour (Ajzen, 2002). Ajzen (2002) furthermore described that the PBC in context with TBP is used as an instrument of evaluating the self-efficacy of behaviour and the perceived ability to perform the behaviour. This component of the TPB model can be used to argue if people are changing their consumer habits based on perception. Constraints that inhibit or encourage behaviour execution is related to PBC. The perceived control of the behaviour of online shoppers has been examined previously and is found to have a strong relationship with the practice of shopping on the internet. (George, 2004). Limayem et al. (2000) described that the availability and ease of use that comes with the experience of using online shopping also plays a significant impact on the intention.

These sentiments are also shared by Giantari et al. (2013), who found that the effect of experience on the PBC on online shopping is highly relevant. This research focuses on the actual intention of changing/continuing the purchasing behaviour to online shopping, so the relevance of this part of the TPB model is highly significant. Perceived behaviour control is furthermore described by Ajzen (2002) as influencing both intentions and behaviour. The elements proposed to affect the perceived behaviour control from a consumer behaviour perspective are the Knowledge the consumers have about the online shopping process and the Usefulness they receive from online shopping.

2.8.1 Knowledge

If there is a significant lack of presented information about a product or a service, the buyer will be less likely to buy that product or service. As stated by Tarkiainen and Sundqvist (2005), knowledge has positive effects on shopping behaviours. Also, the availability of information can influence whether the consumer chooses to buy a product or not. It can either be seen as adding value to the purchasing decision making, or it could be perceived as an extra effort that could make the consumers less reluctant to buy (Liang et al., 2014). Islam et al. (2021) have described how the customer buying process typically has a familiar pattern; however, external influences could be disturbed. Therefore, the element of knowledge will be implemented in the study to examine whether customers receive the knowledge of the external factor, which is the pandemic in this case and its relationship with online shopping behaviour.

2.8.2 Usefulness

According to Ali (2016), the rise of the internet and e-commerce has made the consumers’ preference change from traditional shopping to online shopping. The authors are very aware that many other elements could be added that influence Perceived behavioural control.

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However, the authors chose usefulness as an element because it is a significant factor influencing shopping behaviour during the pandemic. Roggeveen and Sethuramn (2020) described that the customers avoided buying certain products and services due to the perceived risk factors associated with them. We have seen from previous research that many companies are shifting their products and service to online platforms (Sandberg & Håkansson, 2014) and that online shopping is widespread across the country (Nilsson, 2017). Hertzberg et al. (2020) have also shown in their study that females tend to be loyal towards their online shopping brands, males although not equally devoted to their brands, purchase products more frequently. Exploring different products online takes a little time; that is why there is a rising trend of customers preferring to explore products online rather than physical stores. Lee and Shin (2011).

The correlation between awareness and attitude also goes hand in hand and influences the purchasing behaviour; if the consumer feels a high level of contribution to the local community, it will impact their purchasing behaviour positively (Lee & Shin, 2011). This element is added to the model to explore the exact value customers see in shopping online during the pandemic. Therefore, the authors chose the element of usefulness as something that could influence the Perceived behaviour control, which could affect the intention of online shopping.

2.9 Covid-19

Perhaps the most important external elements of this study are the element of “covid-19” and its effect on the subjective norms, attitude, PBC, and intention towards online shopping and, most importantly, what effect it will have on the intention future online shopping. This element will firstly describe if the participants affected or affected by covid-19 by their friends, families or media. Secondly, does covid-19 has favourable or unfavourable attitudes towards online shopping. Thirdly, how they perceived covid-19 and lastly, what are their intentions for online shopping. The overall effects of Covid-19 on consumer behaviour have been explained in the literature review and the introduction; nonetheless, in short, Consumers’ mind and what they do can change during difficult times like the covid pandemic (Kamp, 2010). Social distancing and staying at home changed our way of thinking, so it has affected our online shopping behaviours (Briscese et al. 2020; Merkley et al. 2020).

On the other hand, online shopping behaviours are not the same with each consumer, so this theme is one of the essential themes that will answer our research questions about the future of Swedish online shopping behaviours. Covid-19 has effects on each dimension in the TPB model, which is noticeable in the sections. How much Covid-19 will affect the future intention among consumers to online shop in Sweden remains to be explored.

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2.10 Intention

The intention within the Theory of Planned Behaviour is to continue, quit, use and change, basically one’s intention towards a behaviour. The user behaviour, namely the past usage and experience towards online shopping, can impact the intention. “Users”, or what would be consumers in our case, perceive that they have control of this type of behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). In this research paper, consumers' past purchasing behaviour will logically impact the intention of consumers. Hopefully, the model can also help us differentiate what changes have been made by Covid-19 and what was already part of an ongoing trend in the online purchasing behaviour of consumers. The intention in the proposed model will allude to future online shopping.

Figure 2: Proposed research framework with external elements affecting the categories of the Theory of planned behaviour by Alver & Kurtisi, (2021)

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3. Research Methodology

This section outlines the framework and method used in this research. The figure below shows our research model, which consists of our research approach, design, strategy, data collection, analysis, and qualitative research quality criteria.

Figure 3: (The Research Onion) Adapted from Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2009, p. 102).

3.1 Positivism Philosophy and Qualitative Approach

Positivism believes that science should clarify the social universe alongside a commitment to a more objective form of observation. (Collis & Hussey, 2014; Smith et al., 1996). Oxford (1989: pp. 385- 386) defined positivism as “. . . a system recognizing only that which can be

scientifically verified or logically proved, and therefore rejecting metaphysics and theism”. In

the light of the positivist philosophy with a scientific perspective, online shopping behaviour changes can be proven. The reality could be related to all the people who live in Swedish society (Ryan, 2018; Travers, 2001). We took a positivist approach with this research to understand social behaviour with the help of the TPB model since it is a consumer behaviour theory that helped us understand and explore our participants profoundly (Travers, 2001). In addition to that, using a theory is mainly related to positivism. Our experiences and interactions with participants made us understand them more and that was utilizing positivist philosophy. We believe that to figure out the social world, the combination of TPB-model and semi-structured interviews will give us the possible answers to our research questions.

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Our interview questions are based on the TPB, which is discussed in the other sections. Furthermore, the analysis of the interviews is enlightened by coding with a TPB model perspective. It is essential to embrace this philosophy to determine how Swedish people’s online shopping behaviour has changed and where it goes. We didn’t want to be highly subjective like interpretivism and we didn’t add our subjective perspective in further sections (Collis & Hussey, 2014).

Subsequently, the qualitative method can support positivism by giving evidence from life and showing reality with semi-structured interviews (Lin, 1998; Pham, 2018). To investigate online shopping behaviours of relevance to underrepresented groups, qualitative approaches can be used and these approaches could reflect information about attitude, values and norms (Hamilton 2020; Lundahl & Skarvad, 1992). According to Renzi and Klobas (2008), TPB is often related to quantitative studies. Still, it is possible to choose qualitative methods if the researcher decides to do interviews in a limited time frame with suitable approaches for that research. We know that it is not common to use TPB without quantitative studies, but our data was gathered via semi-structured interviews, and our research purpose also suitable for the combination of TPB and qualitative research (Renzi & Klobas, 2008). Like mentioned before, there are statistics about Swedish people’s product preferences but not online shopping behaviour changes after the covid pandemic. This research is particularly suitable for small scale studies to explore more details about the online shopping journey where we investigate the social world from our perspective, which is related to social anthropology (Barnes, 1992).

The limitation of time and resources lead us to investigate the small scale of participants as well. With this research, we would like to find out the online shopping in Sweden and the consumer journey during the pandemic on a deeper level. Moreover, to obtain an in-depth analysis, a mono-method qualitative study was chosen. A mono method qualitative study is good to use when there is only one technique used when collecting data which in our case it is a semi-structured interview (Saunders et al., 2019). Semi-structured interviews can be more informal when it comes to communication, but it gives us more freedom to explore the feelings (Daymon & Holloway, 2002). Also, semi-structured interviews can be used both in qualitative and quantitative approach. Still, this study investigates the broad consumer behaviour journey during covid and after covid, so a qualitative approach has been chosen (Newman, 2000). Quantitative studies would not give us the extensive opinions of consumers. More than that, qualitative studies can be successful with other methods and at the same time during the research, you can always add something new and are not obligated to other methods if the findings make sense and explained well (Newman, 2000). So, qualitative studies are more flexible which we thought that we would discover the answers in lots of ways (Collis and Hussey, 2014). In the end, semi-structured interviews have allowed us to ask more details and new questions regarding participants' answers which we could understand them more (Baškarada, 2014).

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3.2 Explanatory Study with a Deductive/ Inductive Approach

The purpose of an explanatory study is to provide insight into the unknown phenomena such as non-existing information about a specific topic and the causal relationships between them; in our research, we will examine what is causing these changes in online shopping behaviours. (Saunders et al., 2007; Yin, 2009). To understand the long-term effects of online shopping in Sweden, we will use an explanatory research approach while examining which themes in the TPB are responsible for shaping future behaviour. Explanatory studies tend to look out for the observed outcomes rather than statistical results and relationships (Hedström, 2004). Nowadays, there is so much uncertainty because of covid-19. As a result, human beings don’t have a sense of control over their lives and well-being, resulting in online shopping behaviour changes. Explanatory research helps us understand this new (covid-19) phenomena and how much it has affected Sweden's long-term online shopping behaviour. Considering our research questions and the causal relationship between covid-19 and online shopping behaviour, it is more suitable with explanatory research to understand it (Fisher & Ziviani, 2004). We did not want to quantify our research findings with statistics and numbers, so explaining relationships and discovering nature via qualitative studies were much suitable for this study (Strauss and Corbin, 1994). Seeing that explanatory and qualitative studies can provide rich details about topics, Cornelissen (2017) describes a combination of qualitative and explanatory studies to give us the details we need.

Afterwards, the inductive approach is based on inference from observed knowledge and looking for clues inside that knowledge. In contrast, the deductive approach is based on considering a theoretical foundation (TPB) as a basis for its analysis. (Malhotra, 2017). Combining these approaches could help us understand the topic comprehensively, so both of the approaches’ features were used during this study. While thinking from the TPB perspective, we had a chance to observe our participants with semi-structured interviews. Our research started by designing a research strategy in the light of TPB, which is also part of our deductive thematic analysis that explains online shopping behaviours and changes to find out the unexplored or limited information about selected individuals for generalization with an allowance of emerged themes from extended TPB constructs which were our deductive coding (Fereday & Muir–Cochrane; Saunders et al. 2007). Also, by gathering the experiences, our general statements confirmed more profound observations (Malhotra 2017).

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3.3 Data Collection Method

Bar-Ilan (2001) stated that the Internet and the Web had become extensive infrastructure electronic sources of knowledge. As a result, the Internet helped us collect secondary data that we need quickly. The secondary data has already been collected and reused by other researchers, many of whom have collected the data for another purpose. (Hox & Boeije, 2005). Our research paper consists of secondary data such as newspapers, magazines and articles derived primarily from Primo and Google Scholar, which helps us realize the online shopping trend in Sweden and likewise Covid-19.

On the other hand, when facing a global pandemic, it was safe to collect our primary data via semi-structured interviews to gain more profound knowledge for safety concerns and geographical distance between the researchers and the participants. Our primary data was collected primarily through ZOOM interviews as well as a few phone calls, which is the type of data that is collected specifically for this research. (Hox & Boeije, 2005).

3.3.1 Interview Study

A qualitative study is best equipped with interviews to obtain in-depth information because they can be tailored to achieve numerous study goals. (Brewerton & Millward, 2001; Cachia & Millward, 2011). Interviews can be used at any stage in the data collection process and could be used in combination with other methods together in the same research study (Brewerton & Millward, 2001). More to what Cachia and Millward (2011) said is that the interviews have three types according to the research questions and strategies. The first one is the structured interviews which contain a preplanned collection of questions that typically include several specific responses that the interviewee must choose the response and can’t answer on their own, which you can’t get an extra answer. These interviews are almost identical to the self-governing questionnaire, except for an interviewer who helps with any questions (Cachia & Millard, 2011). Secondly, unstructured interviews have questions that are changing as the interview proceeds. Unstructured interviews have comprehensive, open-ended questions that are directly linked to the research question. With this type of interview, the collected data gives us a rich and in-depth understanding of the interviewees' experience, but this study focuses on several elements from TPB, so conducting an unstructured interview could get off the point of the study (Cachia & Millard, 2011). The last type of interview which is used in this research is semi-structured interviews. Semi-semi-structured interviews are both combinations of semi-structured and unstructured interviews (Cachia & Millard, 2011). Furthermore, there are fixed questions as an interview guide. Still, additional questions can be asked to encourage further discussion if any topic needs to be covered by the interviewer with a form of controlled conversation (Cachia & Millard, 2011).

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Our interviews were conducted anonymously, so names were not used in this study. Those who authorized the recording of their voices will be used to prevent misunderstandings and to forget specific details about what they told. Additionally, those who do not want their voice recorded will have their wishes fulfilled. When participants are anonymous, it can create a safe environment and improve the accuracy of the data and feelings gathered. As our participants' anonymous information is protected by not disclosing their identities, this is characterized by not revealing anyone's identity, so the data collected will not be displayed unless they consented to it or was accidentally disclosed by researchers during our research. (BSA, 2004; Wiles et al., 2008).

3.3.2 Sample Size

The sample must be identified before primary research can begin. Essentially, a sample is a part or segment of a greater population (Fink, 2003). To predict online shopping behaviours in Sweden, we had to study a sample. Because of the time and resources, it is impossible to investigate the whole country. Moreover, the people who are part of the sample are called participants (Alvi, 2016). Considering we are doing qualitative research and describing the whole online consumer journey during the pandemic deeply, we do not need a large sample size. (Boddy, 2016). Glaser and Strauss (1967) mentioned saturation for the sample size with an appropriate sample size in qualitative studies. Our sample size consists of 12 participants who are enough to understand the dynamics of online shopping behaviour changes. In our opinion, online shopping behaviour changes can be estimated with 12 participants when exploring the broad consumer journey of each participant like this paper has. In the end, we could see enough repetitions coming from the participants’ and fewer additional insights were coming in after we conducted 12 interviews, so we didn’t continue with the interviews. As stated by (Bowling 2002; Strauss & Corbin, 1990), qualitative data collection could be ended when a researcher believes that no new insights are coming.

3.3.3 Sampling Technique

To generalize the sampling techniques, there are two types: probability sampling methods and non-probability sampling methods (Alvi, 2016). According to Saunders et al. (2007), you need to decide whether your technique is non-probability sampling or probability sampling. Furthermore, explanatory research and qualitative study were conducted during this research, so a nonprobability sampling method is suitable for this study. According to Alvi (2016), nonprobability sampling methods are also called judgement or non-random sampling.

What is more, it is up to researchers to decide about selecting a sample which depends on our subjective judgement from choosing amongst the online shopping users of the Swedish population. To conclude, for nonprobability sampling methods, you do not need too much time to finish your research and it does not cost too much. There are quota, purposive, snowball,